Lost in La Mancha

Rating:
Summary: Interesting but No-Frills Documentary
Review: "Lost in La Mancha" chronicles the attempts of Director Terry Gilliam ("Brazil," Monty Python series and movies) to bring the story of Don Quixote to the screen. The movie, entitled "The Man Who Killed Don Quixote," could have been a spectacular adaptation of what is considered one of the greatest books of all time. Other directors have struggled to adapt this difficult novel to the screen and hammer out a workable script; however, Gilliam seemed to have solved that problem by adding a new character from the present (played by Johnny Depp), who travels back in time and meets Don Quixote. Sounds like more fantastic mind-bending Gilliam fare, doesn't it?

This documentary was obviously intended as a behind-the-scenes short to be included on the DVD release. However, "The Man Who Killed Don Quixote" was plagued with a series of mishaps and bad luck, including a sick leading actor (Jean Rocheport) and a storm (caught magnificently on tape) that destroyed the set and equipment. The movie ended up being abandoned, but we do get to see a few tantalizing minutes of film - and it looks like it could have been extraordinary. Although the film seems to have been cursed, many movies every year are announced but never get finished. Thus, "Lost in La Mancha" shows the lay public what actually happens when film-making goes awry.

The directors (Keith Fulton & Louis Pepe) know their topic well, as they've worked with Gilliam before; they made the behind-the-scenes documentary that appears on the DVD for "Twelve Monkeys." As such, they had a great deal of access to Gilliam, and he seems very comfortable discussing the catastrophes. The narration by Jeff Bridges is fair but a bit too sparse. Ultimately, the documentary is interesting but somewhat insubstantial and no-frills, which does impinge somewhat on the overall enjoyment of the movie. Make sure, though, that you watch it all the way through the end credits - the "coming soon" gag is hilarious.

Rating:
Summary: Captain Chaos losses control
Review: "Lost in La Mancha" is a mesmerizing 'fly-on-the-wall' documentary that track's Terry Gilliam's attempt to put his version of Don Quixote on the screen. Gilliam is known by the crew - with him through previous efforts like '12 Monkeys' - as Captain Chaos. In the past, that 'filming on the edge' ethos has resulted in amazing creativity. Gilliam's talent and track record speaks for itself.

Here, he dances a little too close to the flame, and he gets burned. Plauged by everything short of a locust swarm, the film goes off the rails completely shortly after the start of production.

Here's the seminal moment of the documentary: executives announce a indeterminate halt in filming. A crew member walks up to the camera and says "What I want to know is: Where is the director of this film?"

Exactly what the audience is thinking at that moment.

Granted, a lot is based on the perception you're handed by the makers of the documentary, but it appears that Gilliam has abdicated responsibility at that moment.

This film isn't for everybody, but if you're interested in the process of moviemaking, it's a hoot.

Rating:
Summary: Interesting but No-Frills Documentary
Review: "Lost in La Mancha" chronicles the attempts of Director Terry Gilliam ("Brazil," Monty Python series and movies) to bring the story of Don Quixote to the screen. The movie, entitled "The Man Who Killed Don Quixote," could have been a spectacular adaptation of what is considered one of the greatest books of all time. Other directors have struggled to adapt this difficult novel to the screen and hammer out a workable script; however, Gilliam seemed to have solved that problem by adding a new character from the present (played by Johnny Depp), who travels back in time and meets Don Quixote. Sounds like more fantastic mind-bending Gilliam fare, doesn't it?

This documentary was obviously intended as a behind-the-scenes short to be included on the DVD release. However, "The Man Who Killed Don Quixote" was plagued with a series of mishaps and bad luck, including a sick leading actor (Jean Rocheport) and a storm (caught magnificently on tape) that destroyed the set and equipment. The movie ended up being abandoned, but we do get to see a few tantalizing minutes of film - and it looks like it could have been extraordinary. Although the film seems to have been cursed, many movies every year are announced but never get finished. Thus, "Lost in La Mancha" shows the lay public what actually happens when film-making goes awry.

The directors (Keith Fulton & Louis Pepe) know their topic well, as they've worked with Gilliam before; they made the behind-the-scenes documentary that appears on the DVD for "Twelve Monkeys." As such, they had a great deal of access to Gilliam, and he seems very comfortable discussing the catastrophes. The narration by Jeff Bridges is fair but a bit too sparse. Ultimately, the documentary is interesting but somewhat insubstantial and no-frills, which does impinge somewhat on the overall enjoyment of the movie. Make sure, though, that you watch it all the way through the end credits - the "coming soon" gag is hilarious.

Rating:
Summary: The Impossible Dream
Review: ***1/2 Thanks to DVD, we've all become accustomed to seeing 'inside' documentaries about the making of some of our favorite films. But what of those films that ' for whatever reason ' never end up seeing the light of day? Are there any lessons to be learned from examining the making (or near making) of those works? This is the questioned posed by 'Lost in La Mancha,' a behind-the-scenes chronicle of director Terry Gilliam's attempt to fulfill his decade-long dream of bringing Cervantes' 'Don Quixote' to the big screen, a project that ended up in heartbreaking, catastrophic failure for both the filmmaker and the gifted crew with which he was working.

Directors Keith Fulton and Louis Pepe did not, of course, set out to record such a debacle. Like all the people involved in the making of 'The Man Who Killed Don Quixote' ' a film intended to star Jean Rochefort and Johnny Depp - the documentary filmmakers assumed that Gilliam and his crew would end up with an impressive finished product and that their own work would serve as little more than supplemental material on a future DVD release of the film, certainly not a theatrical release in its own right. What none of them foresaw was the series of almost Biblical disasters that would ultimately doom the film to a state of perpetual nonexistence. Flash floods, health problems, nervous investors and bottom line insurance agents all eventually conspired to prevent Gilliam's dream from becoming a reality. Thus, what became a bust for Terry Gilliam turned into a boon for Fulton and Pepe.

With the benefit of hindsight, the filmmakers ensure that the parallels between Don Quixote and Gilliam himself are never far from the viewer's mind. Gilliam, a maverick director whose movies have always tested the boundaries of the film medium, is clearly an artist and a visionary obsessed with impossible dreams of his own, but dreams that inspire those around him to strive for a greatness not always nurtured by the mundane realities of the everyday world. The fact that, in this particular case, those realities intervened to bring his vision crashing back to earth only completes the connection to the Quixote figure. Gilliam spends most of his time in this film tilting at his own windmills, only to find that the vagaries of fate are more terrifying than any giants Quixote might have imagined. The documentary also notes that Gilliam is not the only major director to have been stymied in his attempt to adapt this material; the great Orson Welles failed to complete his version of 'Don Quixote' as well. The irony of these two innovative cinema giants both failing with THIS particular material pervades the film with an eerie sense of doom and foreboding.

'Lost in La Mancha' is an instructive film on a technical level, but also immensely sad on an emotional one. Because we know from the beginning that this venture is doomed to failure, even the moments of hope and optimism early on in the film carry with them an air of fatalistic melancholy. This pre-knowledge also turns the many admittedly humorous moments into genuine black comedy.

It is always painful to see genius and creativity choked off at the root, especially since the few glimpses we get of actual completed footage hint at what a fine production this 'Don Quixote' might have been. As to Gilliam, one can only hope that he will continue to pursue his impossible dream despite all the roadblocks reality has set in his way. Don Quixote would have wanted it that way.

Rating:
Summary: Monty Python and the Man From La Mancha
Review: A very low-key, undecidedly entertaining, documentary about a film Terry Gilliam never got quite off the ground called THE MAN WHO KILLED DON QUIOXTE. The result is the documentary, titled LOST IN LA MANCHA, salvaged from videotaped pre-production, taping during production, and hours worth of filming with only a few minutes worth of actual screen footage. It is an interesting if not a sad account of how a film (dogged with post-production, financing, casting, and stated in the documentary "acts of God" problems) failed without being actually released or finished for that matter. The most heartbreaking pitfall and probably the main cause of the shut down of the film, is the failed health of the lead, French actor Jean Rochefort. Included are some pre-production and completed footage with Johnny Depp as Quioxte's sidekick. The film had the proverbial "Murphy's Law" syndrome hanging over it from the get go. One funny sequence caught on tape during the first few days of production in the deserts of Spain is where a Spanish airforce fighter is doing maneuvers overhead. The production crew have to stop filming and wait for them to stop. In some of the pre-production footage, it shows Gilliam drawing some of the storyboards himself and playing with miniature recreations of the set designs. The documentary is narrated by Jeff Bridges. Overall, a unique "fly-on-the-wall" documentary about the behind the scenes look of film pre-production and its problems. Also, its a chance to see (director, performer, screenwriter and Monty Python member) Terry Gilliam up-close and personal in some very human moments from frustrating to humorous.

Rating:
Summary: The Curse of Quixote
Review: After nearly ten years of obsession and persistence, maverick filmmaker Terry Gilliam finally gets the opportunity to realize his dream of making a movie about that other impossible dreamer, Don Quixote. This extraordinary documentary, produced by the team who gave us "The Hamster Factor and Other Tales of the Twelve Monkeys", covers six weeks of pre-production of this ambitious and already troubled work and the six days of actual production which destroyed it.

With an exclusive, almost uncomfortable closeness to Gilliam's project, we get a glimpse at other attempts to film the story (Orson Welles entertained the notion for nearly twenty years, achieving mere minutes of test footage); in-depth looks at storyboards with dialogue; screen tests of "giant" performers (as Terry quips "This is our trailer!" with his trademark Amadeus giggle); meticulous detail being applied to elaborate props and sets; auditions for character actors, and prep work with the film's would-be stars Jean Rochefort and Johnny Depp, and the overall excitement of launching a project of epic (though underfunded) vision .....

Then the cameras roll. The crew are forced to film in an area adjacent to a military testing range, and the actors can barely hear their director or own spoken lines over the roaring jets. Misunderstandings between members of the multi-national crew result in a lack of preparedness on a ridiculously tight shooting schedule. A sudden storm literally washes valuable filming equipment down a muddy gully, and transforms the locale to one totally different from the one filming was begun in. Star Rochefort suffers multiple herniated discs, causing excruciating pain while on horseback, and has to leave the production for an indefinite time. A well-rehearsed horse becomes nervous in the presence of visiting financiers to the set, and can't perform.

Production is put on hold while Terry and company await word on their afflicted star, and the assistant director resigns. It becomes apparent that the production must be aborted, the only option being to assess the damages with insurance operatives, and clearly define a clause known as Forces Majeurs.

Lost in La Mancha is an excruciating and candid look at a genius filmmaker confronted with a failed project, and the grace and stubborn optimism with which he faces it. Like his hero Sam Lowry from "Brazil", the realization may indeed be one of hopelessness, but the dream never really dies. Terry Gilliam's "un-making of" record makes for a viewing experience that is simultaneously agonizing and inspiring, a must for filmmaking hopefuls who want to be truly prepared for what can happen.

Rating:
Summary: Docudrama, or Gilliam's own "Benengali?"
Review: At face value, this film claims status as a "docudrama," and proposes to reveal to it's audience the making and undoing of the movie, "The Man Who Killed Don Quixote." We are treated to a behind-the-scenes look at the "Murphy's Law" aspect of movie making, the bureaucracy, and the mahem. But.....
I have long admired the work of Terry Gilliam as well as the man himself. He is the kind of iconoclast that the world needs more of, the kind of dreamer that wakes us up, and someone with just enough demons to bring all the so-called "angels" down a rung or two.
However, in acknowledging who the man Terry Gilliam is, I have to reserve some suspicion about the "real reality" of this docudrama. Excuse the equivocation, but it's only appropriate considering my suspicions about the film. When you consider that Gilliam is a fan of Cervantes's Don Quixote, and then you consider that Cervantes became a party to his own fiction in Quixote, (inventing Benengali, the fictional original historian of the fictional "real" Quixote) and - then - you consider the man Terry Gilliam, you must then consider the liklihood that "Lost in La Mancha" is Gilliam's own "Benengali." What I mean by this is that it's quite possible that Gilliam has produced "Lost in La Mancha" to make a statement about Hollywood bureaucracy in the same way the Cervantes used Benengali to make a statement about plagiarism and literature. I know this may sound confusing, especially to those unfamiliar with Cerventes's Quixote. But it really does make sense when you acknowledge Gilliam's disdain for Hollywood bureaucracy and his iconoclastic ideals. There is also the more than coincidental similarity between Lost in La Mancha's six days of filming and Quixote's six day illness and seventh day return to sanity.
So, if you take Lost in La Mancha at face value, it's a fun, fly-on-the-wall adventure about a misadventure Hollywood style. It leaves the business of making motion pictures naked, and infuses a respect for filmmakers like Gilliam. But, if you suspect as I do that Lost in La Mancha is Gilliam's own Benengali, then you will find the message in this film and the true genius of Gilliam.

Rating:
Summary: Docudrama, or Gilliam's own "Benengali?"
Review: At face value, this film claims status as a "docudrama," and proposes to reveal to it's audience the making and undoing of the movie, "The Man Who Killed Don Quixote." We are treated to a behind-the-scenes look at the "Murphy's Law" aspect of movie making, the bureaucracy, and the mahem. But.....
I have long admired the work of Terry Gilliam as well as the man himself. He is the kind of iconoclast that the world needs more of, the kind of dreamer that wakes us up, and someone with just enough demons to bring all the so-called "angels" down a rung or two.
However, in acknowledging who the man Terry Gilliam is, I have to reserve some suspicion about the "real reality" of this docudrama. Excuse the equivocation, but it's only appropriate considering my suspicions about the film. When you consider that Gilliam is a fan of Cervantes's Don Quixote, and then you consider that Cervantes became a party to his own fiction in Quixote, (inventing Benengali, the fictional original historian of the fictional "real" Quixote) and - then - you consider the man Terry Gilliam, you must then consider the liklihood that "Lost in La Mancha" is Gilliam's own "Benengali." What I mean by this is that it's quite possible that Gilliam has produced "Lost in La Mancha" to make a statement about Hollywood bureaucracy in the same way the Cervantes used Benengali to make a statement about plagiarism and literature. I know this may sound confusing, especially to those unfamiliar with Cerventes's Quixote. But it really does make sense when you acknowledge Gilliam's disdain for Hollywood bureaucracy and his iconoclastic ideals. There is also the more than coincidental similarity between Lost in La Mancha's six days of filming and Quixote's six day illness and seventh day return to sanity.
So, if you take Lost in La Mancha at face value, it's a fun, fly-on-the-wall adventure about a misadventure Hollywood style. It leaves the business of making motion pictures naked, and infuses a respect for filmmakers like Gilliam. But, if you suspect as I do that Lost in La Mancha is Gilliam's own Benengali, then you will find the message in this film and the true genius of Gilliam.

Rating:
Summary: Great DVD Extra
Review: Being a huge Johnny Depp fan, and quite fond of Terry Gilliam works (I even like The Adventures of Baron Van Moonchild) I was very much looking forward to getting this DVD, once I had finished watching it however I was terribly dissapointed. I am going into acting and though I would like to see a movie about the process, but not enough happened during the actual making of the film to credit a 'making of' or even an 'unmaking of' movie. If the production of 'The Man Who Killed Don Quixote' had lasted more than an week the documentary might have been able to stand on its own, but as it is I think it should have been saved to release with Terry Gililam's final version, even if they had to wait another couple of decades.

Rating:
Summary: Oh, no!!!!!
Review: Coming into this film, I knew that this is a documentary about the failed attempt to make "Don Quixote" and that that the events it described have already happened. Despite this, "Lost in La Mancha" is so gripping a film, that I found myself hoping against hope that Gilliam will eventually succeed, and will manage to complete "Don Quixote". About 30 minutes into "La Mancha" the full realisation hit me: they're not going to make it; this is going to fail. It was almost too painful to watch.

Forces of nature, unforseen illness and incompetence all combined to doom Gilliam's version of Don Quixote. Some bits annoyed me a little - if you're going to Spain to make a film, shouldn't you make sure ahead of time that you will have a sound studio??? Incompetence aside, one can't help but feel that the film just sufferred from plain, old fashioned, bad karma...

While watching this I caught myself musing about failures in general. When does one know it is time to quit? How do you decide to give up? I think we are not well prepared in these matters, our culture being one of perpetual striving for success, with a deep seated belief that with enough effort we will overcome the odds. How do you know when to stop trying? How do you accept the idea that you are, actually, failing?

The extras on the DVD include two interviews with Gilliam - one is a conversation with Salman Rushdie. While both are interesting and entertaining in and of themselves, taken together they are somewhat repetitive, and neither is personal or deep. They do have the great benefit of showing how Gilliam's sense of humour serves him well in recuperating from cinematic disasters. Were you not to see them, you might be left somewhat depressed...

Unless you are a person who must own every scrap of footage pertaining to Terry Gilliam, I would recommend trying this as a rental first. I do definately recommend this to anyone who is interested in a behind the scenes look at filmmaking, as well as to all Gilliam fans everywhere. As well as to people who, perish the thought, do not always succeed in their endeavours.