RETRO MOVIE REVIEW: THE FABULOUS BARON MUNCHAUSEN, 1962

THE FABULOUS BARON MUNCHAUSEN, 1962 (original title BARON PRÃSIL). Directed by Karl Zeman (INVENTION FOR DESTRUCTION, 1958 and WAR OF FOOLS, 1964). Based on Rudolf Erich Raspe’s original tales of Baron Munchausen. Starring Milos Kopecký, Rudolf Jelínek, and Jana Brejchová.

To me, the only way to truly experience the pure outlandish spectacle that is Baron Munchausen is to jump in with both feet and enjoy the ride. Before the Baron’s adaptation to the silver screen, his adventures had been a staple of fantastic entertainment for hundreds of years. Decades before Terry Gilliam (TIME BANDITS, 1981; BRAZIL, 1985) had a go at the legendary adventurer, there was Karl Zeman’s adaptation. You can definitely see the influence Zeman had on Gilliam’s production designs going way back to his animations on MONEY PYTHON’S FLYING CIRCUS, 1969-1974.

Zeman was a pure visualist, starting at its most basic of visual representation. He was an artist, window dresser, poster illustrator, animator, production designer, and most notably a talented director that could seamlessly blend live action with animation. His photographic abilities were technically masterful for his time. His use of forced perspective, miniatures, matte paintings, puppetry, stop motion animation, and color filters is absolutely stunning. Zeman pulled out all the latest filmmaking techniques to create a fantastic vision for his films. Just watching one of his films is a crash course of filmmaking knowledge.

The history of Baron Munchausen is a long and illustrious one. Based on a real life Baron – Hieronymus Karl Friedrich, Freiherr von Münchhausen. He fought for the Russian Empire in the Russo-Turkish War of 1735-1739. Upon retiring in 1760, he started to mingle with the German aristocracy telling outlandish tales of his adventures during the war. Raspe heard of Münchhausen’s tall tales and was inspired to write about them. The fictional Baron’s exploits tell of amazing feats as a sportsman, soldier, traveler, adventurer, and lover.

With style and grace the Baron would travel to the moon and back on a ship carried by winged horses. He would ride cannonballs and defeat whole armies single handedly. He would travel the world in the belly of a giant sea monster. He would fight hundred foot crocodiles. At the same time, he would court a beautiful princess or queen.

What better way to show off your filmmaking chops than to tackle the adventures of Baron Munchausen! Zeman’s version of the Baron is quite stimulating. It’s cinematic eye candy that is truly inspirational. Milos Kopecký is cast perfectly as the Baron. He plays the part with a great sense of elegance and grace. It takes a special kind of actor to be able to play a sophisticated nobleman with a great sense of comedic timing.

Aside from the cinematic aspect of Baron Munchausen, there’s the artistic and literary aspect. It’s a rabbit hole worth traveling down. Seriously, look him up! Baron Munchausen.

In the meantime, get a copy of this film and enjoy!