I’ve been finding myself reflecting
on Robin Williams since the news of his tragic suicide broke a few
days ago. It’s always moments like this when you start to
appreciate what is lost, and when you seriously examine Williams’s
work, it’s instantly apparent what tremendous talent the man had.
As an improvisational comic, Williams was without equal. The man was
lighting fast, and could instantaneously invent comedic routines far
superior to the ones other established comics refined and revised for
years. I imagine Williams’s mind started to run hot as he hit the
full stride of his stream-of-consciousness mania; his words came out
so loud and fast that it got almost to the point of being
intimidating. However, no matter how crazy his commentary became it
was always clear that there was a sincere humanitarian at the
controls – and he never descended into insulting individuals or
generalized groups. Williams found enough absurdity in the human
condition, and though that does seem like an eternal wellspring of
inspiration, it’s surprising how many comedians have to cheat to
get attention.
In many ways, Williams’s talent
didn’t exactly mesh with the silver screen, but he had so much
obvious ability that you had to find a way to use him or you weren’t
being true to the concept of art. In some films he gives tremendous
reserved performances such as in “Good Will Hunting,” but I think
that unless directors can utilize the mania, they really aren’t
taking full advantage of what Williams can do.
“The Fisher King” turned out to be
a pitch perfect project for a guy like Williams. In it, he plays a
regular man who has his life torn apart by tragedy. The tragedy
transforms him from a mild-mannered professor to an indigent who
lives in a junkyard, dresses in rags, and claims to hear the voices
of fairies. The character’s name is Parry, and he seems to
constantly be in the throes of a desperate good mood which his
obviously nothing more than a cracked mask intended to cover up his
spiritual torment (you can see why Williams would be convincing in a
part like this).
Parry thinks of himself as a knight,
and he patrols the city streets in a personal quest to help those in
need. As long as he is able to live in his illusion, he is more or
less a functional person. However, if something happens which allows
him to settle down and remember how regular people behave (falling in
love for example), he is tormented by a vision of a red knight which
chases him back to insanity.
“The Fisher King” is a lovely
story of redemption and healing. The title is from Arthurian legend
and Parry (his name should evoke Percival—or Parcival depending on
the translation you read) tells the story of the Fisher King in one
of his moments of lucidity. Parry inherently knows that he needs the
grail to be healed, so the film becomes a grail quest narrative.
“The Fisher King” was directed by
Terry Gilliam, himself the most manic member of Monty Python, and I
think he was the perfect director to work with Williams. The
performance Gilliam gets out of Williams is manic, but restrained,
and hits all the right notes. I could see how other directors might
be intimidated by Williams and not give him a “safe” environment
in which to create – but Gilliam clearly knew what he was getting
with Williams, and the pairing is inspired.
It really is a beautiful film, and
I especially love the urban fantasy element. There’s a reason that
fantasy remains such a popular genre in the age of cell phones, the
internet, and laptop computers. The image of an armored man riding a
horse in defense of good or as an emissary of evil is powerful, and
Gilliam manages to explore the impact those images have on our
collective psyche. The visual side of the film is stunning, but “The
Fisher King” achieves its power thanks to Robin Williams through
whom the audience perceives terrible torment inflicted upon
tremendous humanity – just like in real life. Go watch “The
Fisher King” or watch it again if you’ve already seen it. It’s
a fitting tribute to a great talent, and it will make you happy...a
little sad too...but mostly happy, which is good.
Robin Williams will be missed.
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