In all ofTerry Gilliam’s impressive repertoire,12 Monkeysstands out as his most commercially successful and well-remembered. The film is exciting, thought-provoking, and impressively well-acted byBrad Pitt,Madeleine Stowe, and, of course,Bruce Willis. Gilliam had met Willis during casting forThe Fisher King, and he described the actor as “somebody who is strong and dangerous but also vulnerable”. And nobody can deny that Willisis capable of John McClane style bad-asseryandSixth Sensesubtlety alike. But Gilliam had another reason for hiring the action mega-star. That reason was, according to the director, thatBruce Willis has a “very penile-shaped head.”
It sounds totally wild to think that the phallic shape of an actor’s head might factor into their casting, but perhaps that is perfectly fitting for the crazy world of12 Monkeys.To be clear, that was not the only reason Gilliam hired Willis, as will be discussed below, but Gilliam was happyto describe his reasoning in an interview: “There was something about the idea that people putting layer upon layer to protect themselves from a potential infection, end up in a sense isolating themselves from one another. And I became obsessed with that.” The latex metaphor, of separating humanity from itself with layers of protection, brought the director to the idea of condoms. He remarked that, while at a dentist’s office, he noticed that even the lamps had a latex “condom” on them to protect from infection.This seed of an idea blossomedinto the very early scene of12 Monkeysin which Willis’ James Cole is volunteered to go above ground into the disease-wrought world to observe. The actor is shown slipping latex gloves and booties over a full latex bodysuit. Last but not least, the actor squeezes his bald head into a latex skull cap, and according to Gilliam, Willis' “penile-shaped head” completes the “human condom metaphor.”
How the “Human Condom” Fits With ‘12 Monkeys’ Heavy Themes
Terry Gilliam,being a Python after all, is a very funny man, but he was not just trying to make aNaked Gunreference in this serious film. The importance of the condom metaphor lies in the film’s themes of distrust and isolation in the dystopian future. The scientists wear plastic jackets over their labcoats, prisoners like Cole are extracted by a mechanical hook from their claustrophobic cells, and every interaction in the future seems cold and impersonal. Every part of living in12 Monkeys’future is madness to the people of 1990, where Cole ends up, and unsurprisingly, he is sent to an insane asylum. Butjust like any great story,12 Monkey’sthemes are not so obvious as to convey only one meaning.Gilliam also describes the confusion of modern life as alien to the chronologically displaced James Cole, and further asserts that “…most people somehow accept [confusion] as normal”. Is the plastic-covered future strange and sterile? Yes, but it is certainly easy to understand. The brilliance of Gilliam’s Metaphor is in the wealth of meaning that viewers can extract for themselves.
Bruce Willis and Terry Gilliam Fought Over This Major Scene in ‘12 Monkeys’
Willis' role as James Cole became one of the strongest performances in his career.
Bruce Willis’ head shape was not the only part of the actor’s physique that inspired Terry Gilliam;after shaving off his hair (an idea that came directly from Willis), Gilliam saw the actor as even more dangerous looking, and yet, very naked.The juxtaposition of a sterile latex covering with Cole’s literal and figurative nakedness brings the themes of the film to life in another way. Cole has been shielded from infection just like the rest of the future world, but to try and save the world (and experience love with Madeleine Stowe’s Dr. Railly), he has to be naked and vulnerable in a world he does not understand. Perhaps that is the cast for everybody, or maybe that is just one conclusion of many that can be drawn from Gilliam’s human condom metaphor.
Terry Gilliam is a great director. Bruce Willis is a great actor.12 Monkeysis a great movie. It is possible that all these factors came into alignment, at least in part, because “Bruce Willis has a very penile-shaped head.” But Gilliam is the kind of director who has more than earned the benefit of the doubt, and when given the chance, his wild reasoning can lead to some truly meaningful cinema. Whatever the deeper symbolism in a latex-covered bald man, Bruce Willis was a perfect fit for the role of James Cole, with Gilliam delivering a brilliant, exciting film whose themes have never been more timely,making it worthy of a rewatch… even just to chuckle at Bruce Willis in a human condom.
12 Monkeys
In 12 Monkeys, convict James Cole (Bruce Willis) travels back in time to learn the origin of a man-made virus that has unleashed worldwide chaos in the future. Terry Gilliam’s 1995 sci-fi movie, which boasts a cast that includes Brad Pitt, Christopher Plummer, Madeleine Stowe, and David Morse, is based on Chris Marker’s 1962 short film La Jetée and originated a 2013 TV series adaptation.
12 Monkeysis currently available to stream on Tubi in the U.S.
WATCH ON TUBI
