12 Monkeys

Part of the special series THE MAGIC OF TERRY GILLIAM

In the year 2035, people live underground. Only a fraction of the world's population has survived a plague in the mid-1990s, which is said to have been started by the "Army of the Twelve Apes". Inmate James Cole (Bruce Willis) is sent back in time to gather information about the deadly virus. But apart from the manic Jeffrey (Brad Pitt), he receives little support, not least from doctors like Dr. Kathryn Railly (Madeleine Stowe).

12 MONKEYS was only the second film directed by Terry Gilliam for which the filmmaker himself did not contribute the screenplay. The dark science fiction story from the French short LA JETÉE appealed to him, he said, because it deals with "time, madness and the perception of what the world is or is not." "It's a study of madness and dreams, of death and rebirth, in a world that is coming apart at the seams." Very prominently starring Bruce Willis and Brad Pitt, the labyrinthine film received multiple award nominations.