For many film fans, even those who love Terry Gilliam, “The Adventures of Baron Munchausen” isn’t much more than a cult classic film. Even though it was meant to be a huge blockbuster, the film bombed upon its theatrical release and has been a bit forgotten over the decades since its 1988 release, as other Gilliam ventures garnered more acclaim. But for Sarah Polley, she’ll never, ever forget ‘Baron Muchausen’ and the trauma she felt while making the film.
In an excerpt from her upcoming novel, “Run Towards the Danger” (via The Guardian), Polley details the time she spent leading up to being cast in ‘Baron Munchausen’ and how the subsequent production of the film traumatized her, largely due to the alleged reckless behavior by filmmaker Gilliam.
Polley begins by explaining she grew up a huge fan of “Monty Python,” the comedy troupe that included Gilliam as a member. She was incredibly excited to be part of the cast of ‘Baron Munchausen,” even at the age of 8. However, when she started filming action scenes involving explosions, things began to fall apart.
“As we went into production, things quickly began to fall apart,” explained Polley. “Terry was erratic, a dreamer, someone who didn’t live in the world of ‘logic and reason’ – just as the Baron himself didn’t. I would overhear the crew complain that plans, months in the making, would suddenly be replaced at the last minute with wild, ambitious impulses that put enormous pressure on the crew, the budget and the schedule.”
Polley details several instances of how Gilliam’s antics on set almost caused her physical harm, including her first scene where explosions were involved. The filmmaker took the young Polley and walked her through the route she would run when the explosions would go off. And she was told that she’d never be near the explosions and that she would be safe from danger. Of course, when the scene was filming and the young actress was put closer to the explosions than she realized, Polley freaked out.
“I ran, terrified, straight into the camera, tripping over the dolly tracks,” she said. “Terry laughed and looked perplexed. ‘What happened?’ he asked, as though I had just run screaming from a slow-moving merry-go-round. I couldn’t breathe. It didn’t seem possible that this could have been the plan, that things hadn’t just gone terribly wrong. But they hadn’t. This was the plan. And I had just ruined the take. I was mortified. It took a long time to reset the take and while Terry didn’t show any frustration about the delay, he also didn’t seem to notice how scared I was.”
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She continued, “I had to do it again. I had to do it until I got it right. I went cold with fear, shaking. I sobbed in my father’s arms in between takes and pleaded with him to intervene. He held me close, soothing me. But when an assistant director came over to say they needed another take, my father said, with genuine remorse: ‘I’m afraid they have to do it again, love. I’m sorry. There’s nothing I can do.’ And so I ran the gauntlet of explosives again. And again. And again.”
As if the aforementioned scene with explosions wasn’t enough, there was another scene involving a horse and a water explosion that went awry. According to Polley, a horse got spooked by the noise, almost trampled her and other actors, and caused an explosion to go off way closer to her than it should have.
“I remember a hard, crushing sensation in my chest and being carried towards an ambulance as the crew looked on, alarmed,” the actress said. “I remember that the doctors were kind, that my parents were told there was nothing wrong with me and that I went back to work the next day. The scenes with explosions continued, each one terrifying me more than the last.”
You can read the entire excerpt from the book at The Guardian. But it does continue to explain how Polley experienced more and more chaos and terrifying situations while filming ‘Baron Munchausen.’ And she goes onto explain how she tried to reconcile with Gilliam years later, in her 20s. However, things didn’t go well and the filmmaker tried to tell her that her memories were betraying her. It wasn’t until she was much older that she met up with a crew member from the production who affirmed that her recollections were correct.
All told, it would appear that Polley suffered some extreme mental anguish while filming ‘Baron Munchausen,’ and she blames Gilliam’s recklessness for it.