This could well be the first "making of" documentary of an unreleased film: after three false starts, there were only six shooting days on the ill-fated production of that which would have been THE MAN WHO KILLED DON QUIXOTE. Cervantes' epic novel is right up Terry Gilliam's alley as his own continuing obsession with this particular project is nothing if not Quixotic. For what it's worth, the choice of actors (Jean Rochefort and Johnny Depp) is inspired and the snippets of the shot footage shown in the documentary is promising although I'm not so sure about Gilliam's idea to make Depp a 21st Century Sancho Panza. Well, everything that can go wrong for a film-maker seems to do so to Gilliam and on camera to boot (unacceptable contracts, constant delays due to the unavailability of actors, sudden and disastrous weather changes, unsatisfactory props, financial backers dropping out, etc); one can literally view the maverick director's enthusiasm at the start being drained away as the film progresses.
The 'Curse of Quixote' theory is perhaps a valid one: after all, no less a film-maker than Orson Welles tried to mount his own production in the late 1950s and kept vainly working at it practically until his death; it remains unfinished to this day and is only available on French and Spanish DVD in a version compiled by none other than Jess Franco! However, one must recall that another major film artist, G.W. Pabst, made three(!) film versions of the story simultaneously in the early 1930s (two of which, in French and English, are also available on R1 DVD), even if they are not highly-regarded among his films. In any case, the most satisfying version out there is the 1957 Russian one (which I watched many years ago on Italian TV) and, of course, even a journeyman director like Arthur Hiller managed to successfully transfer the musical version of Quixote, MAN OF LA MANCHA (1972), from Broadway onto celluloid.
In conclusion, LOST IN LA MANCHA is both a candid look at Gilliam's modus operandi and a real eye-opener to budding film-makers on the perils of being an artist in a commercial industry. Having said that, one can only admire Gilliam's undaunted resolve because, despite the claims of reckless extravagance leveled against him on THE ADVENTURES OF BARON MUNCHAUSEN (1989) and his catastrophic Quixote enterprise, he eventually bounced back in fine form with the equally elaborate THE BROTHERS GRIMM (2005). On a more personal note, I was surprised and amused to see Ray Cooper featured in the documentary and described as a close personal friend of Gilliam's, since I had seen Mr. Cooper flamboyantly drumming away at Jim Capaldi's tribute concert in London last January!
The 'Curse of Quixote' theory is perhaps a valid one: after all, no less a film-maker than Orson Welles tried to mount his own production in the late 1950s and kept vainly working at it practically until his death; it remains unfinished to this day and is only available on French and Spanish DVD in a version compiled by none other than Jess Franco! However, one must recall that another major film artist, G.W. Pabst, made three(!) film versions of the story simultaneously in the early 1930s (two of which, in French and English, are also available on R1 DVD), even if they are not highly-regarded among his films. In any case, the most satisfying version out there is the 1957 Russian one (which I watched many years ago on Italian TV) and, of course, even a journeyman director like Arthur Hiller managed to successfully transfer the musical version of Quixote, MAN OF LA MANCHA (1972), from Broadway onto celluloid.
In conclusion, LOST IN LA MANCHA is both a candid look at Gilliam's modus operandi and a real eye-opener to budding film-makers on the perils of being an artist in a commercial industry. Having said that, one can only admire Gilliam's undaunted resolve because, despite the claims of reckless extravagance leveled against him on THE ADVENTURES OF BARON MUNCHAUSEN (1989) and his catastrophic Quixote enterprise, he eventually bounced back in fine form with the equally elaborate THE BROTHERS GRIMM (2005). On a more personal note, I was surprised and amused to see Ray Cooper featured in the documentary and described as a close personal friend of Gilliam's, since I had seen Mr. Cooper flamboyantly drumming away at Jim Capaldi's tribute concert in London last January!