Lost in La Mancha

source: Lost in La Mancha

I came to this after watching the finally finished Gilliam's Quijote. It probably works better to watch this one, the "sketch", the "failed attempt", after you saw the finished product. That film, the finished one, is imperfect and chaotic. And that's good. It it as a film, what it was as a work in progress. It reveals Gilliam, and has a special place in his carrer. It's the final product of an obsession, and it follows the path of its very theme. This one is nice, because we see in it some of the anchors that were kept in the later finished film, and that would probably have worked better in the original, at least from a cinematic point of view. It is clear that Gilliam had in mind the replacement of the "book layers" of the original Quijote by the layers of films in films. In other words, he wanted a world where several layers of paralel realities would affect each other, contaminate them, blur them. This is something he has been doing all his life as a filmmaker, and as such it is apt that he adapts Quijote. In the book, at least in my reading, Sancho is the pivot, he is the articulation of all the layers, the one that keeps all the madness tolerable, and the one who places us, the "viewers" in the narrative. So having Johnny Depp play that role would have been magnificient. We can only imagine how it would have been, watching the few conversations between Gilliam and Depp in this documentary, watching the short bits of footage that were recorded (the fish fight is amazing) and trying to imagine Depp whenever we see Driver. I got the impression that Depp was the one who suggested what is in fact the beginning of the new film. At least the breaking of the 4th wall in the matter of "la nuit américaine". That shows he understands the layers. He is a very fine actor. Take this little film as a piece of a grander puzzle in the mind of an interesting guy. A Quijote film will probably always be better as a sum of bits and pieces, chaos and unreachable goals... This fits. I had a little too much of burocracy (whose fault, who's gonna pay, who should have done what...) and too little of Gilliam's mind. But these documentaries almost always fall on that trap. "The Man Who Killed Quijote" was the first film in 2018 that completes a seamingly "lost project". We'll likely get Welles' The Other Side of the Wind later this year.. Year for completions, and probably for disappointments. Welles also had an ongoing Quijote project for half his life. Ah, those windmills...

when I saw this documentary, I was just starting my master studies in cultural management . I was hopeful, full of crazy ideas, brave fantasies of how my cultural projects would work out . all cultural events are very similar to films and theater, many elements combined and I always have like a film running in my mind of the organization and development of the event. and then I saw this... a crusade of force majore, a total disaster happening to a very experienced guy: financiers having doubts, no location to shoot, main character falling sick, equipment floating away with a flood... I was so stricken back by what i saw. I thought: I'm just in the beginning of my road as a cultural manager and have very little experience. what chance do I have ? How do I deal if something like this happens to me. well it didn't take a lot of time and I really had to work through a difficult situation, a project being on the edge of falling apart. what I had was people who wanted to be a part of this project, who wanted it to come to life and were ready to sacrifice their comfort and even their paycheck to make it happen. and so did Terry. thank heaven for those people, they never let a project manager down.

LOST IN LA MANCHA may not be in the same league as HEARTS OF DARKNESS ( The documentary that gives the inside story of the making of APOCALYPSE NOW ) but it's certainly entertaining and stands as a very good example of how not to produce a movie . I may make myself unpopular for saying this but didn't the people involved deserve everything they got ? Terry Gilliam decides he's going to direct a movie called THE MAN WHO KILLED DON QUIXOTE , it's going to feature windmills , giants and some old self deluded bloke from Spain . Perhaps not the greatest plot for a movie but Johnny Depp is cast as the eponymous man so I guess Gilliam got that bit right since Depp has massive box office appeal . With hindsight that's the only thing Gilliam has done right because he soon finds himself having to use what is probably the worst sound stage in Europe since it's the only one available . Things move from bad to worse when Gilliam finds himself with no one to play Don Quixote on the first day of filming and when they finally cast the actor in the part they realise that the only place that location filming can take place is being used by NATO aircraft for training exercises . It's kind of difficult to have a story set in the 16th century when F-16s are flying over head all day . Things move from worse to even worse when a lot of equipment floats away in a flash flood . What else can go wrong you ask ? This is highly entertaining but no one on the production deserves any sympathy . Didn't the producer research what sound stages would be available during filming ? Didn't he research locations and find one that wasn't being used by NATO or suffered from flash floods ? Couldn't he have cast an elderly actor ( A senor citizen ? ) as Quixoite before shooting was due to begin ? These are the faults of the producer rather than the director but Gilliam isn't entirely blameless himself but perhaps his major fault is that he's too much of a nice guy , he never gets angry and treats every setback with a wry smile which isn't perhaps an attribute for a movie director , compare his manner with Francis Ford Coppola while making APOCALYPSE NOW . As I said this is a perfect example - And a very entertaining one too - on how not to make a movie

LOST IN LA MANCHA (2003) ***1/2 Uproariously funny and insightful documentary by Keith Fulton and Louis Pepe who originally were shooting a making of docu for director Terry Gilliam's latest film, The Man Who Killed Don Quixote which soon became a document of Murphy's Law: Everything that can go wrong will go wrong. Gilliam's plagued production is a cautionary and comic parable for budding filmmakers as well as the struggles a true visionary has in Hollywood even when faced with foreign backers instead. Hopefully the aborted project will one day continue for the brilliantly subversive Gilliam; only time will tell in this timeless fable of folly. Features Johnny Depp, Jean Rochefort and narrated by Jeff Bridges.

Being a fan of anything Don Quixote related I was thrilled to hear that Terry Gilliam was making a movie, especially when I found out that Johnny Depp was attached. I was somewhat puzzled when time went on and I heard nothing about the film. I don't even remember how I found out about the documentary but, though saddened that apparently the movie had fallen though, I was delighted to be able to have an opportunity to experience some movie making magic, Gilliam style. I must say that upon watching the documentary I became saddened by the thought that this apparently delightful and amazing film would never be finished. Depp seems to be his same fabulous self and Rochefort as Quixote would have been delightful. The bits that we actually get to see of the movie are fun to watch. It is terrible that anyone would be plagued by such horrendous bad luck at the crew of this movie was. For anyone who is a fan of Gilliam's work and is in anyway interested in the behind the scenes parts of the film industry, this is a very enlightening little film. It was interesting, even for someone not a part of the industry, to see the process and work involved. My wish for Gilliam is that he will some day be able to make his spectacular movie. If I had the money I would gladly finance the effort myself. Huzzah, Terry! Keep up the good work, we wish you well.

"Lost in La Mancha" is basically a documentary on the making of a film by director Terry Gilliam. The film, starring Johnny Depp as a modern character who goes back in time and a French actor, Jean Rocherfort, as Don Quixote was beset by problems from the outset. The documentary chronicles the initial steps of getting this film off the ground and the following setbacks which derailed the project. This documentary may be fascinating to those involved in the film industry or Johnny Depp fans, but others should beware. Unfortunately, although it has it's interesting moments, it will, I fear, fail to hold the attention of few industry outsiders for the course of it's duration. Substantial portions of "Lost in La Mancha" were about as exciting as watching paint dry. Do we really want to know the minutiae of wrangling with the insurance company over whether the health problems of one of the actors (Jean Rocherfort) is to be considered an act of God or not? Let's just say there is some of what I would call "filler" material added in to this documentary to give it a longer running time. I'd give this documentary a 35/100. As far as documentaries on film making go, there are much better ones than this available, often as an extra feature on a DVD. This is strictly for film school students.

I had no idea that originally Gilliam had cast Babe Ruth as Don Quixote, but that was back when he was with the Red Sox. Alas... This film is an exercise in frustration. From Gilliam's impossible problems, to the bits of tantalizing shots from the first few *DAYS* of shooting (vivan los gigantes and their towering screen test), to the hand-wringing of millionaires, to seeing way too many men, women and insurance guarantors behind the curtain and so forth. More flash floods and footage from the film that we all hope gets made some day would have been nice. A lot of the interviews and shots of the main producers were about as interesting as a meeting at work where everyone has to speak...but then at work people are not as invested as heavily as these folks. It just kind of felt like too much politics and guarded speech at times...I started to want to hear more of the whirr of airplanes. Why couldn't they have interviewed the horse, one wonders. There was a weird undercurrent that maybe Jean Rochefort was malingering, or maybe I'm just reading too much into the comments about panic and psychosomatic problems. If like me, you saw a preview of this film when it had its theatrical release and were very interested, but you really don't imagine yourself tilting at steadicams and/or industry heads, I'd say skip this film. Watch an actual completed film by Gilliam, or maybe watch some of Jon Favreau's "Dinner for Five" for more on the making of films if that's what you're out for. This has less on technique, than on the transactions of film-making. This documentary did have very free access, but it never quite defined the differences for me between a $32 million dollar movie, and a $40 million dollar movie. I'm impressed that even Chris Columbus can helm such $tuff, much less someone as itchily creative as Gilliam. How long can you run the state of Rhode Island for $32 million?? I still tend to mistrust all forms of "reality TV", an omnipresent and intrusive camera herniates something inside my soul most of the time. I only hope, along with other legislation that prevents killers from profiteering off their victims, that the makers of this film were allowed to make no more than 2X their investment, and all other proceeds were handed over to the people who have lost money on "The Man Who Killed Don Quixote." In order of smallest losses first... Viewers however, will not be recompensed. So watch only if you can afford to... 3/10 ...and that's mostly for Gilliam's shirts.

This film is sometimes painful to watch, and amusing from time to time. Gilliam has done much good work, but frankly you wonder how. He never seems in control, and seems to put his head in the sand (mud). You leave fully aware of the demands placed upon low budget and independent sector directors, and it's amazing they ever complete a film.

Terry Gilliam has a bittersweet experience with Hollywood. Forever given a relative meagre budget that does not do justice with his visual ambitions and always having to compromise in his storytelling. Lost in La Mancha was intended to be a big budget European funded film that would be an updated adaptation of the Don Quixote story. Watching Gilliam here, it strikes you that he looks like a thinner version of Orson Welles, a filmmaker who himself had problems making his own version of the story some decades ago. Gilliam got veteran French actor Jean Rochefort for the central role, he spent months learning English and he could ride a horse but he also suffered from ill health just as soon as filming began. To attract the younger crowd and guarantee funding, Johnny Depp also agreed to appear in this film but his shooting was restricted because the extras had not gone through rehearsals. This documentary about the making of the aborted film is all that survives of 'The Man Who Killed Don Quixote.' A cursed production hit by foul weather in the Spanish desert and then the illness of the star. The allocated budget had little margin for error and they were behind after the first week of filming. At one point Gilliam is called Captain Chaos, but he just solemnly looks out to the horizon as he figures how to deal with the latest calamity. Even the studios hired in Madrid is just a warehouse with bad acoustics. The documentary is a study of how films are made and how disaster can easily strike. Yet one cannot help feeling, especially as we see the scenes with the 'giants' which Gilliam thinks is fantastic that maybe he himself got a lucky escape from a film that was likely to get a critical mauling.