The Fisher King: Difference between revisions

| budget = $24 million<ref name="numbers">{{cite web |title= The Fisher King (1991) -– Financialfinancial Informationinformation |url= https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Fisher-King-The#tab=summary |website= [[The Numbers (website)|The Numbers]] }}</ref>

'''''The Fisher King''''' is a 1991 American [[fantasy film|fantasy]] [[comedy-drama filmdrama]] film written by [[Richard LaGravenese]] and directed by [[Terry Gilliam]]. Starring [[Robin Williams]] and [[Jeff Bridges]], with [[Mercedes Ruehl]], [[Amanda Plummer]], and [[Michael Jeter]] in supporting roles, the film tells the story of a [[radio]] [[shock jock]] who tries to find redemption by helping a man whose life he inadvertently shattered. It explores "the intermingling of [[New York City]]'s usually strictly separated [[social strata]]",<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.criterion.com/current/posts/3606-michael-s-turn-michael-jeter-in-the-fisher-king|title=Michael's Turn: Michael Jeter in The Fisher King|first=Michael|last=Koresky|date=June 24, 2015|website=The Criterion Collection}}</ref> and has been described as "a modern-day [[Grail Quest]] that fused New York romantic comedy with timeless fantasy".<ref name="auto">{{Cite web|url=https://www.rogerebert.com/features/retrieving-the-grail-robin-williams-and-the-fisher-king|title=Retrieving the Grail: Robin Williams and "The Fisher King" &#124; Features &#124; Roger Ebert|first=Niles|last=Schwartz|website=[[RogerEbert.com]]|date=15 August 2014 }}</ref>

The film was released in the United States by [[TriStar Pictures]] on September 20, 1991. It received generally favorable reviews from critics, and grossed $72 million on a $24 million budget. At the [[64th Academy Awards]], the film earned five nominations, including [[Academy Award for Best Actor|Best Actor]] for Williams and [[Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay|Best Original Screenplay]] for LaGravenese, with Ruehl winning [[Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress|Best Supporting Actress]], making ''The Fisher King'' the only Oscar-winning film of Gilliam's career.

Jack Lucas, a [[Narcissistic personality disorder|narcissistic]], [[Misanthropy|misanthropic]] [[shock jock]], becomes [[Suicidal ideation|suicidal]] and despondentsad when he learns that some of his insensitive on-air comments inadvertently promptprompted a mentally unstable regular caller, Edwin, to commit a [[mass murder|mass]] [[murder–suicide]] at a [[Manhattan]] restaurant. Three years later, Jack is working for his girlfriend, Anne, in aher video store, and is in a mostly drunken, depressed state, fearful of being recognized.

One night, while [[Binge drinking|on a bender]], he contemplatesis moments from suicide. However, he is attacked and nearly set on fire by thugsteenage [[Punk subculture|punks]] who mistake him for a homeless person. He is rescued by Parry, a delusional homeless man who claims that his mission is to find the [[Holy Grail]].

Parry tries to enlist Jack's help in getting the grailGrail, explaining that God charged the [[Fisher King]] was charged by God with finding the Holy Grail, but incurred an incapacitating wound for his sin of [[Pride (sin)|pride]]. "A Fool asks the King why he suffers, and when the King says he is thirsty, the Fool gives him a cup of water to drink. The King realizes the cup is the Grail and asks, 'How did you find what my brightest and bravest could not?' The Fool said 'I don't know. I only knew that you were thirsty.'"

Jack is initially reluctant, but acquiesces after learning that he is partially responsible for Parry's current condition. Parry, whose real name is Henry Sagan, had been a teacher at [[Hunter College]]. After witnessing his wife's gruesome death at the same mass shooting that Jack had provoked, Henry had a [[psychotic break]] and became [[catatonic]]. When he wokeawakened, he hadtook takenon the persona of Parry and became obsessed with the legend of the Fisher King. With Parry as his shielding persona, mentions of reality panic him, and he is continually haunted by a terrifying, hallucinatory [[Red Knight]], from a distorted memory of his wife's head exploding from a shotgun blast.

Jack seeks to redeem himself by helping Parry find love again. Lydia, a shy woman with whom Parry is smitten, is prodded intoto meetingmeet Parry andto joiningjoin Jack and Anne for a dinner date. AfterwardsAfterward, Parry walks Lydia home and declares his love for her;. sheShe reciprocates, but the brush with reality summons the Red Knight. Fleeing his vision and the memory of his wife's murder, he is ambushed by the same thugspunks against whom he had defended Jack. Beaten and knifed mercilessly, Parry becomes catatonic again. Jack, feeling whole again after '"saving'" Parry, breaks up with Anne and begins to rebuild his career. However, buthe has a crisis of conscience during a [[sitcom]] pitch after snubbing a vagrant who had previously done him a favor for him.

After finding out what happened to Parry, Jack dons Parry's clothing and infiltrates the [[Upper East Side]] castle of a famous architect and retrieves the "Grail", a trophy whichthat Parry believes to be the real Grail. During the theft, Jack finds the architect unconscious from attempting suicide. He triggers the alarm while leaving, alerting authorities and saving the man's life.

When he brings the “Grail”"Grail" to Parry, Parry regains consciousness and tells a silent Jack that he's is ready to miss his wife now. Lydia comes to visitvisits Parry in the hospital; she finds him awake and leading the patients of the ward in a rendition of the song, "[[How About You?]]", with Jack. Parry and Lydia embrace, and Jack reconciles with Anne, telling her that he loves her. She slaps him, but then grabs and kisses him. LaterThat night, Jack and Parry lie naked in [[Central Park]] gazing at the clouds, as they view a fireworks display over New York presents "The End".

* [[Robin Williams]] as Henry "Parry" Sagan

* [[Melinda Culea]] as Sitcom Wife

During an appearance on an episode of ''The Directors'', Gilliam stated that he wanted to do the film because he was tired of big -budget special -effects films, such as his previous film, ''[[The Adventures of Baron Munchausen]]'', which went over budget and cost overmore than $45 million, nearly twice as much as ''The Fisher King''{{'}}s budget of $24 million. This was the first film that Gilliam directed in which he was not involved in writing the [[screenplay]], as well as his first film not to not feature any other members of [[Monty Python]].

According to ''The Directors'' episode, Gilliam came up with the scene wherein which Robin Williams andshadows Amanda Plummer meet duringthrough a hugelarge crowd performing a waltz in the middle of [[Grand Central Terminal]], because he felt that the scene that LaGravenese had written, in which a large group of people in a crowded subway listen to a homeless woman sing with a beautiful voice that fills the room, wasn'twas not working. Initially, He was hesitanthesitated about this at first, because his original intentions were just to shoot the script, and the waltz would make it "a Terry Gilliam film". The scene was shot in one night with a mix of professional extras and passengers alighting from the train.

The film did moderately well at the box office,<ref>{{cite news|title= Weekend Box Office 'House Party 2' Takes Top Spot |work= [[The Los Angeles Times]]|date=1991-10-29|url= httphttps://articleswww.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1991-10-29/entertainment/-ca-481_1_house481-partystory.html|access-date=2011-01-01|first=David J.|last=Fox}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title= Terminator 2 About to Hit $200-Million Mark : Movies: While fall releases are in box-office slump, the summer smash climbs to 13th on all-time domestic ticket sales list. |work= [[The Los Angeles Times]]|date=1991-10-31|url= httphttps://articleswww.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1991-10-31/entertainment/-ca-816_1_box816-offices/2story.html|access-date=2011-01-01|first=David J.|last=Fox}}</ref> with a gross of almost $42 million in the United States and Canada,<ref name="allmovie">{{cite web|url=http://allmovie.com/work/77235|title=The Fisher King > Overview |publisher=Rovi Corporation|work=AllMovie.com |access-date=2010-10-22}}</ref> and an international gross of $30.5 milionmillion,<ref>{{cite magazine|magazine=[[Daily Variety]]|date=June 26, 1992|last=Evan Frook|first=John|title=Col TriStar tide rising overseas|page=1}}</ref> for a worldwide total of $72.4 million.

| rowspan="75"| 20/20[[64th Academy Awards|Academy Awards]]

| [[Richard LaGravenese]]

| Art Direction: [[Mel Bourne]]; <br> Set andDecoration: [[Cindy Carr]]

| [[George Fenton]]

| [[Casting Society of America#Artios Awards|Artios Awards]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.castingsociety.com/awards/artios/1992 |title=Nominees/Winners |publisher=[[Casting Society of America]] |access-date= January 6, 2019}}</ref>

| [[Howard FeurerFeuer]]

| rowspan="3"|[[Boston Society of Film Critics Awards Circuit1991|Boston Society of Film CommunityCritics Awards]]

| rowspan="2"| [[45th British Academy Film Awards|British Academy Film Awards]]<ref>{{cite web |url=http://awards.bafta.org/award/1992/film |title=BAFTA Awards: Film in 1992 |website=[[BAFTA]] |year=1992 |access-date=16 September 2016 |ref={{harvid|BAFTA|1992}}}}</ref>

| [[BAFTA Award for Best Original Screenplay|Best Original Screenplay – Original]]

| rowspan="3"| [[Chicago Film Critics Association Awards 1991|Chicago Film Critics Association Awards]]<ref>{{cite web|url=https://chicagofilmcritics.org/awards-blog/archives |title=1988-2013 Award Winner Archives |website=[[Chicago Film Critics Association]] |access-date=August 24, 2021}}</ref>

| [[Terry Gilliam]]

| rowspan="5"| [[49th Golden Globe Awards|Golden Globe Awards]]<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.goldenglobes.com/film/fisher-king |title=The Fisher King – Golden Globes |website=[[HFPA]] |access-date=July 5, 2021 |ref={{harvid|HFPA|1992}}}}</ref>

| rowspan="2"| [[Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy|Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy]]

| [[Jeff Bridges]]

| rowspan="5"| [[1991 Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards|Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards]]<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.lafca.net/Years/1991.php |title=The Annual 17th Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards |website=[[Los Angeles Film Critics Association]] |access-date=August 24, 2021}}</ref>

| [[Toronto Film Critics Association|Toronto Film Critics Association Awards]]<ref>{{cite web |url=https://torontofilmcritics.com/past-award-winners/ |title=TFCA Past Award Winners |website=[[Toronto Film Critics Association]] |date=May 29, 2014 |access-date=August 24, 2021}}</ref>

The film was released on [[VHS]] and Laserdisc[[LaserDisc]] by [[Columbia TriStar Home Video]] in 1992.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Hunt |first1=Dennis |title=Price of Laser Recorders Limits Market : Affordable compact disc units may be just a few years away, but don't expect a budget laser disc machine soon. |access-date=30 March 2023 |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1992-01-24-ca-509-story.html |work=Los Angeles Times |date=January 24, 1992 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20230330062232/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1992-01-24-ca-509-story.html |archive-date=March 30, 2023}}</ref> The first Laserdisc release was a full-screenfullscreen presentation, but showed more vertical information while cropping horizontally. The second release in 1997 presentspresented the film in its theatrical ratio of 1.85:1 theatrical ratio. [[The Criterion Collection]] released their Laserdisc version in 1993 with several extras that have not surfaced on any other release, and a director-approved widescreen transfer in 1.66:1.

The film was first released on [[DVD]] in 19981999 by Columbia TriStar Home Video, using the same master as the 1997 Laserdisc release, with only the theatrical trailer as a special feature.<ref Thisname="AllMovie">{{cite releaseweb was|title=The oneFisher ofKing the- oldestReleases DVD|url=https://www.allmovie.com/movie/the-fisher-king-v77235/releases titles|website=[[AllMovie]] to|access-date=30 stillMarch remain in print.2023}}</ref> In 2011, [[Image Entertainment]] released the film on [[Blu-ray]], utilizing a new HDhigh-definition master in the theatrical ratio of 1.85:1 theatrical ratio, with [[Dolby Digital]] Tru-HD 5.1 surround, with no special features.<ref name="AllMovie" />

On JuneApril 2311, 20152023, [[The Criterion Collection]]again re-released the film on Blu[[4K resolution|4K]] [[Ultra-rayhigh-definition andtelevision|Ultra DVDHD]] Blu-ray, featuring a brand new 2K4K transfer and DTS-HDrestoration 5.1approved surroundby soundTerry mixGilliam.

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