‘A Spectacular Mess’: Synopsis

This chapter talks about the film 12 Monkeys from 1995, which was written by the co-author of Blade Runner in 1982 and author of Unforgiven in 1992, David Peoples, and his wife and collaborator Janet Peoples. It mentions Terry Gilliam of Monty Python fame, who directed 12 Monkeys. It also discusses how 12 Monkeys was made on an extremely modest budget of slightly under $30 million, resulting in the film's stars working for far less than their usual fee. The chapter recounts how 12 Monkeys defied expectations by raking in $170 million worldwide and receiving a number of nominations and awards. It describes the critics' response to 12 Monkeys, calling it a spectacular mess, a convoluted film with too many ideas for its own good, and a film with an involving, occasionally baffling storyline.

Free Will, Determinism and Doing What You’re Told

This chapter discusses time travel as the secondary device for exploring the idea of liberty in Terry Gilliam's 12 Monkeys. It analyzes the juxtaposition between free will and determinism, in which the film seems to be caught in something of a bind. It also explains time travel that is one-directional, in which the scientists only ever send people into the past, never into their own future to see if their plan will pan out. The chapter talks about how 12 Monkeys seems to suggest that it is possible to influence the future, which is an idea that is entirely reliant on the illusion of linear time. It examines the debate between compatibilists and incompatibilists that centres on a failure to distinguish between that which is known and that which is real.

On Mis/Perceptions of Reality

This chapter explains how Terry Gilliam's 12 Monkeys went to astonishing lengths to denounce science or humanity's unwavering belief that science and technology will cure all ills. It describes technology and science that were persistently discredited in the film, such as the scientists' time travel mechanism that twice hurls Cole into the wrong time. It also talks about psychiatry as another science of strict distinctions that is debunked by Railly as an inconsistent thought system with no closer link to reality than any 'religion' or 'faith'. The chapter describes the 1990s-set scenes in 12 Monkeys, in which monkeys appear repeatedly on TVs in various scenes, gnawing on their bars, suffering in cruel experiments, or being lowered on strings. It points out intriguing paradoxes of 12 Monkeys, such as the film's fictional worlds, from mythology and art to TV cartoons and commercials.