September 23,2005 | The Clarion ARTS & LIFE
‘The Brothers Grimm’ is no Monty Python tale
bv Chrisi Gaskill
by Chrisi Gaslill
Staff Writer
Th9 Brothers Grimm
Directed by Terry Gilliam
(MGM, 2005)
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Terry Gilliam’s The Brothers Grimm is
a bit like an old quilt. It’s tattered, tom,
and the seams are gaping, but there’s magic
in it all the same. From a confused back
ground story to an unfinished ending, the
movie has style, but lacks a distinct pur
pose.
The brothers, Wilhelm (Matt Damon)
and Jacob Grimm (Heath Ledger), are con
artists in French occupied Germany who
“save” villages from fake witches and de
mons of the Grimms’ own design. It is not
long before Delatombe (Jonathan Pryce)
catches them. Instead of executing the
brothers, Delatombe sends them, accom
panied by his Italian torturer, Cavaldi (Pe
ter Stormare), to the small village of
Marbaden where children are disappear
ing in the woods at an alarming rate.
Angelika (Lena Headey), a local
woman who knows the forest’s secrets,
becomes the brothers’ guide. The enchant
ments of the forest, however, are far too
real, and the brothers find
themselves hip deep in a veri
table collage of fairytales -
including a 500-year-old evil
queen (Monica Bellucci)
locked away in her tower,
questing for everlasting
beauty.
Unfortunately, the
Brothers Grirrun can’t make
up their minds about what
kind of people they want to
be. The brothers are charla
tans, clowns, romantic he
roes, and magicians - what
ever is convenient for them at that particu
lar moment. I was pleasantly surprised at
Ledger’s performance of Jacob, the quiet,
scholarly little brother. This is a new role
for him that he took on splendidly. Peter
Stormare is so over the top as a bizarre
Italian torturer that there are times when he
is utterly incoherent.
Visually, the movie is stunning, but
some of the elements don’t quite match
up, leaving the viewer slightly bewildered.
One minute the forest has an otherworldly
glow, and the next it appears to be an ordi
nary wood. This was due to
Gilliam’s cinematographer, Nicola
Pecorini, being fired halfway
through the movie. Yet there is
beauty in The Brothers Grimm.
There are wonderful allu
sions to various fairytales. A
little girl in a red cape who
doesn’t come back; “Hans” and
“Greta,” who leave a trail of
bread crumbs; long hair used as
rope to climb down from a tower;
a gingerbread man who can not
be caught; and an evil queen
who wishes to be “the fairest of
them all” are just a few of the great under
tones that can be found in the movie.
Overall, the movie is slightly confus
ing and choppy. Despite its rough exterior,
it has magical elements that take the viewer
back to when they first heard the Grimms’
fairytales. There is a living feeling to the
movie that transports the viewer to a very
special place: “once upon a time”.
Asheyille-based band headlines Roxaway festival
by Zack Harding
Staff Writer
It is always such a pleasure to discover
a new band that is absolutely flooring. This
is definitely the case with the Asheville
based band Fifth House, a combination
funk/rock/jam outfit.
The band formed in 1999 and stayed
together until 2000. It has only been back
together again since April of 2005, though
not that anyone would ever be able to tell.
Influences include Phish, the GratefijI Dead,
and Stevie Wonder (probably the most
evident of the three).
The groove is held together by the
unky and solid six-string bass playing of
ob Heyer and the tight drumming of Mike
shworth. The majority of the lead work
IS shared between guitarist and lead vocal
ist Corey Bullman and keyboardist Kevin
Scala.
An interesting thing about the band
>s that the focus neither falls on improvisa
tion or songwriting in particular but rather
a great marriage thereof. They are the
songwriter s jam band, so there is no need
to fear 20 minute freak out sections or clut
tered improvisation, they jam with a great
sense of musicianship and purpose. Not
even the longest of their songs seem con
trived; everything is in its right place.
The band recently played at the
Roxaway music festival at Lake Toxaway,
N.C. Most bands at the festival were quite
phenomenal, but none stepped close to the
show put on by Fifth House. They pos
sess that unique power of stage presence
that usually is only felt with larger well-
known acts that have been around for
years.
Though adjectives are often overused,
two come to mind when trying to describe
the danceable sound of their music: fresh
and smooth. Every member contributes
equally to a beautiful outcome, no one
member stands out as the main reference
point. There are certain moments in their
live show that do highlight a specific band
member though, such as the fantastic bass
solo by Heyer at the Roxaway festival.
Another interesting thing that sets
Fifth House apart from most other jam
bands is the rather poetic nature of lyrics
of the bands original songs. In response
to poetry in music, Bullman, who writes
most of the lyrics, said, “People who write
songs are just bad poets.”
The band released a demo in their first
incarnation around 2000 and an EP of se
lected live tracks and studio cuts in 2005.
There is also a full length LP in the works
at the moment, with a likely release in early
2006.
Drummer Ashworth said that one
of the most important things for people to
understand is the importance of support
ing live music. Fifth house is certainly a
band whose live music is worth being sup
ported, and since they are coming to
Jason’s on Main Street on Oct. 1, hope
fully many will take this opportunity.