The hearts of armchair filmmakers have bled for Terry Gilliam for many years now. In 2002, Lost in La Mancha became one of the most gutting documentaries on the subject of independent filmmaking, encapsulating Terry Gilliam’s failed efforts at creating his white whale of a film – The Man Who Killed Don Quixote. Now, thanks to Amazon, it looks like Gilliam will finally be able to make his movie, and it starts shooting this September (it’s already been delayed once).
The famously disastrous production for The Man Who Killed Don Quixote had started and stopped for years, even after the Monty Python, Brazil, 12 Monkeys and Fisher King director (and more!) gained fame and notoriety as a filmmaker whose vision must be supported. When production on Quixote finally got underway, locations and equipment were destroyed by a flash flood on day two, and to make matters worse, Gilliam’s lead, Jean Rochefort herniated a disc in his back and would be unable to continue filming. The film was canceled, and Gilliam was heartbroken.
Post-Lost in La Mancha life saw Gilliam continue to make plenty of good movies, but like a man shaking a fist at a windmill/giant, he always wanted to put on that mambrino helmet and get back on his horse. In 2008, the movie was about to start production, then it once again fell apart. Johnny Depp, once Gilliam’s brother-in-arms for all things Quixote, reportedly started producing his own Don Quixote film. The nightmares would seemingly last forever.
Until now? We’ll see…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qMUGYayk_VQ
(Via Indiewire)
