Lost in La Mancha (2002)

Fulton and Pepe's 2000 documentary captures Terry Gilliam's attempt to get The Man Who Killed Don Quixote off the ground. Back injuries, freakish storms, and more zoom in to sabotage the project (which has never been resurrected).

Directors:

Keith Fulton, Louis Pepe

Stars:

Tony Grisoni, Terry Gilliam, Jeff Bridges

2 wins & 9 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Tony Grisoni	...	Himself - Co-Writer
Philip A. Patterson	...	Himself - First Assistant Director (as Phil Patterson)
René Cleitman	...	Himself - Producer
Terry Gilliam	...	Himself - Writer & Director
Nicola Pecorini	...	Himself - Director of Photography
José Luis Escolar	...	Himself - Line Producer
Bárbara Pérez-Solero	...	Herself - Ass't. Set Decorator
Benjamín Fernández	...	Himself - Production Designer (as Benjamin Fernandez)
Andrea Calderwood	...	Herself - Former Head of Production, Pathé
Ray Cooper	...	Himself - Longtime Gilliam Colleague
Gabriella Pescucci	...	Herself - Costume Designer
Carlo Poggioli	...	Himself - Co-Costume Designer
Bernard Bouix	...	Himself - Executive Producer
Fred Millstein	...	Himself - Completion Guarantor
Jeff Bridges	...	Narrator (voice)

Storyline

Director Terry Gilliam is the latest filmmaker to try and bring Miguel de Cervantes y Saavedra's "Don Quixote de la Mancha" to the big screen, the movie to be called The Man Who Killed Don Quixote. Before filming even begins, Gilliam, who has moved from Hollywood studio to European financing, will have to scale back his vision as his budget has been slashed from $40 million to $32 million, still astronomical by European standards. But Gilliam is a dreamer, much like his title character, and his vision for the movie is uncompromising, meaning with the reduced budget that there is no margin for error and that some of his department heads may have to achieve miracles with their allotted moneys. During pre-production and actual filming, what Gilliam does not foresee is contractual and health issues with his actors, and the effects of Mother Nature. The question is does Gilliam have a Plan B if/when things go wrong.

---

Plot Keywords:

don quixote | filmmaker | storm | director | actor | 

---

Taglines:

They've got a story...but have lost the plot.

---

Genres:

Documentary

---

Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for language

Details

Official Sites:

Official page Official site [us]

Country:

UK USA

Language:

English Spanish French

Release Date:

2 August 2002 (UK)

Also Known As:

Don Kihotis horis telos...

Filming Locations:

Monasterio de Piedra, Nuévalos, Zaragoza, Aragón, Spain

Box Office

Opening Weekend:

$63,303 (USA) (31 January 2003)

Gross:

$34,514 (USA) (20 June 2003)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Quixote Films, Low Key Productions, Eastcroft Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

93 min 89 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Fulton and Pepe embarked on their second feature about director Terry Gilliam intending to make a television documentary about the development and pre-production of Gilliam's long-awaited passion project. Having intimate knowledge of Gilliam's chaotic working methods, they knew they were in for something dramatic. But they had no idea that the story would develop into its own quixotic tragedy. After the failure of Gilliam's production, Fulton and Pepe were wary of finishing their film. Gilliam assured them that "someone has to get a film out of this. I guess it's going to be you."

---

Quotes

Johnny Depp: [in character, to a fish] You wanna fuck with me? Fucker!

---

Crazy Credits

There are no opening cast or end credits except for the narrator. Cast members are credited by subtitles during the film or orally by the narrator.

---

Connections

Referenced in Special Collector's Edition: 12 Monos (2012)

User Reviews

brilliant and remarkable documentary

Being a fan of anything Don Quixote related I was thrilled to hear that Terry Gilliam was making a movie, especially when I found out that Johnny Depp was attached. I was somewhat puzzled when time went on and I heard nothing about the film. I don't even remember how I found out about the documentary but, though saddened that apparently the movie had fallen though, I was delighted to be able to have an opportunity to experience some movie making magic, Gilliam style.

I must say that upon watching the documentary I became saddened by the thought that this apparently delightful and amazing film would never be finished. Depp seems to be his same fabulous self and Rochefort as Quixote would have been delightful. The bits that we actually get to see of the movie are fun to watch. It is terrible that anyone would be plagued by such horrendous bad luck at the crew of this movie was.

For anyone who is a fan of Gilliam's work and is in anyway interested in the behind the scenes parts of the film industry, this is a very enlightening little film. It was interesting, even for someone not a part of the industry, to see the process and work involved.

My wish for Gilliam is that he will some day be able to make his spectacular movie. If I had the money I would gladly finance the effort myself. Huzzah, Terry! Keep up the good work, we wish you well.