This film is part of Rentals
The Man Who Killed Don Quixote
Two decades in the making, Terry Gilliam’s wildly imaginative Cervantes adaptation is finally with us, and it’s everything we have come to expect from this visionary filmmaker.
Director: Terry Gilliam
Overview
Only a Terry Gilliam film could have its ‘making of’ screened almost two decades before the actual film is released. Lost in La Mancha was the 2002 documentary about Gilliam’s first attempt to adapt Miguel de Cervantes’ picaresque novel. That production ended up uncompleted. Nothing if not determined – and perhaps not dissimilar to the errant nobleman he is hellbent on bringing to the screen – Gilliam persisted and finally his madcap, humorously heraldic mission reaches us.
Co-written by Tony Grisoni, Gilliam’s fellow traveller across all these years, The Man Who Killed Don Quixote is far from a straightforward adaptation of that classic book. The narrative switches between four worlds: a shoot in Spain where frazzled director Toby (Adam Driver) is attempting to film his own adaptation of Cervantes’ novel; a decade before, when Toby arrived in the same area and shot a low-budget black-and-white version; the filmmaker’s journey with the eponymous star of the first film (Jonathan Pryce) as they escape a series of ‘accidents’; and a hallucinatory dream world where characters from each of the narratives converge. Visually intoxicating, Gilliam offers up a jocular meditation on the pervasive influence of myths, the corrupting nature of power and – particularly relevant to this singular director – the insanity of the filmmaking process.
Related
The Cow Who Sang a Song Into the Future The Cow Who Sang a Song Into the Future
Fantasy 2022 99 mins Director: Francisca Alegría
Francisca Alegría brings together family trauma and ecology into a poetic journey of rebirth. A mysterious and poetic tale on our collapsing ecosystem and finding balance.
Petrov's Flu Petrov's Flu
Fantasy 2021 146 mins Director: Kirill Serebrennikov
A comic book artist contracts flu during an epidemic and subsequently embarks on a strange journey through Russian society.
Memoria Memoria
Fantasy 2021 136 mins Director: Apichatpong Weerasethakul
Tilda Swinton stars in the first English-language feature from filmmaker Apichatpong Weerasethakul; a mesmerising and beautifully immersive work.
All is Vanity All is Vanity
Fantasy 2021 72 mins Director: Marcos Mereles
Marcos Mereles’ archly funny, endlessly inventive and reflexive puzzle piece explores a strange disappearance at a hip London fashion shoot.
Medusa Medusa
Horror 2021 128 mins Director: Anita Rocha da Silveira
Electrifying genre-bending horror about a gang of marauding vigilantes who target women they deem to be sinful.
Diamantino Diamantino
Comedy 2018 97 mins Director: Gabriel Abrantes and Daniel Schmidt
Diamantino, Portugal’s (the world’s!) top football player, becomes embroiled in genetics and conspiracies, in this joyful, postmodern political fantasy.
Dead Ringers Dead Ringers
Horror 1988 116 mins Director: David Cronenberg
David Cronenberg's award-winning thriller exploring the bizarre lives of identical twins Elliot and Beverly, both played by Jeremy Irons.
Monos Monos
Drama 2019 103 mins Director: Alejandro Landes
The winner of Best Film at the 2019 BFI London Film Festival is a hallucinogenic, intoxicating thriller about child soldiers.
The End We Start From The End We Start From
Drama 2023 102 mins Director: Mahalia Belo
A stunning post-apocalyptic British drama navigating the anxieties of parenthood and the future of the world.
Robot Dreams Robot Dreams
Animation & Artists Moving Image 2023 103 mins Director: Pablo Berger
Director Pablo Berger delivers a rich and emotionally engaging dialogue-free animation about friendship, set in a bustling 1980s New York City.
Tiger Stripes Tiger Stripes
Horror 2023 95 mins Director: Amanda Nell Eu
Nothing is quite as scary as puberty in this exuberant feminist pre-teen body horror from first time Malaysian director Amanda Nell Eu.
Seeking Mavis Beacon Seeking Mavis Beacon
Documentary 2024 102 mins Director: Jazmin Jones
Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing taught millions of people touch typing in the late 80s and through the 90s. But who was the real Mavis Beacon?
Tracks Tracks
Biopic 2014 113 mins Director: John Curran
Mia Wasikowska stars in this inspirational true story about one woman’s extraordinary odyssey through the Australian Outback.
Midnight Special Midnight Special
Science Fiction 2015 112 mins Director: Jeff Nichols
Jeff Nichols, the acclaimed chronicler of American delirium, presents an imaginative sci-fi about an otherworldly child pursued by the FBI and a shadowy cult.
He Dreams of Giants He Dreams of Giants
Documentary 2020 83 mins Director: Keith Fulton and Louis Pepe
Terry Gilliam battles with obsession and self-doubt in this poignant, insightful documentary on the making of his long-anticipated screen adaptation of Don Quixote.
Silence Silence
Drama 2017 161 mins Director: Martin Scorsese
Scorsese’s epic meditation on spiritual strength, with Andrew Garfield and Adam Driver as missionaries on the search for their missing mentor.
The Penguin Lessons The Penguin Lessons
Drama 2025 112 mins Director: Peter Cattaneo
Steve Coogan is superb as a disillusioned teacher whose life is turned upside-down when he rescues a penguin in turbulent 1970s Argentina.
William Tell William Tell
Action and Adventure 2024 133 mins
A peaceful huntsman is thrust into the heart of the resistance, in this gripping retelling of a timeless legend.
He Dreams of Giants He Dreams of Giants
Documentary 2020 83 mins Director: Keith Fulton and Louis Pepe
Terry Gilliam battles with obsession and self-doubt in this poignant, insightful documentary on the making of his long-anticipated screen adaptation of Don Quixote.
The Wife The Wife
Drama 2018 100 mins Director: Björn Runge
Glenn Close and Jonathan Pryce are the spouses with a secret in a tight, taut drama of ego and legacy.
Jabberwocky Jabberwocky
Comedy 1977 106 mins Director: Terry Gilliam
Terry Gilliam's first feature as a solo director, here gloriously restored, is a riotous tale of monsters, true love and medieval manners.
The Cow Who Sang a Song Into the Future The Cow Who Sang a Song Into the Future
Fantasy 2022 99 mins Director: Francisca Alegría
Francisca Alegría brings together family trauma and ecology into a poetic journey of rebirth. A mysterious and poetic tale on our collapsing ecosystem and finding balance.
A Forgotten Man A Forgotten Man
Historical drama 2022 85 mins Director: Laurent Negre
At the end of World War Two, a Swiss diplomat (Michael Neueschwander) is burdened with guilt in this chillingly intense historical drama.
Verdict Verdict
Crime 2019 127 mins Director: Raymund Ribay Gutierrez
A wife presses charges against her violent husband, only to face fresh battles against bureaucracy, in this incensing courtroom thriller.
Rimini Rimini
Drama 2022 90 mins Director: Ulrich Seidl
Impeccably styled and unflinchingly grim, this darkly humorous tale of a pop star past his prime finds Ulrich Seidl at his audacious best.
The Miseducation of Cameron Post The Miseducation of Cameron Post
Drama 2018 92 mins Director: Desiree Akhavan
Chloë Grace Moretz is the girl who finds her tribe with fellow ‘sinners’ at a religious camp where they are told to pray the gay away.
Petrov's Flu Petrov's Flu
Fantasy 2021 146 mins Director: Kirill Serebrennikov
A comic book artist contracts flu during an epidemic and subsequently embarks on a strange journey through Russian society.