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 Queen of Spades The Queen of Spades
Fantasy 1949 95 mins Director: Thorold Dickinson
Thorold Dickinson's most dazzling success, based on Pushkin’s 1834 tale of black magic and gambling.
O Lucky Man! O Lucky Man!
Comedy 1973 178 mins Director: Lindsay Anderson
A coffee salesman travels England in Lindsay Anderson's profane and satiric vision of English high and low life.
Gremlins Gremlins
Comedy 1984 106 mins Director: Joe Dante
One Christmas, Billy and his cute friend Gizmo try to save themselves and their whole town when diabolical creatures take over.
Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman
Animation & Artists Moving Image 2022 108 mins Director: Pierre Földes
Impressive and captivating animated adaptation of Haruki Murakami’s short stories.
Orlando Orlando
Fantasy 1993 93 mins Director: Sally Potter
Tilda Swinton stars in Sally Potter's dazzling interpretation of Virginia Woolf's novel.
After Blue (Dirty Paradise) After Blue (Dirty Paradise)
Fantasy 2021 129 mins Director: Bertrand Mandico
A mother and daughter living in a post-apocalyptic future are sent to hunt down and kill an evil demon hell-bent on destruction.
Anatomy of a Fall Anatomy of a Fall
Crime 2023 152 mins Director: Justine Triet
Justine Triet's gripping, Palme d'Or-winning psycho-thriller is deeply intelligent with a spellbinding performance from Sandra Hüller.
Occupied City Occupied City
Documentary 2023 251 mins Director: Steve McQueen
Steve McQueen’s cinematic commemoration of the Holocaust offers a multidimensional experience full of gravity and sublimity.
Samsara Samsara
Drama 2023 114 mins Director: Lois Patiño
Berlin Film Festival award winner Lois Patiño’s assured third feature transports us to magical places in Laos and Zanzibar, where the visible and the invisible merge.
The Peasants The Peasants
Drama 2023 115 mins Director: Hugh Welchman and Dorota Kobiela
Using an advanced oil painting animation technique, The Peasants is a visually thrilling rendering of Władysław Reymont’s Nobel Prize-winning tale.
Shoshana Shoshana
Historical drama 2023 121 mins Director: Michael Winterbottom
A young Jewish woman’s relationship with a British policeman stationed in British Mandatory Palestine has lasting consequences for the region in Michael Winterbottom's powerful thriller.
Late Night with the Devil Late Night with the Devil
Horror 2023 93 mins
Like Ghostwatch reimagined as a cheesy 1970s chat show, this deviously clever found-footage horror has scares to spare.
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.
Paterson Paterson
Comedy 2016 118 mins Director: Jim Jarmusch
Adam Driver excels in this effortlessly charming tale of a bus driver poet in New Jersey, filmed with typically groovy elan by Jim Jarmusch.
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.
Late Night with the Devil Late Night with the Devil
Horror 2023 93 mins
Like Ghostwatch reimagined as a cheesy 1970s chat show, this deviously clever found-footage horror has scares to spare.
Drifter Drifter
Drama 2023 79 mins Director: Hannes Hirsch
A scintillating portrait of a young man coming to terms with life, love, sex and relationships in contemporary Berlin.
Boys on Film 24: Happy Endings Boys on Film 24: Happy Endings
Anthology 2024 174 mins Director: Jason Bradbury, Jesse Ung, Diego Alvarez Parra, Itai Jamshy, Fabia Martin, Alejandro Sandoval Bertín, Sara Larrota, Benjamin Belloir, Jeremy McClain and Arthur Cahn
A compilation of new gay short films showcasing unashamedly positive stories of love, sex and romance to move, inspire and uplift.
Four Daughters Four Daughters
Drama-documentary 2023 103 mins Director: Kaouther Ben Hania
The mother-daughter relationship is explored to cathartic effect in this complex and poignant hybrid documentary about a woman and her missing daughters.
Her Last Affaire Her Last Affaire
Drama 1936 68 mins Director: Michael Powell
Michael Powell's 'society drama’ involving suspicion, clandestine romance and presumed murder, and glorious comic double-act from Googie Withers and John Lurie.
She Will She Will
Thriller 2021 96 mins Director: Charlotte Colbert
In Charlotte Colbert’s strikingly gothic film, an ageing actor recovering from a mastectomy taps into a mysterious power at a remote Scottish retreat.