FABULOUS ADVENTURES OF BARON MUNCHAUSEN Movie Review

Baron Munchausen
The Fabulous Baron Munchausen
The Original Fabulous Adventures of Baron Munchausen
Baron Prasil

This eye-popping follow-up to Czech animator Karel Zeman's The Fabulous World of Jules Verne (Vynález zkázy) was conceived on a larger scale than the earlier film, and was filmed in color. Nevertheless, it's just not as much fun, and that's probably a result of the plodding, episodic, “tall tale” nature of the Baron Munchausen legend; the story's clunky structure has been a drag on every one of the many filmed versions of the story, from the 1943 German version through Terry Gilliam's in 1989 (there were silent versions as well, but they were shorter). What this version of the legend does have, however, is the enchanting, refined, and elegant imagery that was the hallmark of all of Zeman's productions. Like miniature Gustave Dore engravings come to life, each of the Baron's adventures—whether in a whale's belly, riding a cannonball, or walking on the moon—is designed with a graceful understatement that makes you rethink your definition of “special effects.” Original title: Baron Prásil.

NEXT STOP … The Fabulous World of Jules Verne, Baron Müenchhausen (1943), The Adventures of Baron Munchausen (1989)

1961 84m/C GE Milos Kopecky, Jana Brejchova, Rudolph Jelinek, Jan Werich; D: Karel Zeman; W: Karel Zeman; C: Jiri Tarantik; M: Zdenek Liska. VHS ART, VES, TPV