"Dark Knights & Holy Fools" is the first and only authorized, comprehensive study of the work of Terry Gilliam, one of today's most innovative and influential filmmakers. Since 1969, when Gilliam became the only American among the otherwise all-British Monty Python team, his work has won awards and acclaim for its originality and imagination. This volume traces thirty years of work and art of Terry Gilliam, from his pre-Python days, through the astounding adaptation of Hunter S. Thompson's Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, released in 1998. Each chapter deals in depth with a different production, covering the story behind the movie and its making, and including a complete critical analysis of the film as well as detailed cast and credit listings. Using Gilliam's own drawings, storyboards, and scripts, this book builds a complete archive of the director's work detailing his renowned immense sets and labyrinth stories of man against bureaucracy (Brazil, 12 Monkeys), triumphant tales of imagination winning over mediocrity (Time Bandits, The Adventures of Baron Munchausen, The Fisher King), and, of course, something completely different (Monty Python and the Holy Grail). Additionally, each chapter features a new, previously unpublished, in-depth interview with Gilliam in which his movies are assessed as a complete body of work within the context of his life.