Why does Mrs. Terrain disintegrate over the course of the film?
A. Mrs Terrain reveals in the restaurant bombing sequence that she is seeing Mr. Chapman for cosmetic surgery, also known as “the acid man”. From the gelatinous, bony mess found in her coffin, we can assume the acid treatment was ultimately unsuccessful. Gilliam, on the Criterion collection set in his commentary, mentions that his father had used an “acid man” to treat a growth on his ear… and that the acid ate through his father’s entire ear!
