Writer-director Terry Gilliam followed his Oscar-nominated dystopian satire Brazil (1985) with his most visually spectacular film to date, inspired by writer Rudolf Erich Raspe’s collection of tales about a fabulist and his unlikely adventures. The witty fantasy in the vein of Gilliam’s classic Time Bandits (1981), follows the Baron (John Neville) and young Sally Salt (9-year-old Sarah Polley, who has gone on to her own impressive career as an Oscar-nominated filmmaker) as they travel to the moon, into a volcano, and under the sea. Munchausen received nominations for Art Direction, Costume Design, Makeup, and Visual Effects, and features a memorable cameo by an Oscar-winning comedy star. 

DIRECTED BY: Terry Gilliam. WRITTEN BY: Charles McKeown, Terry Gilliam. WITH: John Nevile, Eric Idle, Sarah Polley, Oliver Reed. 1988. 126 min. UK/West Germany. Color. English. Rated PG; suitable for ages 12+. DCP.

Academy Museum film programming generously funded by the Richard Roth Foundation.