Don Quixote (1992) Don Quijote de Orson Welles (original title)

Director:

Orson Welles

Writers:

Orson Welles
Jesús Franco (additional dialogue in new edition)
(more)

Release Date:

10 November 2005 (Portugal)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

After reading too many novels about knights and heroic stories, Don Quijote and his servant Sancho Panza...

Plot Keywords:

Servant | Windmill | Spain | Knight | Immortality

Cast

Francisco Reiguera	...	Don Quijote (archive footage)
Akim Tamiroff	...	Sancho Panza
Orson Welles	...	Himself (in new version) (archive footage)
José Mediavilla	...	Don Quixote (in new version) (voice)
Juan Carlos Ordóñez	...	Sancho Panza (in new version) (voice)
Constantino Romero	...	Narrator (in new version) (voice)
Fernando Rey	...	Closing Scene Narrator (in new version) (voice)
Paola Mori
Beatrice Welles
Oja Kodar

Directed by
Orson Welles

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Miguel de Cervantes y Saavedra		novel "El ingenioso hidalgo Don Quijote de la Mancha"
Jesús Franco		additional dialogue in new edition
Javier Mina		dialogue adaptation in new edition
Orson Welles

Produced by
Óscar Dancigers	....	producer
Patxi Irigoyen	....	producer: new version
Francisco Lara Polop	....	producer (as Francisco Lara)
Juan A. Pedrosa	....	associate producer
Alessandro Tasca	....	producer

Original Music by
Daniel White

Cinematography by
Juan Manuel de la Chica
Jack Draper
José García Galisteo
Manuel Mateos
Ricardo Navarrete
Edmond Richard
Giorgio Tonti

Film Editing by
Jesús Franco		(new version)
Maurizio Lucidi		(original version)
Renzo Lucidi		(original version)
Peter Parasheles		(original version)
Alberto Valenzuela		(original version)
Irah Wohl		(original version)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Jesús Franco	....	assistant director (uncredited)

Sound Department
Ian Sasplugas	....	sound: new version
Hermes Serrano	....	supervising sound editor
Ángel Serrano	....	sound: new version
Joan Vidal	....	sound mixer

Special Effects by
Geny Jack	....	special effects: new version
Dolores Olivé	....	special effects: new version

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Marina Rodríguez	....	wardrobe supervisor

Other crew
Jesús Franco	....	supervising director
Oja Kodar	....	general supervisor: new version

Thanks
Juan Cobos	....	thanks

Production Companies

• El Silencio Producciones

Distributors

• Jacinto Santos Parrás
• Terminal Video (2006) (Italy) (DVD)

Also Known As:

"Don Quijote de Orson Welles" - Spain (original title)
"Orson Welles' Don Quixote" - USA (complete title)

Runtime:

116 min | Spain:111 min

Country:

Spain | Italy | USA

Language:

Spanish

Color:

Black and White

Sound Mix:

Mono

Company:

El Silencio Producciones

Trivia:

In the 1950s, Orson Welles shot some scenes featuring himself as "Orson Welles, the film director" and then little girl 'Patricia McCormack' as a child named "Dulcie" (after Dulcinea), which will be introduced by Welles in the world of Don Quixote. These scenes aren't present in this Jesús Franco version.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Brunnen (2005)

A Delightful Treat For Any True Welles Fan- (and more complete than you may think...)

Those who dismiss this reconstructed film out-of-hand cannot possibly have any appreciation of Welles' genius. The reviewer who calls it a "dog's dinner" is obviously reacting to the unusual and non-linear qualities of Welles' later films. I doubt that he can know very much about either Welles or Quijote. In any case, he fails to see the forest from the trees. Of course there are some scenes and shots in this incomplete film that go nowhere-- BUT this is still the most beautiful, exhilariting, and cinematic version of Cervantes yet put to film. I don't doubt that the film would be better if Welles had been able to finish editing it himself. But even as it is, the great director left his mark on each and every surviving scene. Visually speaking, the film is simply too similar to 'The Trial' and other late Welles classics to be ignored.

The film centers around the idea of Don Quixote (and Sancho) trying to stick to their guns in the midst of the great confusion of modern-day Spain. Such a conceit is absolutely typical of Welles, as are all the other major departures from the novel. Welles was not known for faithfulness. But there are also scenes of pure character drama, and they play so well as to make us believe that Cervantes had written them; Welles was, after all, among the greatest of screenwriters.

Not the least of his triumphs here is in the casting: Akim Tamiroff, one of the screen's greatest and most unsung actors, was born to play Sancho and he does not disappoint. Francisco Reiguera looks and acts more like Cervantes' Knight than any other. Again, the other reviewers fail to appreciate this.

If the film has any really major flaw (apart from the awful English dubbing), it is the additional dialog written by Jess Franco, who was Welles' A.D. on this film. Of course it is difficult to identify, but I take it that most of the dialog is Welles'. The film also goes on too long concerning bull-fighting, but of course this was one of Welles' fascinations and it is probably at least partly his fault.

The real reason this film has been ignored is because a lot of people crave conventional narrative cinema so badly that they deride cinematic art unless it has a "artist's brand name" attached to it. Since Welles' is not entirely responsible for the final cut as we have it, a lot of people feel that its 'fair game' in a way that his other films are not. Well, if you can't stand genius, then stay away from it-- you'll only embarrass yourself trying to deride it.

BEWARE THE English-LANGUAGE DUBBING. Welles obviously never did an English dub of this footage, and the one that is supplied by Welles' reconstructors is a total injustice to the film. It is far better to stick it out with the Spanish track and French sub-titles, even if you don't know a word of French. At least you'll have an idea of the quality of some of the scenes. HOPEFULLY we will see a DVD of this in the US with English subtitles.

Perhaps some further reconstruction is also still possible? BUT it will only happen if Welles fans are supportive of the footage the Welles did indeed achieve.