The Man Who Killed Don Quixote

So meaningful this got crossed off his bucket list. And, I found the slow descent into madness -- or, finding his true calling -- or, accepting the mantle passed to _him_ by his _heir_, to be especially rewarding! (Better than a career making commercials...though I wasn't even clear until deciphering the credits that that was what was being filmed at the beginning!)

I wouldn't even have known if I hadn't accidentally watched Graham Chapman's posthumously written (?) autobiographic film, "A Liar's Autobiography."

The first thing you need to know about this film is that Terry Gilliam is the director.   Most of his films would be what I consider to be an epic.  They start in one place and you feel as if you've gone on a wild ride (for better or worse) while ending up in a completely different place.

If Monty Python, The Fisher King, The Imaginarium of Dr. Pernassus and Brazil had a baby it would be this film.  It quite reminded me of Brazil in that (especially later in the film) it had the feel of a wild and giant production (although I liked this film far better than that film).  There was a dreamy feel to this film that was not unlike that of Pernassus.  There was the question of delusion that was central in Fisher King.  And in Jonathan Pryce's performance I could easily see John Cleese if the film were to have a more comedic slant to it (this is not to say that there wasn't comedy in the film). **EDIT*** It turns out that Cleese was in fact supposed to be in the film when they attempted to make it in 1997.

I think what stands out the most in Gilliam's work is just how unique of a story teller he is.  While not all of his films work for me I can always appreciate the ambition that he has in taking on these project.  It always helps to get the kind of stellar performances that were delivered by Pryce and Adam Driver.

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Ignore the ratings, this is a wonderful whimsical film about parallel lives of a movie director. Adam Driver is great as is Jonathan Price. A movie about a film director who returns to a little town where 10 years earlier as film student made a movie using locals as actors. Upon his return 10 years later the main actor in his little movie is still playing the part in reality. Great movie..... watch it

'The Man who killed Don Quixote' has some great designs and props, as well as strong acting.

However, this movie could have been so much more. It sadly lacks in essential components on a film about Don Quixote - particularly storywise with the book being a masterpiece of storytelling and in a way the first modern novel.

It's a difficult work to stand up to or the name of which to slap on one's own work without facing duties of extremely rigorous writing, which should remain as Cervantes's: clever but simple, with several layers of study for those who would want to look further. Gilliam's story is simply here too confused and confusing. It is difficult to discern which idea or even which message he wanted to convey.

Some films should perhaps sometimes remain utopies in their creator's minds, as only there can they forever be perfect.

If you are looking for a great film about Don Quixote and that still involves Terry Gilliam, watch the documentary 'Lost in La Mancha'. It is a superb testament to what Gilliam had in mind 25 years ago.

This movie honestly makes no sense at all. You can barely tell what's real and what's not and it's so random and all over the place. I get the concept of a modern man believing he's Don Quijote. That's an interesting concept but the movie just jumped around randomly and everyone was honestly completely insane.

25 years in the making and yet...we get a great big lumbering mess of a movie. The film might have been better in one of its earlier incarnations, but this, sadly, is a disappointment.

I am not capable of rating _The Man Who Killed Don Quixote_. After waiting decades to see this film, I was bound to be disappointed.

I saw Peter O'Toole in _The Man of Lamancha_ on video cassette when other kids my age were watching Disney and it marked me in ways only a child be marked before experience and others force you to build up walls for protection. At my vulnerable age I didn't understand everything I was watching, but I knew what I saw and I recognised it in myself.

As I grew up, and as a fan of Monty Python, I developed a penchant for Terry Gilliam films after seeing (also on video cassette) _The Adventures of Baron Munchausen_, and later, _Brazil_ and _Twelve Monkeys_. Parallel to these cinematic adventures, in uni I read an English translation of _Don Quijote de La Mancha_ (all 900+ pages) which served to accentuate my connection to the Knight of the Sorrowful Countenance.

When I learned, therefore, that this director whose imagination I coveted wanted to make a film about this hero I worshipped, my expectations rose higher than a hot air balloon...before crashing to earth with the collapse of Gilliam's first excursion into Lamancha (chronicled so well in Lost in Lamancha -- a must-see documentary for anyone interested in filmmaking).

Now, finally, after years of waiting, my imposed patience was rewarded...and I could not help but be disappointed. _The Man Who Killed Don Quixote_ lacks the imagination, humor and poetry contained in every other work about Don Quixote.

But that's just me. Hopefully, those without the demands placed on me by my past will appreciate this film for what it is, and not what I dreamt it would be.

Sadly not worth the wait.

What Did I just watch?? Did I take LSD without knowing??

So, so bad. Not worth watching.