We have come to the end of our Karel Zeman trilogy, or at least of the films featured in the Criterion set I have. With this film, we not only see Zeman continue to push his craft, but also take on a more fantastical and humorous story, as opposed to the sci-fi adventures of his previous two. The filmmaking in this is just as, if not more, amazing and imaginative as Invention for Destruction was, and Baron Munchausen himself makes for, though a bit full of himself, a funny and entertaining character. Modern audiences might take issue with how the princess is treated in the film, which I can understand, this is still one of the best renderings of a classic adventure story that I’ve ever seen on film. Well, enough intro, let’s talk about the story.
We open on an astronaut named Tonik landing on the moon. As he searches this vast new landscape, he comes across the characters from Jules Verne’s From the Earth to the Moon, who have apparently been hanging out with Cyrano de Bergerac and Baron Munchausen after their respective trips up here. They take a liking to Tonik but seem to think that he’s actually a “Moonman” who’s never seen Earthlings before, leading to some well-meaning but condescending attitudes from the group. Munchausen decides to take Tonik to see Earth “for the first time,” and the two head off in the Baron’s ship, which is flown through space by several winged horses (pegasi?). They land in the Constantinople and visit the Ottoman Emperor, whom the Baron is on good terms with, but Tonik ends up insulting as he doesn’t know “proper diplomacy.” Tonik also ends up falling for the emperor’s daughter, Princess Bianca, and with the help of the Baron, tries to break her out of the tower she resides in. The Baron fights off a ton of soldiers while Tonik makes sure the princess can get out safely, and the trio ride off to the coastline. Thankfully, they manage to swim on horseback to a ship that’s willing to take them on-board, and Tonik and Bianca’s budding romance develops on the high seas. However, the Baron takes exception to this, as he was the one that actually fought off all the soldiers and got them out of there. Plus, he’s the great Baron Munchausen, there’s no way the princess would fall for such a “boyish man” like Tonik. They sail for a good long while but are eventually caught in an onslaught of Turkish ships on all sides, firing at them relentlessly. Thankfully, they manage to create a smoke screen of sorts that blocks them from view, leading to the ships taking each other out by mistake. Things seem to be going in their favor, but sadly, enough cannonballs end up hitting their ship anyway, and the crew is forced to leave in the lifeboats. The Baron and Bianca leave in one boat while Tonik leaves in another, and eventually the two are separated in a fog bank. To make matters worse, the Baron and Bianca’s boat ends up getting swallowed by a giant fish, wherein they remain for months. During all this, the Baron tries to woo Bianca, which he thinks he’s being successful at. However, he’s quickly proven wrong when the fish is beached by a hunting ship, and it happens to land on the same beach where Tonik is trying to upgrade a sailing ship to go out and look for them. Bianca and Tonik are overjoyed to see each other again, much to the Baron’s disappointment. However, this isn’t the final stop on their journey, but I’ll leave the summary there, that way you still have some surprises to look forward to. Alright, let’s talk about what I thought of this one.
First off, I have to say that the color work in this film is fantastic. Blue and yellow/gold are used to represent darkness and light, varying from golden daytime/blue nighttime outdoor shots to alternating blue and gold rooms in a zoom-in towards the emperor’s throne room. There’s also a cool use of red tinting on the soldiers during the “princess rescue” bit. Basically, the room goes dark except for occasional flashes of red on the soldiers as Munchausen takes them out. This color usage gives the film a very distinctive look that enhances the old adventure novel vibe of the story (as if you’re looking at the color-tinted illustrations in one of those books), and it’s a look you’ll definitely remember. Of course, Zeman’s penchant for mixed media is just as strong, using various methods to craft his fantastical world. Several aerial creatures are rendered through armature stop-motion, such as the giant birds and the winged horses, looking not too dissimilar to Ray Harryhausen creatures. An interesting detail that I noticed, however, is that one of the said horses almost looks like a toy, as if it’s a robotic flying horse or something. I don’t know if that’s what they were going for, but I like to think that Munchausen was shy one horse so he had to build one himself. While on the surface, most of the sea creatures are brought to life through puppetry (with the exception of a giant spider/water strider in the distance), under the waves, many of them resemble not only figurines, but also cut-outs, creating this fascinating flat-yet-alive look. In fact, the deliberately flat look of some of the shots, and how the subjects move within said shots, almost made me think of Terry Gilliam again. This time, though, I didn’t just think of his fantasy films, but his Monty Python animations as well. Something about the movement made me think of how his cut-out figures would move in that show, though this film is more focused on vibrant adventure rather than surreal humor. It’s funny to note, though, that Gilliam would make his own Munchausen film many years after this one, which I may or may not talk about on here. Anyway, while this film might not be surreally funny, it actually is quite funny in its own way. Baron Munchausen comes across as the sort of guy who is generally a good guy and can be about as amazing as his legends proclaim him to be, but he’s also kind of like a midpoint between Gaston and Inspector Clouseau in some ways. The Baron is self-assured and confidant in his abilities, but sometimes to the point of conceit and with a failure to acknowledge when his accomplishments were somewhat the result of bumbling or happenstance (or even when he’s bumbling in general, such as when he’s trying to kick a ship’s window closed and puts his foot through it). On the topic of his “conceit,” this gets into an aspect of the film people might take issue with: Baron Munchausen’s “wooing” of Bianca. In the process of rescuing her, Munchausen felt that Tonik took the opportunity to “move in on her” first while he left the Baron to fight the soldiers. He’s annoyed by this, but sees it as no big deal, as she will surely fall for the great Baron Munchausen in the end over some boyish Moonman. He continues to think this when he and Bianca are trapped in the fish, but is then flummoxed when, upon their escape, she runs back into Tonik’s arms. He can’t believe that she would “betray the feelings they had formed” and blames it on “women’s fickle hearts.” Yeah, as you can see, Munchausen definitely has an entitlement problem, and I’m sure many will be turned off by that. However, I think it generally works in the film, since the Baron, thankfully, never does anything too untoward to Bianca, and in general the audience would most likely get the impression from the story that the Baron was never going to “win Bianca over” to begin with, so we’re able to laugh at him rather than “tug at our shit collars uncomfortably” (or at least I did). Plus, Tonik proves himself to be just as savvy and adventurous as the Baron in the end, though of course I won’t spoil that for you.
On the whole, I thought this was a very fun and imaginative fantasy adventure and is a true testament to Zeman’s ingenuity and craftsmanship as a filmmaker/visionary. The imagery in his films are visions that I won’t soon forget, as the stories are very classic and well-told with a lot of charm and excitement throughout. I’m glad that I checked out this film collection, it was well worth the money, and I definitely recommend it to anyone that’s interested. Though realistic films are important, it can be easy to forget the magic that the medium can bring to tales of adventure and fantasy. So, go check out The Fabulous Baron Munchausen and Zeman’s other work, you’ll be glad for the rides he takes you on.