The Man Who Killed Don Quixote

Plot

Toby Grummett, a director, is in rural Spain, struggling with the production of a commercial featuring Don Quixote and Sancho Panza. After an unsuccessful day of shooting, Toby's superior, the Boss, introduces him to a Romani street merchant who sells him an old DVD of The Man Who Killed Don Quixote, a film he wrote and directed ten years earlier as a student. Toby watches the film while in bed with the Boss's wife, Jacqui. When the Boss returns to the hotel room, Toby barely escapes without being recognized.

A flashback shows student Toby casting elderly cobbler Javier Sanchez as Don Quixote. Javier initially falters in his characterization, but upon rushing to defend teenage waitress Angelica when a member of Toby's crew plays a prank on her, succeeds in embodying that "I am Don Quixote".

Toby realizes that his current shoot is near the shooting location of The Man Who Killed Don Quixote. Taking a motorbike to Los Sueños, he learns that Angelica has moved away from her father Raul. Toby meets Javier, now working as a tourist attraction. He discovers that Javier has become convinced that he is the real Don Quixote, and that Toby is his squire, Sancho Panza. Quixote accidentally causes a fire that spreads through the town, as Toby escapes on the motorbike.

On the set, police are investigating the "break in" of Jacqui's room. The police notice that Toby's bike was the one spotted in Los Sueños and take him in for questioning. En route, they encounter Don Quixote on his horse Rocinante, who demands that the officers release Toby. When they dismiss him, Quixote attacks, culminating in one of the officers being shot and the Romani man stealing the police car. Quixote supplies Toby with a donkey and clothes from the set, and they set off for adventures.

Quixote notices a windmill and believes it is a giant attacking a woman. Receiving a head wound after being knocked by one of the windmill's blades, Quixote and Toby are led by the woman to a decrepit ruin occupied by impoverished people. The leader, Barbero, welcomes them warmly but locks them in an attic. That night, Toby comes to suspect that they are secretly terrorists, but soon finds that the ruin has transformed into a 17th-century village and its inhabitants are Moriscos hiding their Muslim faith from the Spanish Inquisition. Toby manages to evade the inquisitors, then awakens the next morning, the night's events having seemingly been a dream, and learns that the residents are not terrorists but fearful undocumented immigrants. Quixote, having experienced Toby's "dream", is regaling them with a tale of it.

Cast

Adam Driver as Toby Grummett, a director who comes back to the village where he filmed his student film ten years ago, and whom Quixote mistakes for his trusted squire Sancho Panza. Robin Williams, Johnny Depp, Ewan McGregor, and Jack O'Connell were all previously cast in the role.

Jonathan Pryce as Javier Sanchez / "Don Quixote", an old Spanish shoemaker who played the part of Quixote in Toby's old student film, but has since become convinced he is actually the famous literary character. John Cleese, Jean Rochefort, Michael Palin, Robert Duvall, and John Hurt were all previously cast in the role; Pryce was also a part of the original 2000 production, in a different role.

Stellan Skarsgård as The Boss, Toby's superior.

Olga Kurylenko as Jacqui, the Boss' wife.

Joana Ribeiro as Angélica Fernández, a young woman who played a supporting role in Toby's film ten years earlier.

Óscar Jaenada as the Gypsy, a mysterious character who keeps crossing paths with Toby.

Jason Watkins as Rupert, Toby's ambitious agent.

Sergi López as the Farmer.

Rossy de Palma as The Farmer's Wife.

Hovik Keuchkerian as Raul, Angélica's father.

Jordi Mollà as Alexei Miiskin, a cruel oligarch.

Production

Origins (1989–1997)

Terry Gilliam first read the novel in 1989, and started conceptualizing an adaptation right away. He saw a personal project in adapting Don Quixote, as it embodies many of the themes that run through his own work—such as the individual versus society, and the concept of sanity. Instead of a literal adaptation, Gilliam's film was about "an old, retired, and slightly kooky nobleman named Alonso Quixano [who] reads too many chivalric romances. Taking leave of his senses, he sets out to fix the world and revive chivalry, clad in makeshift armor and accompanied by a donkey-owning farmer named Sancho Panza, who serves as his squire".

Gilliam signed a deal with Phoenix Pictures as the studio to make the film in 1990 under the name Don Quixote. Sean Connery was in talks to star as Quixote, but Gilliam disliked the idea because "Quixote is air and Sean is earth". Nigel Hawthorne and Danny DeVito were also in talks to star as Quixote and Panza respectively. However, Gilliam ultimately decided that the budget the studio offered him was too low and dropped from the project to focus on The Defective Detective, another film he ultimately failed to make. Phoenix Pictures chose Fred Schepisi to replace Gilliam, with John Cleese as Quixote and Robin Williams as Panza, and Steven Haft, Quincy Jones and David Salzman as producers. This version would have been based on an old screenplay by Waldo Salt. However, it was officially cancelled in 1997.

In 1997, Gilliam stated, "The years I wasted on this one! I was so frustrated with Hollywood, I went after European money, needing $20 million. And they said, 'You're on.' But I found out I needed more money. [...] That really hurts, that I let a project I'm convinced I'm the best director on the planet to do, slip by."

Original aborted production (1998–2000)

After Schepisi's project collapsed, Gilliam resumed working on the film with co-writer Tony Grisoni, giving it the new name The Man Who Killed Don Quixote. Instead of featuring a man named Alonso Quixano and Sancho Panza, this new version would instead feature Toby (in early versions "Toby Grisoni", as a joke between Gilliam and co-writer Tony Grisoni), a 21st-century marketing executive thrown back through time and who meets Don Quixote. Their version would also have borrowed elements from Mark Twain's 1889 novel A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court, including its time travel elements; after having failed Don Quixote's original attempt, Gilliam had unsuccessfully tried to adapt A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court into a film.

Gilliam announced Don Quixote to be his next project at the UK premiere of Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas in 1998, with pre-production starting the same year. Gilliam, tired with Hollywood wanting creative control on his films, had decided to make the film in Europe instead, which according to him was "one big monstrous problem". It was set to have been one of the biggest continental European films ever made, with a budget of $32.1 million that had been scaled back from an original $40 million, and would have been filmed in Spain and throughout Europe. It was to have been one of Gilliam's most ambitious films, produced without any American financing; according to Gilliam, this budget was "half the money we need". René Cleitman was one of the film's producers. At the time, Gilliam stated, "I hope it's going to be fun. It's been such a long slog to get to this point today." Working Title Films was offered the project, but turned it down because of the needed budget.

Jean Rochefort was picked to play Don Quixote, in preparation for which he spent seven months learning English. Toby was to be played by Johnny Depp, who had starred in Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, and Vanessa Paradis would have been his love interest. Other actors who were to appear in the film included Miranda Richardson, Christopher Eccleston, Rossy de Palma, Jonathan Pryce, and Sally Phillips.

Filming started in September 2000, with Nicola Pecorini as cinematographer. The first location shoot was at Bardenas Reales, a scenic, barren area in Navarre, Spain, near a NATO military base. Shortly before filming, the crew unexpectedly found out that several actors had conflicting schedules that would not match each other, making it unsure how and when to film scenes that would feature those same actors at the same time. On the very first day of shooting, F-16 fighter aircraft flew overhead repeatedly, ruining the audio recording and mandating a later re-dubbing in post-production. A flash flood then followed on the second day of filming, washing away and destroying significant portions of equipment and changing the colour of the barren cliffs, making previously filmed material unusable due to continuity issues. The crew spent the next days trying to recover the equipment or obtain new supplies, but it eventually turned out that the film's insurance did not cover the damage caused by the flood. Several actors also did not show up on set for filming.

Later attempts (2003–16)

After the production had been cancelled, an insurance claim was filed on behalf of the film's investors. US$15 million were reportedly paid, and the rights to the screenplay passed on to the insurance companies. From 2003 on, Gilliam kept on trying to make the film, but to no avail. His first new attempt, six months after the release of Lost in La Mancha, was quickly turned down. In 2005, Gilliam voiced his interest in re-casting the role of Don Quixote with Gérard Depardieu. The film quickly gained the reputation of being cursed, notably after the release of Lost in La Mancha, making it even harder for Gilliam to find financial support.

In the meantime, Gilliam made other films, stating, "Every film I've done since then has been because I couldn't get Quixote made." Those other productions mostly collapsed, like the Nicolas Cage-led The Defective Detective or an adaptation of Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman's novel Good Omens (which was cancelled after the September 11 attacks due to the content being judged too dark), or were also met with significant issues: he notably clashed with producers Bob and Harvey Weinstein on the making of The Brothers Grimm, leading to them firing his cinematographer Nicola Pecorini, and had to replace The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus's lead actor Heath Ledger after his death halfway through filming.

In July 2006, after nearly six years of legalities between the French producers and German insurers, the issue over the rights was settled. Terry Gilliam announced this at the Munich International Documentary Film Festival, saying that the production company was willing to give Gilliam the rights, and that Jeremy Thomas was still interested in producing. In August 2006, Gilliam indicated at a post-screening Q&A for Tideland that the complex legal case concerning the film's collapse was finally being wrapped up, and that the rights to the script would hopefully be given back to Gilliam and co-writer Grisoni in the near future. He stated his intention to completely reshoot the film.

Johnny Depp was at times still connected to the project, but it remained unclear if Depp's filming schedule would have allowed for his participation and if he wanted to join the production at all. During a press junket in 2009 for his film Public Enemies, Depp stated: [Gilliam and I] have talked about it. But to be honest, the thing about Terry... I love Terry, and I'd do anything the guy wants to do. But with Quixote... my dance card is pretty nutty for the next couple of years. So I'd hate to put him in a position—or ask to be in a position—where he'd have to wait for me. That would be wrong. But also, I feel like we went there and tried something, and whatever it was—the elements and all the things that got up underneath us—were there and happened and were documented well in that film Lost in La Mancha. So I don't know if it's right for me to go back there. I don't know if it's right for Terry too, but if he wants to...

With Paulo Branco as producer (2016)

At the 66th Berlin International Film Festival in February 2016, Gilliam, in need of a minimum 16 million euros for the budget in order to make the film, was introduced to Portuguese producer Paulo Branco, who promised that he would obtain the needed budget by September, a few weeks before they would start the eleven weeks-long shoot.

With the film having entered pre-production once again, Gilliam cast Palin as Quixote, Adam Driver as Toby, and Olga Kurylenko as the female lead. Reportedly, Driver would have been paid 610,000 euros for the film, with Palin being paid 285,000 euros. Both of them took equitation lessons for the film shortly after being hired. Gilliam hired his daughter Amy Gilliam as unit production manager. The new version would be set in modern day, with Toby as a director shooting a commercial and coming across a copy of his old student film, a re-telling of the famous Don Quixote story, which leads him back to the little Spanish village where he shot it back in the days, only to get embroiled in a series of adventures and catastrophes.

Tensions soon arose, with Branco wanting creative control over the project; however, and despite having been warned against working with Branco, Gilliam believed that he had no other choice than to collaborate with him if he wanted Don Quixote to be filmed in the year, encouraged by Branco's successful financing of David Cronenberg's 2012 film Cosmopolis. Similarly, Branco felt that Gilliam had "a deep hate towards producers". Shortly before the 2016 Cannes Film Festival, Amazon withdrew from the project because of Branco's reputation as producer, with Amazon representative Matthew Heintz sending a mail stating that "in regard of the interactions we had with [Branco], we do not wish to pursue further negotiations with him". Nevertheless, Gilliam stated during the Cannes Film Festival that the film would start shooting in October 2016.

Conflict escalated further when Branco tried to reduce the budget down from the promised 16 million. He also cut Palin's pay from 285,000 euros to 100,000 euros, which deeply angered Palin; when Gilliam wrote to Branco to complain that Palin's unexpected salary cut felt like a "slap on the face", Branco answered that the film needed "a true producer", referring to himself as the "captain" of the project. On 29 April 2016, Gilliam signed a deal where in exchange for producing the film, Branco would earn, in addition to his own salary, the salary of 750,000 euros Gilliam would have been paid for writing and directing the film. In addition to severing ties with several other production companies interested in the project, Branco soon tried to reduce the salaries of other crew members, including the hair stylist, the assistant director, and Amy Gilliam. He also tried to push Palin away from the project, considering him too old, to have his own sister hired as costume designer, to have filming moved forward by several months, and to have the film shot in digital instead of the 35 mm Gilliam wanted. Some of the film's other producers and its distributor stated that Branco told Gilliam "Either you make this film my way, or you irremediably compromise the feasibility of the project and your film is condemned. It will never see the light of day."

Final production (2016–2018)

Over the years, Gilliam and Grisoni kept on re-writing The Man Who Killed Don Quixote as they kept on trying to make the film. The most notable change was the removal of the time travelling element central to the original 2000 production; instead of the character of Toby being thrown back through time, the film would instead take place in modern times, with the "period elements" being characters having a party dressed like in the ancient times. Toby would be revisiting a Spanish village he had once filmed a student film in and discover that the shoemaker he had cast in the title role all those years ago has been living as Quixote ever since.

Gilliam stated, "I'm incorporating the idea of the damage that films do to people, so it's become a bit more autobiographical." Jonathan Pryce, who was a part of both the original and final productions, stated, "from what I can remember of the original script, this is an altogether better version. It's a clearer story. Terry's done a lot of rewrites – and he's had a lot of time to do rewrites."

After Gilliam found new producers, he started production once again. Driver and Kurylenko were still attached as Toby and the female lead, with Pryce cast as Don Quixote. Pryce had previously starred in Gilliam's films Brazil (1985), The Adventures of Baron Munchausen (1988), and The Brothers Grimm (2005), and was also cast in the original 2000 production of The Man Who Killed Don Quixote in a different role. Gilliam stated, "Jonathan has been wanting to [play Quixote] for 15 years – he's been making my life a misery. And now he's here and he's just extraordinary. The editor, who is Spanish, says that she can never imagine another Quixote. So it's as if the time was right: everything seemed to be ready to make this thing."

Gilliam stated that Driver was the perfect cast choice for Toby, calling him "the guy I've been looking for all these years." Cast members later announced included Joana Ribeiro, Óscar Jaenada, Jason Watkins, Rossy de Palma, and Jordi Mollà.

Having found new producers who obtained the needed budget, Gilliam unexpectedly announced in March 2017 that filming had started for the first time since the original 2000 attempt; the announcements of Pryce's role, and Driver and Kurylenko still being attached to their roles, soon followed.

Promotion

The first image of the film, showing Don Quixote and Toby riding horses, was released on 21 February 2018. The first trailer was released for the French market on 5 April, featuring French text and subtitles, followed by an English-language trailer the following day.

Release

The film premiered on 19 May 2018 as the closing film of the 2018 Cannes Film Festival (where it received a standing ovation), and was released in French theaters the same day.

Paulo Branco, whose legal dispute with Gilliam prevented the film from competing for the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival, attempted to prevent the film from both being released in France and from being shown at Cannes. A hearing took place on 7 May to debate if the film could be shown at the festival, with the decision expected two days later. On 9 May, the court ruled in favor of the film being shown at Cannes. On May 18, court ruled in Gilliam's favor once again and authorized the film to be released in French theaters the following day; it would have a limited release, and would be shown in 255 theaters across the country. Critics at the Cannes Film Festival received an early screening the day before the release.

On 8 May 2018, despite contributing significant funding to the production, Amazon Studios confirmed that they would no longer distribute the film in the United States. It was released in Spain on 1 June 2018.

The film premiered in Belgium on 20 June at the Brussels international Film Festival, before being released nationwide on 25 June. It was released in China via the Turbo Film production company. On 17 September, Gilliam announced that the film would premiere in the United States on 20 September at Fantastic Fest. On 17 December, Screen Media Films acquired the North American rights to the film and set a March 2019 release. The film was released in the US and Canada on April 10, 2019 as a one night only showing in select theaters through Fathom Events.

As of April 2021, the 132-minute cut of the film is available in the United States on Hulu.

Reception

Critical response

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 66% of 128 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 6.0/10. The website's consensus reads: "The Man Who Killed Don Quixote may not live up to long-gestating expectations, but it bears enough of director Terry Gilliam's signature creative stamp to satisfy fans." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 58 out of 100, based on 25 critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews.

Peter Debruge with Variety called the film "a loud, belligerent, barely coherent mess", stating "the result feels like evidence of someone [Gilliam] who spent too long obsessing over Don Quixote, losing sight somewhere along the way of whatever attracted him in the first place." Gregory Ellwood at Collider felt that the film "simply doesn't live up to its storied legacy in the annals of Hollywood film development", giving it a C rating.

Ben Croll writing for TheWrap called The Man Who Killed Don Quixote "an awful lot of fun. Of course, the fun can be far from perfect. The film is also messy and hysterical in places, and by running an exhausting 132 minutes, it rather insistently overstays its welcome [...] We're so thrilled by the film's improbable existence that we're willing to go wherever Gilliam wants to take us, but respond with an extra degree of disappointment whenever he stumbles along the way." He summarized by saying, "It's too much, it's out of step with today and it's oddly endearing."

Robbie Collin for The Daily Telegraph felt that:

Even when the film feels like a circuitous, effortful mess, it's often an intentional one – and for everything in the film that doesn't quite connect, that element of self-portraiture, with the artist as sap, strikes a wistful chord. [...] Driver and Pryce fling themselves at everything with beady resolve, just as Gilliam gives it everything he has. Around 50 percent of it sticks....But after everything Quixote has been through, 50 percent feels like enough.

Peter Bradshaw at The Guardian stated: "It may not be Gilliam's masterpiece, but it is a movie with sprightliness, innocence and charm and it is a morale boost to anyone who cares about creativity that Gilliam has got the film made at all. His own intelligence and joy in his work shine out of every frame, and his individuality is a delight when so much of mainstream cinema seems to have been created by algorithm."

Legacy

Development hell

In the years that followed its original cancellation, The Man Who Killed Don Quixote became widely recognized as one of the most infamous examples of development hell in film history, and as one of the most famous films never made, even gaining the reputation of being cursed. IndieWire called the film "one of the most troubled productions in the history of cinema", while /Film believed they "could write a book about the movie's problems", stating, "Heaven and hell seemed to unite in defiance of Terry Gilliam's The Man Who Killed Don Quixote."

Commenting on the making of the film, The Guardian commented on "Mr. Gilliam's visionary project disintegrating like a slow-motion car crash. The double hernia and slipped disc that zonked his lead actor, Jean Rochefort, the flash floods that swept away his camera equipment, the overhead NATO jets which wrecked his soundtrack, the actors who didn't show up, and finally, the implacable money-men who declared that the star's indisposition was not covered by insurance as it was an Act of God. The Act of a furious Old Testament God with a serious grudge against Terry Gilliam". Geeks of Doom called the film's failure a "legendary collapse", while the BBC stated that the film is "synonymous with sustained and calamitous misfortune".

When the final film encountered legal issues due to the dispute with Paulo Branco in 2018, several journalists commented on the issue by stating that regarding the infamously complicated history of the film, its current legal issues were relatively inconsequential, with The Guardian stating, "It's another bump in the long road for this most troubled of productions, though given the director has waited nearly two decades to see his magnum opus on screen, he can stand to hold on for a few more months." The BBC stated before the film's release "It is almost unbelievable that The Man Who Killed Don Quixote is still being wounded by the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune" while Vox stated, "It remains to be seen whether the film is any good. But at this point, it almost doesn't matter. It will be a long time before The Man Who Killed Don Quixote can be seen just as a movie, separate from its long saga of dreams and woes and catastrophes—which may actually be beneficial in the case of a movie about a knight with a foolish dream. The behind-the-scenes saga is part of the film's mystique and history, and whether it's great, terrible, or somewhere in between, that story is what historians, critics, and crowds will remember, long after the movie leaves theaters."

Gilliam himself admitted in May 2017, that the film's legendary reputation added more pressure on him: "The problem is that people have very high expectations. And a lot of people say I'm a fool to make the film, and that it would have been better to let people imagine how great it would have been, rather than making it a reality and disappointing them. People love Roman ruins because they're not complete and you can imagine them. So I may be making a great mistake. Maybe the film would be better as a fantasy."

Lost in La Mancha

After his 1988 film The Adventures of Baron Munchausen was almost abandoned, Gilliam decided to document the making of all his films in case one of them was canceled. For The Man Who Killed Don Quixote, he asked Keith Fulton and Louis Pepe, who had been in charge of the making-of of his film 12 Monkeys, to film what should have ultimately been its making-of; however, after Don Quixote was canceled, Lost in La Mancha was released in 2002 as a stand-alone documentary film about Gilliam's failed attempt at making the film.

The documentary received critical praise for its relevance on the difficulties inherent to filmmaking, and for its depiction of Gilliam as an artist. BBC called the film "painful to watch: an astonishing 'un-making of' documentary which defines the phrase 'catalogue of disasters'". Olga Kurylenko, who starred in the eventual 2018 film, stated about Lost in La Mancha, "You watch and you think, poor Terry. Why does this have to happen to this wonderful man? He doesn't deserve this. It's just crazy. But it wasn't meant to be, I guess. It wasn't the moment."

He Dreams of Giants

Keith Fulton and Louis Pepe, the writers and directors of Lost in La Mancha, released a follow-up film, He Dreams of Giants. It covers the entire history of making The Man Who Killed Don Quixote, with particular focus on what happened after the events depicted in Lost in La Mancha. He Dreams of Giants was released on November 10, 2019. Pepe considered the film "more introspective" than Lost in La Mancha, stating:

This is more a film about an internal struggle in an artist's mind. What is it like for an artist to be standing on the brink of actually finishing this project finally? [...] Even on the set we would say the conflicts raging around Terry right now of making the movie are not nearly as interesting as what's going on inside his head.