thoughtcrumbs

Curse of Quixote

It's no wonder that Terry Gilliam's attempted rendition of Don Quixote was doomed: he bastardized the story. Yes, Johnny Depp is cute, but making him a modern-day ad exec (with freakisly highlighted hair, no less) magically transported back to the sixteenth century where the delusional Don mistakes him for Sancho Panza is as removed from the source material as you could get and still smile for the financiers. And it's hard to muster sympathy for a director battling Old Testiment-style plagues when his response is surly and expletive-laden. The only person to garner any compasssion in Keith Fulton and Louis Pepe's behind-the-scenes documentary, Lost in La Mancha, is the doubly-herniated lead actor, Jean Rochefort, who allows Gilliam to put him on a horse for reshoot after reshoot. Funny, if frustrating, the documentary captures the tenuous state of motion-picture capitalism, in high contrast to most making-of featurettes included on DVDs these days, where directors appear brilliant and able to troubleshoot production problems with ease. Lost in La Mancha is definitely worth seeing, if only to watch the screen tests for the blubbery, giggling, but strangely menacing giants.