DOCUTAH presents “Lost in La Mancha”
The story of Terry Gilliam’s 18-year quest to reinvent the Don Quixote story
By Della Lowe
As part of its monthly series, DOCUTAH will screen “Lost in La Mancha,” the story of Terry Gilliam’s 18-year quest to make “The Man Who Killed Don Quixote” — his version of tilting at windmills, perhaps?
Who knows what it will do at the box office. It made it to Cannes, but the reviews are mixed. The film, plagued by a series of incredible disasters and set-backs, is now finally in the can.
However, the saga of its production as told in the documentary “Lost in La Mancha” is perhaps far more fascinating. It is a cautionary tale of development hell and a great documentary. Hosted by writers and directors Keith Fulton and Louis Pepe, the film will be screened at the Electric Theater June 29 at 7 p.m.
The Guardian summed it well last year when writing about Gilliam’s The Man Who Killed Don Quixote: “Still, even if the finished product isn’t any cop, we have still got a great work out of this long-running saga. ‘Lost in La Mancha,’ the documentary about the troubled production, is one of the finest films about filmmaking, a testament to the passion, and folly, of Gilliam’s grand undertaking. If nothing else, we can thank him for that.”
Visionary director Terry Gilliam had a dream. He wanted to film the classic story of Don Quixote by recasting it as a trippy, time-traveling, mistaken-identity adventure with Johnny Depp as Quixote. After struggling for years to get financing, insurance and a cast in place, Gilliam traveled to Spain and promptly watched his dream fall apart. “Lost in La Mancha” tells the story of that nightmare.
At times hilarious, this intimate film is a unique, in-depth look at the harsher realities of filmmaking. From flash floods to cast no-shows to serious injuries to NATO flyovers to illness, Gilliam and his crew suffer one setback after another. The documentary co-stars Depp, Jean Rochefort, and Vanessa Paradis, all supposed to star in the film they tried to make. It is narrated by Jeff Bridges.
“If after watching this you still think of the moviemaking business as glamorous, you are the ultimate optimist,” said Phil Tuckett, professor of digital film and executive director of DOCUTAH. “If you are an aspiring filmmaker, it is a reality check on the perseverance it can take to realize your dreams.”
Ticket reservations for “Lost in La Mancha” can be made online.
This year’s selections for the 2018 DOCUTAH International Documentary Film Festival will be listed at docutah.com in July. The festival takes place in St. George Sept. 3–8.
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