Is Terry Gilliam going back to his Don Quixote movie?
Filed under: Action, Drama, DIY/Filmmaking, Johnny Depp
Earlier this week, at a screening of The Brothers Grimm (he's still beating away at that poor thing? Hasn't he given up and moved on to Tideland yet?), Terrry Gilliam hinted that he may yet return to The Man Who Killed Don Quixote, the accursed project documented in the documentary, Lost in La Mancha. "We’re getting closer to getting the script to Don Quixote back," the director said. "There was kind of a legal situation where the insurance company and
French production company put up a lot of money, but it looks as though
things are loosening up.” If Gilliam has temporarily lost control of his content, he hasn't lost his potential star. "“Johnny [Depp]’s still there, we caught him in Toronto - he said publicly [he would do it] again so we’re good."Still, one would be advised against letting their hopes rise; as Dan Jolin points out in Empire, "Gilliam’s career is littered with fantastic-sounding nearly-mades: A Tale Of Two Cities, The Defective Detective, Watchmen…" It seems true that, to be a Gilliam fan, one must get used to a certain amount of disappointment. I'm not the best person to answer this question – I've never felt anything more than neutral about Gilliam's work to begin with – but I feel as though it needs to be asked nonetheless: does Terry Gilliam matter anymore? He took so long off after Fear and Loathing, and The Brothers Grimm was ridculously disappointing. Gilliam devotees, speak up: have you yet lost your faith?
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
11-03-2005 @ 8:46PM
Jette said...
I liked The Brothers Grimm, so obviously I don't think Gilliam irrelevant and I want to see what he comes up with next. Looking forward to Tideland, too.
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11-03-2005 @ 9:36PM
Christopher Campbell said...
I may have been disappointed with The Brothers Grimm - his worst since Jabberwocky - but I think that I'm so much of a Gilliam junky that I appreciated it for the parts in which his sense of humor shined through. I especially loved Jonathan Pryce even if his part was a slight redo of his character in Baron Munchausen.
I have a special love, though, so don't mind me. When I was depressed in film school, 12 Monkeys was the film that made me remember how important movies are to my life and after I dropped out The Fisher King made me happy to sleep an occasional night in Grand Central Station. And anyone says anything bad to me about Time Bandits shall be turned into a pig.
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11-05-2005 @ 4:56AM
Jarod Facknitz said...
Gilliam (even after all these years) is still one of the most imaginative, experimental, and honest directors out there. I enjoyed the Brothers Grimm by sacrificing punditry in favor of letting the film stand on its own. I think a more pertinent question might be: Can Gilliam find a place to call home in a society where the X-Box generation now reigns and Batman Begins is considered choice Summer cinema? I worry that appreciation is waning for those who think outside the box, which is now more tightly concealed than ever. In short, I have not lost my faith in him-and doubt I shall ever.
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11-12-2005 @ 10:59AM
Graham Pratt said...
"Does Terry Gilliam matter anymore? He took so long off after Fear and Loathing"
What a load of tripe. Mr Gilliam is a workaholic, who rather than just taking a break, is constantly trying to get his work to the screen. Unfortunately the powers that be seem to veto this at any given oportunity, i.e. the money-men getting cold feet and pulling out mid-project because the subject matter is perhaps a little risky in their eyes. If the movie script does'nt have enough explosions, product placements or Vin Diesel's in it, then it is not going to be profitable. So they soil themselves and flee to another "safe" project (starring The Rock for example). So it would seem to the casual bystander (who does'nt do enough research) that the poor guy is just being lazy. Not so.
NI!
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