What filmmaking techniques does The Brothers Grimm use?

CineCode breaks down 5 techniques in The Brothers Grimm (2005): Fairy Tale Structure, Fake Becomes Real Premise, Symbolic Object, Dutch Angle and Defensive Persona.

Who directed The Brothers Grimm?

Terry Gilliam directed The Brothers Grimm, released in 2005. CineCode also covers Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975), Time Bandits (1981), Brazil (1985), The Fisher King (1991), Twelve Monkeys (1995), Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998).

What films are similar to The Brothers Grimm?

Films that share techniques with The Brothers Grimm include Eighth Grade (2018), Fight Club (1999), The Shawshank Redemption (1994), Léon: The Professional (1994).

Fantasy · Adventure · Comedy

The Brothers Grimm

Terry Gilliam, 2005

In French-occupied Germany in 1811, Will and Jake Grimm travel from village to village as con artists, faking exorcisms of monsters that do not exist. Then a French general forces them to investigate missing girls, and the forest turns out to hold something real. Gilliam piles on fairy tale images, from an enchanted horse to a mirror that shows a queen's lost youth.

3 Narrative 1 Cinematography 1 Psychology

At a glance

The Brothers Grimm is a 2005 fantasy, adventure and comedy film directed by Terry Gilliam. This breakdown covers 5 techniques (3 narrative, 1 cinematography and 1 psychology), each with the scene where you can see it. If you like how it is made, Eighth Grade uses several of the same techniques.

Narrative

Fairy Tale Structure

Shaping the story with fairy tale elements such as quests, enchanted figures and moral tests, or letting them break into a realistic world.

How this film uses it

Young girls vanish into a cursed forest, a tower holds an ageless queen and a horse swallows a child whole. The film borrows the curses, quests and enchanted creatures of the old stories. It sets them in a world of French soldiers and muddy villages.

Where to see it

The forest chase. An enchanted horse swallows a girl named Elsie and runs into the woods, and Angelika, the brothers and Cavaldi give chase.

Narrative

Fake Becomes Real Premise

Starting with characters who fake a supernatural threat, then making the threat real. Their skill at fakery is useless against it.

How this film uses it

Will and Jake spend the opening scenes fooling villagers into believing in curses. When the forest swallows real girls, their tricks no longer help. The joke turns into a test of whether they will risk something for people they used to cheat.

Where to see it

The brothers' routine exorcisms. Will and Jake, with their helpers Hidlick and Bunst, convince villagers that they have driven out a supernatural curse.

Narrative

Symbolic Object

Returning to the same physical object again and again until it means more than what it is. It moves the plot and also stands for the film's main ideas.

How this film uses it

The Queen's magic mirror shows Jake her youthful face, and he is nearly seduced by it. It stands for the vanity that drove her to build the tower and cheat death. The glass is both the villain's weapon and her motive.

Where to see it

Inside the tower. Jake finds the aged Queen alive and almost falls for her young reflection in the mirror.

Cinematography

Dutch Angle

Tilting the camera sideways so the horizon runs diagonally across the frame. The crooked picture makes a scene feel unstable, uneasy or morally off.

How this film uses it

Gilliam tilts the camera throughout, and the woods and villages lean out of true. The crooked frame tells you this storybook world is not safe. It gives the fairy tale a slightly sour edge.

Where to see it

The tower climb. Jake scales the tower in the forest while the frame stays off balance.

Psychology

Defensive Persona

Giving a character a protective manner, such as charm, cynicism or intellect, that hides vulnerability. The audience sees the defense first and the wound it covers later.

How this film uses it

Will and Jake play confident exorcists, and the act hides how little they believe in anything. Jake loves the old tales, and Will hides behind sarcasm. The act cracks once the girls are really in danger.

Where to see it

The brothers' arrest. Cavaldi captures them and brings them to General Delatombe, and their showman act falls apart in front of him.

Questions

The Brothers Grimm: quick answers

What filmmaking techniques does The Brothers Grimm use?: CineCode breaks down 5 techniques in The Brothers Grimm (2005): Fairy Tale Structure, Fake Becomes Real Premise, Symbolic Object, Dutch Angle and Defensive Persona.
Who directed The Brothers Grimm?: Terry Gilliam directed The Brothers Grimm, released in 2005. CineCode also covers Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975), Time Bandits (1981), Brazil (1985), The Fisher King (1991), Twelve Monkeys (1995), Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998).
What films are similar to The Brothers Grimm?: Films that share techniques with The Brothers Grimm include Eighth Grade (2018), Fight Club (1999), The Shawshank Redemption (1994), Léon: The Professional (1994).

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