Terry Gilliam is a mastermind. I think anyone who is even slightly familiar with his past works as , artists and actor with Monty Python, and his skill as a director and storyteller will attest to that.

One of the reasons Gilliam is so widely held in such esteem is that he has always been one of those artists that was never afraid to bend, and sometimes break, all the rules of movie-making. But, in one arena of production he has always stayed true, and to my way of thinking, that has always been his real key to success. Everyone of his works, however quirky, has a clear cut beginning, middle, and end to the story. The biggest question now is will he do the same with the always dark and illustrative stories of the Grimm Brothers.

This new undertaking by Gilliam is almost too good to be true for it fits keenly into this master craftsman’s niche. So then, what is the story of these two brothers?

Before they were writers, Jake and Will Grimm were con artists, using their knowledge of folktales to scam villages to pay them for performing phoney exorcisms and provide protection from “enchanted” creatures. Eventually, however, all their schemes catch up with them when the French authorities “enlists” them to track down the person or persons responsible for kidnapping young women from the local villages. That is when the real adventure of their lives begins to take place as they encounter a real sorceress casting real magical curses, and requiring genuine courage from the brothers.

“The Brothers Grimm” is scheduled for a worldwide release date of August 26th, 2005 and has an MPAA Rating of PG-13 for violence, frightening sequences and brief suggestive material. It stars Matt Damon and Heath Ledger as the Grimm Brothers, and has a big-name supporting cast consisting of Monica Bellucci, Jonathan Pryce and Lena Headey. The screenplay is written by Ehren Kruger (“The Ring,” and “The Skeleton Key”), and of course it is directed by the master Terry Gilliam.