A veteran of the famous British comedy troupe Monty Python, Terry Gilliam is well known for his outrageous animation work for the group. His cartoons have often been cited as a sort of preview of his own unique filmmaking style. After the members of Monty Python went their separate ways in the mid-1980s, Gilliam, the only American-born member of the troupe, made a name for himself as the director of stylistically and thematically adventurous films. As Michael Wilmington remarked in the Chicago Tribune, "Wild, lavish, bursting at the seams, set in outrageously cluttered worlds where past, present and future seem to crisscross delightfully, Gilliam's films look like nobody else's." Indeed, Gilliam's cinematic efforts, which include Time Bandits, Brazil, The Adventures of Baron Munchausen, The Fisher King, and 12 Monkeys, all bear the unmistakable stamp of a man fascinated by mythology, contemporary society, and spectacular--if often nightmarish--imagery.

Gilliam was...