At age 64, Terry Gilliam continues to confound. "Tideland," his latest and perhaps most challenging film, was an excursion into low-budget and fast shooting for the director, who is known for tortuous production difficulties. (See the documentary "Lost in La Mancha," about his failed attempt to shoot "Don Quixote.") The Minnesotan -- now holding a U.K. passport -- is still best known by many for his work as the in-house animator for the Monty Python crew. As a director, however, he remains cinema's premier fantasist, one of the few taking creative risks with big-budget films: His "Brazil" is widely regarded as a landmark of science-fiction filmmaking on a par with Stanley Kubrick's "2001." The director, always known for his films' irreverent wit, displays it in person too, and this interview was punctuated by regular waves of laughter.
I had thought "Fear And Loathing in Las Vegas" would be the most bizarre Terry Gilliam film I'd ever see.
[Laughs.] No, no. This one hits more weird nerve ends.