TERRY GILLIAM ON STEVEN SPIELBERG: “BRILLIANT” BUT NOT “HONEST”

Director Terry Gilliam — the onetime American member of Monty Python who created the often bizarre graphics for the satirical group — has admitted that he is “jealous” of Steven Spielberg, even while criticizing his moviemaking as immature. Appearing for an interview on Rumanian TV, Gilliam responded to a question from host Catalin Stephanescu, who said he wanted to pretend to be Spielberg and ask him about things Gilliam had said about him in the past. To the first question about “whether you have a personal problem with me,” Gilliam replied, “No, not at all. I’m just very jealous of you, your success, your talent, your skills, you’re brilliant. I just think your ideas are a bit simplistic, that’s all. I think you’re the best storyteller out there, I just think your stories are not completely grown up and honest.” With “Spielberg” referring to Gilliam’s criticism of Schindler’s List, Gilliam responded that he agreed with Stanley Kubrick’s similar criticism of the movie. “[He] said the problem with Schindler’s List is that Steven made a film about success, [but] the holocaust is about failure.” What he himself would like to see, Gilliam said, is filmmakers using film as “a powerful tool.” He added, “If we’re not educating people, making them think, making them look at the world with fresh eyes, what are we doing?”