Robin Williams Tribute Month: The Fisher King (1991)

Terry Gilliam's films have always offered something unique to the viewer. They're quirky and fun whilst harbouring some fairly challenging and profound themes, no wonder then that Robin Williams was such a perfect match for Gilliam's 1991 classic The Fisher King.

Jack Lucas (Jeff Bridges) is a radio shock-jock that makes a living from his pessimistic opinions, until one day, a mentally-unstable caller takes his views too seriously and goes on a rampage. Three years later, working in a video store with his girlfriend Anne (Mercedes Ruehl), Jack attempts to commit suicide, but is interrupted by a gang that mistakenly identifies him as a homeless man and beats him.

 He is saved by Parry (Robin Williams), the leader of the local homeless collective. Parry convinces Jack to help him on his quest to find the Holy Grail and recounts the tale of the Fisher King to him. However Jack discovers that Parry's delusions and homelessness are due to the massacre three years earlier, and so, suffering a moral crisis, Jack attempts to help Parry turn his life around.

Before I get onto William's performance, a word about the supporting cast. Bridges is, as usual, fantastic in the lead, portraying the selfish and ignorant Jack, who we still empathise with thanks to the extreme guilt he suffers. Mercedes Ruehl (who won the Academy Award for Best Actress) as Anne, is also very good, a charismatic kindly soul that is unfortunately stuck in a loveless relationship, beset by her loneliness and desperation.

As usual with Robin Williams' more serious performances, all I can say is, wow. The sheer raw emotion that gushes from his conflicted performance as Parry is both beautiful and confronting. Parry has such a love for life yet struggles with his inner psychological demons, and Williams is able to jump from these different states with ease. Some people have criticised Williams for supposedly over-acting here, but I don't find that at all. Just with Jack Nicholson in The Shining, he portrays a character struggling with his conflicts and on the verge of a breakdown. It's not over-acting, it's being human.

The film is another of Gilliam's wild fantasies, much like Brazil and The Adventures of Baron Munchausen, hence it is full of his quirky set-design, wide angle low shots and most of his other stylistic attributes. Yet it's the touching story that really resonated with me, if you're a fan of Robin Williams and human interest films, I urge you to take a look.