i kinda understand the all thing with "the fisher king" and Pinocchio
but what about the knight? how does he connect?
and why the story about the king called :"the fisher king" ?
The Fisher King is the "keeper of the Grail" - you can google just the words fisher and grail together and find a bunch of references.
shareDear Mr "rzigron",
to me the Red Knight is the image of devil and all the bad things that happen in the world. Do you remember the scene with the two hoodlums who nearly killed Parry? That knight rode behind and between them as if encouraging the jerks - something like "Come on, kill him, I'll be pleased, your souls will be mine and this insane man will be wasted!"
The (vision) of the Red Knight represents danger, death, violence, pain and murder. It/he occurs when he slips back in his trauma. It reminds him of that horrible situation frozen in his mind when the killer of his wife entered the reataurant and shot his wife and he witnesses the damage done of a bullet to his wife's head. He wants to block that out. The Red Knight is that killer.
shareIndeed, the Red Knight represents how his damaged mind has interpreted the hurt he experienced in his life - all of it has coalesced into this figure of the knight - the movie about defeating the knight and winning the grail is therefore about him surpassing this threat, this obstacle and taking steps to overcome it on his way back to sanity and a life with less suffering. It's a Yungian archetype.
Well said Xumon. The representation in a fantasy image of a realistic scene because of its emotional intensity is also shown in the scene with the ballroom dancing in the station - he made the girl who he is in love the subject of his hope and dreams. Am I right you think?
with [cheese]
You got the answer for the knight - AndreiPavlov seems to be well informed, even better than Ivan Pavlov... ;-)
As for why the king was a fisher, I guess that's because he liked to fish, read the first paragraph here -
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fisher_King
I think the best explanations is this though:
"The French words for "fisher" and "sinner" are almost identical (pêcheur and pécheur respectively)."
HTH
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"If you understood otherwise than I did, you're stupid!
If you like what I don't, you suck!"
I always figured the knight was a symbol of Parry's real past, or specifically how his real life ended, which he was too terrified of facing. The knight only ever showed up when Parry tried to confront his past, like when they were outside the "Grail house" and Jack tried to convince him that he was living a lie. And when he was with Lydia, that brought back memories of his wife, and the same thing happened. That's my theory anyway.........
shareThat is precisely what it is meant to be. The knight is the event that occurred the night when his wife was murdered. He was avoiding the recollection of that night, the memory, the pain, all of it. He had been avoiding dealing with that event, until he went on the date with Lydia and all of it came rushing back. He could no longer hide his feelings, because Lydia had drawn them out. Love, happiness, those feelings conjured up in him memories of his dead wife and then he had to deal with it, which resulted in his breakdown. In essence, he has been in hibernation since the event - never dealing with what happened - and when he tried (again) the same thing happened... he entered a catatonic state.
Of course there is symbolism galore and all kinds of connections between the Arthur legend and the characters (and situations) in this film. However, I think the most important connection is simply the fact that the red knight is the personification of the horror of that night that Parry has been running from.
"...nothing is left of me, each time I see her..." - Catullus
The red knight is a representation of the memory of his wife's death. Look at the red knight and notice all the wierd red tendrils coming off of it. Now look at the death scene in the restaurant. Notice how his wife's face literally flies into his? Pretty dramatic, graphically. The red knight is very similar, graphically. Get it?
shareExactly! In the mind of somebody who is passionate about knights, the trauma of his wife’s murder could look like the Red Knight he has to face, through his fear. That is why there is fire coming out of the Knight, it is the vision of a shotgun shot seen through his wife’s head. This fantastic and rather bold and courageous piece of imagery was what completely made the film for me. Even ‘Jaws’ does not have a “effect” as powerful. Hitchcock always tried to find some way to “include fear in a frame” (my words) and I think Gilliam found a perfect way in a film that actually is quite funny. If you don’t get the Red Knight symbolism (and many don’t), Parry is just crazy to be afraid of the Red Dragon, but when you get it, you understand his pain and Parry becomes a hero in living with so much pain and still being able to do good and feel love.
I’m not sure that I believe in the psychological premise of these ideas, but film has taken those ideas into a different realm where they can exist, true or not, as artistic tools.
The red knight is a representation of the memory of his wife's death. Look at the red knight and notice all the wierd red tendrils coming off of it. Now look at the death scene in the restaurant. Notice how his wife's face literally flies into his? Pretty dramatic, graphically. The red knight is very similar, graphically. Get it?
shareJust wanted to add my voice to this. I agree, the red knight is a manifestation of the event in Parry's past that he's trying to escape from.
Anyone who's ever seen this movie and didn't get bit needs to watch it again.
.. and again and again. :)
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critic02 - The symbolism in this movie is from the fairy tale story of the Fisher King and from the ancient Christian story from the crusades of the search for the Holy Grail. It's an ancient story of a young man who upon seeing a group of knights as a child decides to become one. He runs off to see the world with not a word to his mother who upon realizing he's left, dies of heartbreak. This child now man is Parsifal/Percival (in the movie he's Parry played by Robin Williams). He is now on a quest to find his holy grail or all powerful object that is being guarded by an old sickly king who lives in a well guarded castle. The story goes that he must find the old Fisher King, ask him the right questions, and if he is worthy and experienced enough he will be granted the Holy Grail. The red knight is symbolic of the evil and danger in the world, as well as in the movie the terrible things that humans do to each other. Whenever Parry is confronted with the murder of his wife or other tragic event he can't face, the red knight appears.
At first in the ancient tale, Parsifal (the naive fool) gets to the castle after going through a decimated land, and defeating the red knight, but upon seeing the old king, cannot remember the questions to ask. He must live a bit longer and experience life before he can come back later to try again.
Finally, Parsifal after much travel and living, finds the castle again, asks the old king the right questions, the old king is miraculously healed. Parsifal finds out that the old king is his grandfather (in some versions). Parsifal then is offered all the riches, the castle, and he becomes the new king.
Jeff Bridges' character Jack seems to be dealing with the Pinocchio fairy tale, where the more he doesn't live a truthful life both with himself and others (girlfriend and friend Parry), he becomes less human, less caring.
As others have mentioned, check out the internet for various versions of these ancient fairy tales.
Pinocchio doesn't really have any connection, but the fisher king story does; it's the exact same story as jack's and Parry's. Think about it.
shareThe Red Knight is a representation of all of Perrys demons, he doesn't face, its his guilt and his grief all roled into the symbol of the Red "knight", as you can see then whenever Perry sees the Red Knight it is in a situation where he is facing his reality ... when Jack is talking about perrys mad behaviour and the like, Perry starts seeing the red knight ... the Red Knight represented Perry untouched demons which played on him continuously ,, and eventually caught up to him ... end of discussion!!
shareYes, and the Red night has all his wierd red tendrils coming off beacause of his wife's face literally flies into his.
End
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Nah, the red knight, looking through the Grail legend, is Percival, whose armor was turned red because of his shame.
shareI know the grail legand comes in many forms, but I have never read one where Percival becomes the red knight. I've read several, however, where he battled the red knight, which would be very suitable, seeing as the name Parry is probably short for Parsifal, which is Richard Wagner's name for Percival. Parry = Parsifal = Percival, who defeated the red knight, which Parry sort of does in a way.
shareit's not as complicated as all that.
the red night = reality. that's all. you aren't wrong, reality for parry includes evil, and fear, and his wife's demise, but what it comes down to is whenever parry is about to approach reality, whenever his fantasy world is in danger of being realized as just that, the knight appears.
parry has quit reality because it is too grief-ridden for him to deal with, so whenever he is in jeopardy of rejoining the real world, his fractured mind ressurects the red knight to scare him back into his fantasy.
brilliant symbolism from the master of it, mr. gilliam.
Also I like to agree with vilicles-1, when Jack see's Edwin at the bottom of the stairs when he is trying to get the grail, that is his red knight, and as well as Perry, Jack is also partly doing this so he can come to terms with his past.
Mako 1933-2006
We will never forget you.
Fantastic, that was a very fun read, thank you everyone.
I agree with those that said that The Red Knight represents Parry's illness, or rather his inability to cope with reality, which he ultimately retreats from altogether (at least until healed by Jack's selflessness).
I disagree with the poster who said that The Pinocchio fairy tale doesn't play a large role in this story. Jack and Parry are both trying to become "real" people, and Jack especially is constantly lying to himself by denying his natural state (just like Pinocchio), which (without trying to make it sound too feathery) is one of brotherhood with his fellow man.
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