PLUME: How much of Tideland was a reaction to what was going on with Grimm? Because it was certainly an interesting scenario, where you walk away halfway through Grimm and go shoot Tideland…

GILLIAM: It was. It was an escape. It was my tunnel out. (laughing)

PLUME: What was the breaking point that made Tideland what you had to go do at that period, walking away from Grimm?

GILLIAM: Well, I had been trying to do it before Grimm - it was one of the projects the we didn’t get off the ground. We couldn’t get the money at the time. In the middle of Grimm, Jeremy Thomas finally got the money, and we had to go in September in Canada, before the weather hit us. So there was a real tight deadline. We reached a point on Grimm where there was a pretty definite serious disagreement about what the movie was and what it should be, and rather than just fighting to the death over it, it seemed to me the more intelligent thing for everybody to go back to their respective corners, and I would go off and make Tideland and them come back and see where we were. And that’s basically what happened. We came back and I basically finished the way I wanted to finish it - everybody had come to the agreement that my way was the best way, in the circumstances, and consequently I was having to edit both films at the same time.

PLUME: You’ll probably never do that again…

GILLIAM: I don’t know… Probably not. There are certain advantages, because obviously I have a tendency to become very obsessive about whatever I’m doing, but if I’ve got two things, I can alternate between these two worlds, and escape one and go into the other. In many ways it was actually liberating to work like that.

PLUME: So you’re not burning out any one gear…

GILLIAM: Exactly. Because there’s a point inn the middle of them film - there’s a point where you just don’t know anymore. You’re too close to it. And then you start hating it. So I could leave and go to the other film, which is virginal and beautiful and young and wonderful…

PLUME: And despoil that…

GILLIAM: And then when I’m fed up with that one, I go back to the other one!

PLUME: You’re an evil parent! But I want to go back to a comment you just made… You used the caveat “under the circumstances” when you talked about finishing Grimm the way you wanted to finish it - what percentage of Grimm would you say is the film you originally wanted it to be?

GILLIAM: It’s a really hard one… To be honest, I don’t know. It’s been a long, interesting, difficult journey and… I don’t know.

PLUME: Maybe in a more politically delicate way, are there any lessons that you’ve learned off of your experience with Grimm that you can use to avoid repeating certain situations in the future?

GILLIAM: Not really. It’s what has always been my concern, which is “Who are you working for, or with?” (laughing) I’ve even been very lucky in the past. It’s just… It doesn’t matter. It has to do with personalities and people, and it’s been a very interesting experience. You clock one of these up in your career and you move on. (laughing).

PLUME: But you’ve come pretty close to that situation in the past…

GILLIAM: There’s a difference in this one, in that the fights were at the beginning of the film as opposed to at the end of the film.

PLUME: So instead of them initially trusting you and then learning to regret it… (laughing)

GILLIAM: Exactly! (laughing) Exactly! Well put.

PLUME: They figured they’d cut you off at the pass…

GILLIAM: And so you start thinking, “Well, are we talking about two different films here?” But then you proceed, and then you find out at the end of the day that maybe you were talking about two different films! (laughing)

PLUME: But at the end of the day, the trailer always says, “From Acclaimed Director…”

GILLIAM: (laughing) Yeah! I actually want that to read, “From Reclaimed Director…” What’s interesting now is that everybody loves the film, so somehow - like a good fairy tale - you go through dark and strange times and then there’s a happy ending. At least there’s a happy ending amongst all of us involved in making the film. Now, the trick is will the public let us down! (laughing)

PLUME: It now becomes a public reclamation project…

GILLIAM: (laughing)

PLUME: So how does this affect what’s on the drawing board next?

GILLIAM: Well, I don’t know what’s on the drawing board, to be honest. I mean, Quixote springs eternal, but until we get that one sorted out, I don’t know. I’ve dredged up a couple of my old scripts - Defective Detective and Good Omens, which I’ve got floating around out there to see if there are any bites. Honestly, if Grimm is successful, there’ll be bites.

PLUME: I spoke with Neil (Gaiman) earlier this year, and he talked about how a lunch with you while he and Dave (McKean) were working on the MirrorMask script in London was the catalyst that made that project click together for them…

GILLIAM: I’m very curious to see how all of that has gone.

PLUME: They’re basically fighting the same fight that you’re fighting, in regards to public awareness and a studio that isn’t putting the big guns out…

GILLIAM: Have they been screening it, do you know?

PLUME: I know they’ve done the festival circuit…

GILLIAM: Right…

PLUME: But Sony is still playing games about doing a staggered release, but not wanting to put any money into promotion…

GILLIAM: It’s terrible. Again, that was a very inexpensive film to make, so there’s less pressure on Sony to gamble any more. The only time a lot of the studios will move is when they’ve spent so much of their money that they have to throw more money at it to get back whatever they can.

Continued below…