God Bless Terry Gilliam. Really. He’s one of those directors that, as long as he’s out there making movies, then all’s right with the world.
Wit, inventiveness, style, integrity and above all imagination – these are the hallmarks of Gilliam’s work.*
If he ever stops producing we’re in a heap of trouble. Which makes me worried that his long delayed version of ‘Don Quixote’ is back on:
Gilliam gives ‘Quixote’ another try
For if he finishes it will he ever again be seized with enough fervour to finish another picture? It seems to be that throughout his whole ‘career’, (what a horrible, horrible word), the story of Quixote has been sitting there – percolating – edging him on – in the back of his febrile, fertile mind. If he were ever to finish – then well, maybe Gilliam would settle down, slowly fading away – quietly, quietly becoming transparent and then dust in that fabled toy-shop he owns and manages in London.**
I’m not saying here that I don’t want the picture to be made. I’m just concerned.
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On a related note I enjoyed, ‘Lost in La Mancha’, the slightly tiresome doc on Gilliam’s first attempt at the production of ‘The Man Who Killed Don Quixote’ – though if you use ‘Lost’ as a guide then I find you’re forever in the dark as to why the picture didn’t get made. Yes, they had some production problems what with a set destroyed and the lead actor’s health issues – but all shows have crises – am still not clear on what happened. I wonder if the principals are.
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Image at top adapted from Orson Welles’ very own uncompleted ‘Don Quixote’
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* As well as frugality – really. How much did ‘Brazil’ cost vs. what was on the screen? On Gilliam pictures every dollar spent looks like five – how much would his ‘Benjamin Button’ have cost?
** I’m not actually sure he owns and manages a fabled toy shop in London – I’d just like to think he did.
