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Terry Gilliam’s (Brazil, Monty Python and The Holy Grail) “The Fisher King” has long been one of my favorite films. It is an early 90’s, post-modern classic that utilizes Robin William’s skills before he became a caricature of himself. The film centers on Jack, a Howard Stern-like shock jock whose morning tirade against yuppies influences an unstable fan to open fire on a local restaurant. The fallout for Jack is that he loses his job, his wealth, and everything else he cared about. Fast forward three years, and Jack is a suicidal alcoholic living above a video rental store. Jack’s attempted suicide, and subsequent assault by a group of yuppie youth is foiled by Parry (Williams), an equally unstable homeless man who believes that he is a knight on a quest for the Holy Grail which he believes resides in a millionaire’s home in New York. The catch is that Parry’s wife died in the restaurant shooting, and Jack feels responsible for Parry’s life falling apart. The solution? Help Parry regain his life, and Jack will regain his.
I hadn’t seen “The Fisher King” in about 10 years, but when I was teaching English it was a staple in my medieval literature sections because of its knight on a quest theme. Seeing it years later brought new thoughts to mind. It has all the elements of a good post-modern story. Within it is the knowledge that we don’t live exclusive lives. We can’t say and do what we want; at least we can’t in good conscience. We may live that way for a while but realizing the effects and the power of our words and actions should cause us to change. The lack of change in light of understanding our life’s impact is portrayed as sub-human.
There is also the wonderful element of the reality of the spiritual in the film. Parry hears voices guiding him on his spiritual journey to reclaim the Holy Grail, “the symbol of God’s mercy on earth.” Parry knows that he needs mercy in light of his wife’s death, and he believes he can experience it by reclaiming the grail. Jack knows that he needs redemption and that his life will never get straightened out with it. He pursues it by helping Parry clean up and get a date with a woman he admires from afar, but this is not enough. Parry needs spiritual redemption, and Jack realizes that he does as well. The denouement is slightly trite, but the overall sentiment of the movie triumphs and provides a wonderful foundation for the presentation of the gospel.
“The Fisher King” proudly presents all of us as deeply flawed and shows how our sin has profound effects on us and the people around us. We see that no matter what we do, we need a redemption that is otherworldly and mystical. We see that even our best efforts fall short if we do them with selfish motives. “The Fisher King” proclaims that are own hearts condemn us, and salvation lies outside of our self. Truer words are rarely spoken in mainstream cinema.
Gordon Duncan is the church planter/pastor of Sovereign King Church in Garner, NC. He blogs daily.
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