The Man Who Killed Don Quixote (Terry Gilliam, 2018)

[Daneurism]

I think it looks good, but maybe i'm swept up in how cinematic it looks. Honestly thought this was going to look like it was made for a hundred bucks.

[Fiery Angel]

It looks like a typical Gilliam mess--and I'll be there on day one.

[John Shade]

It looks like a typical Gilliam mess--and I'll be there on day one.

Assuming there is a day one, but I'm with you. I liked the Imaginarium and thought it would be really improved without all the digital effects; this seems to have a less of that and still the goofiness, so we'll see.

[Fiery Angel]

Assuming there is a day one

good point

[Kirkinson]

There are some really nice shots that have some of that old Gilliam magic, but it’s a very very badly edited trailer, so it’s difficult to draw any firm conclusions about the movie itself. The fact that the boob joke is the only thing the trailer really slows down for is not encouraging. I’m still hopeful, though.

[Clarence]

"The Man Who Killed Don Quixote" will close this year's Cannes Film Festival

[Roger Ryan]

"The Man Who Killed Don Quixote" will close this year's Cannes Film Festival

Seems like the current ownership court case allowed a provision for the film to be shown at Cannes or Amazon decided to settle the matter out-of-court.

[Roger Ryan]

Well, it appears that neither of my assumptions were correct about the film being allowed to play Cannes. This news has vexed Gilliam enough that he made a Facebook post about it.

[Luke M]

I haven't liked a Terry Gilliam film since 12 Monkeys. Judging from the awful trailer, this doesn't look like a return to form, passion project or not.

Is it ok to say he’s not that good? Even 12 Monkeys is fairly mediocre.

[dda1996a]

It's OK to say so but I also think it's OK to say you're very wrong. It might not reach Marker's heights but 12 Monkeys is a great movie. I'll say everything post Fear and Loathing ranges from mediocre to bad (haven't seen Tideland, partial to Imaginarium) but this looks like a return to former. I'll watch almost anything with Pryce and Driver

[dda1996a]

I personally love Brazil and I would consider all those films up to Fear and Loathing great (we can't forget his work with Monty Python!). I'll agree that he's like Ken Russell, even his lesser films are always at least interesting in some capacity. Boring they were not (maybe except from Grimm Brothers, his only movie I truly dislike).
But this looks interesting and as someone who's seen Lost in La Mancha I got a little jolt seeing those giants at the end.

[diamonds]

New trailer for the film.

[hearthesilence]

Gilliam may have had a minor stroke which not only prevented him from appearing in court but could prevent him from appearing at Cannes even if he wins his case.

[Ribs]

Amazon will no longer be handling this release

[knives]

It's pretty shocking how down to the last minute this film just won't stop running into problems.

[Ribs]

The court ruled today that the film will be allowed to play at Cannes

[Roger Ryan]

The court ruled today that the film will be allowed to play at Cannes

...and Gilliam himself just posted this on Facebook: "After days of rest and prayers to the gods I am restored and well again. So is The Man Who Killed Don Quixote! We are legally victorious! We will go to the ball, dressed as the closing film at Festival de Cannes! May 19. Thanks for all your support."

Sounds like his illness wasn't too serious.

[domino harvey]

Gilliam lost the case, has no legal stake in the film, and is now being sued by the current owners (as is the Cannes Film Festival)

[swo17]

That's amazing if it's true that Alfama never even paid anything for it

[DarkImbecile]

This is apparently finally getting a one-night only Fathom Events release on April 10th

[Boosmahn]

I thought it was getting a theatrical release in March? (If you want to see this film early, get the German Blu-ray; it's region free!)

[Aunt Peg]

My advice is don't blind buy this mess unless you a desperate to see it. Wait for a cheaper option.

Its probably Gilliam's worst film and will only become a curiosity because of the colourful history that brought it to the screen.

I saw it last August and can barely remember a thing about it. I do vividly remember be relived when the whole enterprise had finally finished.

[Boosmahn]

I thought it was okay. Pryce's performance was one of the best things about the film, but it was unfortunately marred down by a bloated runtime and choppy editing. I wasn't a huge fan of the ending, either. (Maybe my expectations were unrealistic, though, as I had just seen my first Gilliam film, Brazil, a week prior.)

[Fiery Angel]

This is apparently finally getting a one-night only Fathom Events release on April 10th

Also, Screen Media will release the film in theaters and on-demand April 19.

[Reverend Drewcifer]

This was a very mixed-up experience for me personally. Having seen it feels like the end of a very long journey, with countless news items, documentaries, rumors, casting, recasting, cancellations, and various/sundry setbacks marking the way. There was no way it could meet anyone's expectations, but it exists, and it's pretty okay.

I first heard of this as an undergrad film student reading Gilliam on Gilliam, followed its aborted production as I was making my student short films. It popped up again a few years after I graduated, with a new cast, long after I had tried and failed to keep the momentum going to make a film and went into commercial banking. The next few years were a blur of new Quixotes (Hurt, Duvall, and then finally Pryce) and new directions in my own life (marriage, debt, more debt, a teaching career, and now a career in aerospace), and I have pretty much made peace with the fact that I never had a movie in me. Very solipsistic.

Tracking this from beginning to end over 20 years, and digesting what I could sort out as the meaning of the film, I'm glad in a very odd way that it isn't the be-all-end-all greatest story ever told. It starts with a terrific premise that inspires a lot of hope, is extremely messy for a long time, and resolves with a decidedly ambivalent sigh. I was 19-20 at the outset, and I'm twice that age now, so an ambivalent sigh means more to me now than it ever could when I was younger. My favorite part of the experience was hearing the young people in the rows behind me in the theater after it was over. My wife said "you can always tell when there are film students in the audience. Even if you can't hear their words, their tone is always the same." Nothing profound, but it held some meaning for me, and that's more than I get out of a lot of films.