Terry Gilliam Says Trump ‘Killed' His ‘Carnival at the End of Days' Film: He ‘Destroyed Satire'
Yet now Gilliam is back to the drawing board. The filmmaker told THR ahead of the Umbria Film Festival (where he serves as honorary president) that he will have to 'rewrite' the film, as Trump's presidency has 'destroyed satire' as a concept.
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'He's fucked up the latest film I was working on,' Gilliam said of the president. 'Because it was a satire about the last several years when things were going as they were. He's turned it upside down. So he's killed my movie.'
He added, 'I had a sub-title that said: 'Great fun for all of those who enjoy taking offense.' That was how I approached it. I think Trump has destroyed satire. I mean, how can you be satirical about what's going on in the way he's doing the world? […] I think Trump has changed things considerably. He's turned the world upside down. I don't know if people are going to be laughing more, but they're probably less frightened to laugh. There have been woke activists with a very narrow, self-righteous point of view. That's frightened so many people, and so many people have been very timid about telling jokes, making fun of things, because if you tell a joke, these people say you're punching down at somebody. No, you're finding humor in humanity!'
However, the project could still be salvaged with a few tweaks. 'With 'Carnival,' the other day I was thinking I was going to put a little preamble on it saying that what you're about to see takes place during the period historians refer to as the Trump lost years from 2020 to 2024. […] I think I've got to rewrite a lot of it. I'm still trying to decide how to approach that.'
Bridges was set to play the voice of God, with Depp cast as Satan. Jason Momoa, Asa Butterfield, Emma Laird, and Tom Waits also star.
'You'd think everybody would be rushing forward to give me all the money I need,' Gilliam said of the cast, saying the stars are 'quite good.' 'It's not as easy as that.'
He concluded, 'Irony [and] satire [are] basically dead. And humor, to me, is probably one of the most essential things in life. You've got six senses, and the seventh sense is humor, and if you don't have that, life is going to be miserable.'
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