Reverse Angle: An update on Terry Gilliam’s Don Quixote film.
Found in La Mancha
Terry Gilliam is known for his labyrinthine — and sometimes nightmarish — fantasy films such as “Brazil,” “12 Monkeys” and “The Adventures of Baron Munchausen.” It must have felt like life excruciatingly imitating art as it took nearly 20 years to complete principal photography on his version of Miguel Cervantes’ “Don Quixote.”
The very long-gestating “The Man Who Killed Don Quixote” began preproduction in 1998. Johnny Depp shot scenes in 2000 as the time-traveling, Sancho Panzafigure lead, with French star Jean Rochefort as Quixote. (He learned English for the role.) Calamities struck the production, including of the force majeure variety (flash flooding, Rochefort’s herniated disc), and it was canceled, resulting in a $15 million insurance claim.
All that emerged, cinematically, was the intended making-of documentary that became an anatomy of a disaster, “Lost in La Mancha” (2002). Gilliam tried to restart production, cycling through stars including Robert Duvall, Michael Palin and Ewan McGregor.
This February, Spanish actress Rossy de Palma confirmed that new production had finally begun. She was in the 2000 cast, by the way. This version goes with Adam Driver in the lead and Gilliam vet Jonathan Pryce as Quixote.
Of course, this wouldn’t be Gilliam’s stab at “Quixote” without at least one more disaster: His former financier, Paulo Branco, told reporters the production was “patently illegal”; Gilliam’s producers, meanwhile, say they are suing Branco in multiple countries.
On June 3, Gilliam posted a Facebook photo of a truck marked, “Quixote VIVE!” The message read, in part, “After 17 years, we have completed the shoot of THE MAN WHO KILLED DON QUIXOTE. Muchas gracias to all the team and believers.” All that’s left is postproduction, and another windmill bites the dust.
Gilliam’s Facebook post is at https://tinyurl.com/yc46n7jo.
Some clips from the documentary “Lost in La Mancha” can be seen at https://tinyurl.com/ydh699zn.
Trivia question
What film based on a successful children’s book was Terry Gilliam once in the running to direct — reportedly with the author’s blessing?
One more ‘Wonder’ bit
“Wonder Woman” has been celebrated for earning the highestever opening by a female director. But lost in the hoopla and the weird objections over a one-time women-only screening of the film to raise funds for Planned Parenthood is the inverse relationship of that opening number to the perceived quality of DC Extended Universe films.
“Wonder’s” $100.5 million bow places it a distant last among the four DCEU entries. The other three, “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice,” “Suicide Squad” and “Man of Steel,” averaged $138 million for their debuts — about 37 percent more.
However, those first three films averaged a terrible 36 percent positive rating on Rotten Tomatoes, and “Wonder” currently holds a 93 — more than 2.5 times higher.
So “Woman’s” critical performance was 260 percent better, but it earned only 72 percent of the male-led films’ averages.
By the way, big-time comicbook-moviemaker Joss Whedon had a shutdown response to the “women-only screening” backlash (slightly NSFW language): https://tinyurl.com/y8lwpqwf.
Full fathom No. 5
“Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales” continues the series’ downfall, its 29 percent on Rotten Tomatoes representing a low point, even for this series. Each installment has sunk lower in critics’ esteem, from 79 for “Curse of the Black Pearl” to 32 for “On Stranger Tides.”
Despite this antipathy, the first four films averaged $932 million in grosses, the original being the best-liked and worst-performing. The fifth entry has already sailed past the $500 million mark, so the series probably will get another chance to reach rock bottom.
Trivia answer
“Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone” (2000). Gilliam has ripped director Chris Columbus’ version. He has also called not getting the job “one of my lucky moments. … I would have gone crazy. It’s a (expletive) factory, working on ‘Harry Potter.’ ”