Comparing the movie, "The Brothers Grimm," to the real life of the Brothers Grimm


In the first chapter of his book, The Brothers Grimm, Jack Zipes depicts an accurate description of Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm’s life, starting from when they were born, to their studies in school and careers, and ending with the death of Jacob. Zipes goes into detail about their family life and their studies and their drive to be the best in the classes. He also goes into depth about how they collected their stories and all of the work they have published. 

The movie, “The Brothers Grimm,” directed by Terry Gilliam, also shows a description of the Brothers Grimm while incorporating parts of the fairytales that they had collected into their lives. Gilliam also added and left certain parts of the Grimm’s lives out of the movie in order to keep it entertaining. 

 Even though the movie gives light into the Brothers Grimm’s lives, some of the movie is not true, or fiction. To start the first scene of the movie it shows one of the brother’s sisters very sick, which happened in the book since 6 out the 9 children died, but the movie then shows Jacob running into the house with magic beans when he was supposed to get money. This scene is the first reference to a fairytale, “Jack and the Beanstalk.” The movie portrays the brothers as heavy partiers when they were actually into their studies and not partying. In fact, the movie does not mention their education at all while the book puts great emphasis on how important school was to them. The movie also shows the brothers being con artists working with two “partners,” while the book never mentions them having partners or them being con artists.


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