The Man Who Killed Don Quixote

[Bice]

I'm a huge Terry Gilliam fan, so I made a point of getting tickets to
the one-night-only showing of his new movie, The Man Who Killed Don
Quixote. I wondered why it was only showing in theaters for one
night...but the fact that only about a dozen people showed up at the
single local theater showing it kind of answered that question.

Most probably already know the backstory on this one, but if not -
Gilliam had been trying to get this movie made for decades. His first
attempt, which would have featured Johnny Depp in the lead role, was
plagued with floods that destroyed locations and an illness that made
the actor playing Quixote drop out. Eventually that production had to
be abandoned. The new (completed) version features Adam Driver in the
lead role with Jonathan Pryce playing Quixote.

Those who are adverse to SPOILERS should skip this paragraph.
Seriously, you've been warned. The general plot follows a
self-centered filmmaker named Toby. While disinterestedly shooting a
commercial in Spain, he decides to visit the village where he made the
student film that built his reputation - a version of Don Quixote
featuring locals as the actors. He discovers that his movie has had a
disasterous effect on the cast - the leading lady ran off to find fame
and fortune but instead fell in with a bad crowd, and the old man who
played Quixote has come to believe that he really is Don Quixote.
Through circumstances beyond his control, Toby is forced to take on
the role of Sancho Panza and travel the countryside with Quixote,
encountering a mirrored knight, a lost treasure, a damsel in distress
and even the Spanish Inquisition (I didn't expect that).

I enjoyed the movie. It's not quite up there with Brazil, Time
Bandits, 12 Monkeys or Fear and Loathing, but few are. Actually once
I get the chance to watch The Man who Killed Don Quixote a couple more
times, it might jump up into that group.

It was pretty clear that this wasn't a big-budget Hollywood
production, but the visuals were mostly spectacular, the actors were
good to great (I thought Pryce stole the movie from Driver) and I
loved the very Spanish flavored soundtrack music.

I'm not quite sure what to make of the ending. Definitely not a
Hollywood ending, but even for a Gilliam movie it felt a little...off.

But all in all, well worth seeing if you're a fan of movies that are
out of the Hollywood mainstream.

-- Bob