Movie of the Week: Lost in La Mancha

Alexa: I’m a sucker for “making of” featurettes, and “Lost in La Mancha” is basically one long “making of” featurette with the caveat that the movie was never actually completed. I love seeing all the behind-the-scenes work that goes into bringing a film to life, and “Lost in La Mancha” captures it beautifully. Though the movie at the heart of the documentary, “The Man Who Killed Don Quixote,” actually had a small budget for such an ambitious film, “Lost in La Mancha” does a great job conveying the scale of it all. That’s what makes its fate so tragic. It’s common to hear about movies being stuck in “development hell,” that for one reason or another just can’t get off the ground, but “The Man Who Killed Don Quixote” is the rare example of a film being canceled so far into production. Terry Gilliam is a character, and I can see how me might rub some the wrong way, but his passion for this weird take on Don Quixote is pretty infectious. Incidentally, after 17 years of false starts and setbacks, Gilliam finally completed principal photography on “The Man Who Killed Don Quixote” this year, with Jonathan Pryce and Adam Driver stepping into the roles of Quixote and Toby. It doesn’t have a release date yet, but Amazon has the U.S. distribution rights. And though I’m unfamiliar with most of Gilliam’s work and I could care less about Don Quixote, I’ll definitely check it out after seeing a piece of its long journey to the big screen.

Joel: This documentary was filmed in the year 2000, right when DVDs were starting to take off in a big way, and the idea of the DVD bonus features was starting to become more and more common. The first chunk of this movie honestly feels like it was supposed to be a DVD “behind the scenes” feature. There’s talk about the ambition of the project, the quality of the talent working, the excitement of everyone to make something great, it’s all there. But as the movie continues along, and the production suffers setback after setback, the movie starts to take on an almost forbidden feel. Everybody has seen enough highly polished “making of” featurettes to know how they’re supposed to look and feel. Everyone is excited, everyone is proud of the work, everyone got along great on set, the movie was a joy to make. But as the movie progresses, it’s like that polished sheen starts to slip, and you start to get an actual look behind the curtain at trying to make a movie. As the movie progresses even further, even the “documentary feel” starts to slip away, until you’re just watching footage of a train wreck as misfortune upon misfortune pile up. There’s a moment where Gilliam is scrambling, trying to find something in the script, any scene that they can shoot, where you realize that the “making of” feel of the movie is totally gone. You’re now just watching the entire universe conspire against Terry Gilliam and his desire to make this movie.

I don’t know if the footage being gathered was ever intended to appear on a DVD special feature, but that look and feel of a style that you’re so familiar with helps to drag you along through the events of the documentary. This movie feels like a genuine look behind the scenes, something that we rarely get to actually see. Stunts go wrong, the weather won’t cooperate, and the most stressful day on the set is the one where a giant group of investors show up to see how things are going.

While this still would have been a fascinating look behind the curtain, the fact that the movie trying to get made is Don Quixote ads a layer to the movie that re enforces every feeling of one man battling the elements, the universe, and fate itself. I don’t know if any other unmade movie could have provided commentary on it’s own production quite so well.

Chris: If it's your dream to some day be a filmmaker, perhaps this isn't the documentary for you because successfully making a film is the result of a lot of successful communication and a healthy dose of luck. The slightest bit of bad luck could crush and destroy all chance of your dream project being made. It can be soul-crushing but it does help a little to know that Gilliam did complete filming the movie earlier this year. And yes, there isn't a whole that can be done with unexpected weather disasters or health changes but there were a lot of miscommunication issues that could have made the filming situation much better. Also it's almost unfair to see all of this play out in a condensed hour and a half when it seems the director and producers' attitude about the film shift dramatically. It felt like one minute they were determined to make this movie no matter what and the next, they're abandoning all hope. Of course, this is something that takes place over the course of days and weeks but in the documentary, it feels much more sudden.

Jason: Due to his off-beat sense of humor and his long time association with Monty Python, I have always assumed that Terry Gilliam was British. I was surprised to find out that he's actually from Minnesota! That aside, the end of this film would be super depressing if it weren't for the fact that this movie will actually be releasing next year! It has been a long time in the making and, according to this doc, a HUGE uphill battle. This production was literally doomed. There were parts during the story that I had to shake my head and say “Oh no…” And then there was the rainstorm. That may have been the most devastating thing that could have happened to the set short of a meteor strike. The whole thing was a comedy of errors that all worked their beautiful chaos into a production killer. Uncooperative agents, panicky backers, terrible facilities, bickering producers, injured actors, and Johnny Depp all took their toll on what was a massively ambitious dream shoot for Gilliam.

I love all the comparisons that are made between Gilliam and his icon, Don Quixote. Gilliam is an idealist with a specific dream that no one else could see. He charged at a monster, only to be swatted down by reality. The only difference is, at the end of the book, Quixote comes to his senses and see the world for what it is. I'm not sure Gilliam is capable of that. I hope not. I love his work and want to see more! I'm quite excited to see this movie when it finally does come out. Also, when it makes it to home release, I would love to see a new production documentary on the disc for the completed film. It would be great to finally see the man triumph over his giants.