A Film A Day: Terry Gilliam

The Man Who Killed Don Quixote (2018)

Terry Gilliam first read Don Quixote in 1989 and decided to turn it into a movie right away. It's only in 2000 that he had his first shot at making the film, but everything went wrong and the making of the movie became a documentary about the failure at making the movie, Lost in La Mancha. Last May, after 18 years the first attempt, and nearly 30 years after it was originally conceived, The Man Who Killed Don Quixote finally saw the light at Cannes.

The story follows Toby Grisoni (Adam Driver), a cynical advertising director who is struggling with the production of a commercial featuring Don Quixote. One night, he stumbles upon an old DVD of The Man Who Killed Don Quixote, an amateur film that Toby made as a student a decade earlier. He then discovers that the village where he made the film is just a short drive away and heads over there only to discover that the shoemaker (Jonathan Pryce) he cast in the leading role now believes he is the real Don Quixote and that Toby is Sancho Panza. Toby is soon pulled into the world of Don Quixote and embarks on a series of adventures that mixes dreams and reality.

Genre

Comedy

Director

Terry Jones

Country

Cast

Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, Michael Palin, Kenneth Colley, Neil Innes, Gwen Taylor, Terence Bayler, Carol Cleveland, Charles McKeown, Chris Langham, Sue Jones-Davies, John Young, Bernard McKenna, Spike Milligan, George Harrison

Plot

Monty Pythons tells the story of Brian from Nazareth (Graham Chapman), an unwilling prophet who wants to free his land from the oppression of Rome.

Opinion

Life of Brian is not just an incredible satire of Christian religion and Hollywood's epic films, or an extremely funny film, but pure gold. It's amazing how this 36-year-old film doesn't feel aged at all. I laughed at it most of the time - although it slows down a bit in the second part - and, at one particular moment - when Pontius Pilate speaks of his friend Biggus Dickus - I laughed so hard, tears ran down my leg.

The direction is good; the costumes are good; the acting is great, and Graham Chapman's performance is the one who stands out.

Quotes

Pontius Pilate: Wait until Biggus Dickus hears of this!

document.write(ssyby);