"Snowpiercer" a piercing stab at Terry?
#1
I knew of the "Brazillian" style and the character named Gilliam beforehand, and already in the trailer, I thought I saw a cameo of Terry's as a tailor with a tape measure (said short, silent cameo also looked like that in the film, but that's not what this is about). There's a bit of the story here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Snowpi...s._Gilliam

Now, I don't wanna spoil the film for you if you haven't seen it already, but if all these so-called "coincidences" aren't such, it's pretty much suggesting that Terry's rebellious attitude is just a pose by which he's basically backstabbing his fans because he's really a ruthless agent of the system he claims to be critizizing. As the link says at the top of the section, it's not just the character named Gilliam as today's old Terry, but also the character that kills him as young 80s Terry, with both really being on the side of the villanious system, deliberately dooming us by tricking us into playing into the system's hands.
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#2
I don't think that the reference means that Bong Joon-ho despises Gilliam. I think that the director just wanted to pay homage to some filmmakers he liked (besides Gilliam, the character of Jamie Bell is named Edgar in reference to Edgar Wright).

P.S : unrelated, but the forum is full of spams, isn't there anything to be done about it ?
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#3
The Gilliam in the film is an imposter, a fraud, and most of all a traitor in willfully leading his followers to their doom. It's not a redeeming feature that he obviously believes in Malthusian democide just like his supposed nemesis Wilford that, as we find out in the end, he actually works for. Bong went and gave the character Terry's name and Terry's looks, so it's not too much of a stretch to perceive it as a hostile comment on Terry's non-conformist, counter-culture rebel attitude and us, his loyal fans. If there'd been a friendly motivation behind it, Bong would admit to it, but in interviews he even openly denies that the character is named after Terry, denies that he gave him Terry's looks, and denies that Terry's films have had any influence on any of his films, especially this one, when clumsily trying to rip off "Brazil" is in fact written all over "Snowpiercer".

I wouldn't mind even if Bong had had more talent and would've been better at imitating Terry's style, but his choice of incorporating a character in the film that's not there in the original comic that's most blatantly based on Terry and whose characterization and behavior as a villain and traitor in the context of the film looks like a hostile attack on Terry IRL certainly doesn't seem just like a friendly nod. And on top of it, after basically offending Terry and not portraying him in a good light, he's even so dishonest about it that in interviews he denies having done it at all and dismisses Terry's films as not that influential or notable overall.
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#4
(12-15-2014, 10:10 AM)TlatoSMD Wrote: I wouldn't mind even if Bong had had more talent and would've been better at imitating Terry's style, but his choice of incorporating a character in the film that's not there in the original comic that's most blatantly based on Terry and whose characterization and behavior as a villain and traitor in the context of the film looks like a hostile attack on Terry IRL certainly doesn't seem just like a friendly nod.
The character Gilliam isn't the only one that doesn't exist in the book. Actually, practically all of the characters in the film are inventions from the screenwriters (let's remember that in the comic book only one character travels to the front of the train). You're seeking too far, I think.
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#5
The final answer from the director himself :
Quote:Is there a Terry Gilliam shoutout in this film?

John Hurt's character is named Gilliam, and some of the weird oppressive visuals are very reminiscent of some of Terry Gilliam's films, especially Brazil. But while Bong is a fan of Brazil, he doesn't consider it much of an influence on this film — this was his first English-language film, so he had a hard time naming the characters, he said. He just reached for names of famous directors and other people from American films to come up with the names.
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#6
Yes, as I've said before, he keeps denying it it interviews where interviewers brought it up because they obviously thought likewise as me.
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#7
Yeah, I think you're seeking too far. I also think the role behind Gilliam (the character) is left rather ambiguous, as - why would you take Wilford's word on Gilliam? After all, Gilliam does implore the cutting out of the tongue of Wilford - suggesting that its full of lies ......... (sorry for spoilers ...)
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