Lost in La Mancha (2002)

94% of critics liked it
(97 reviews)
72% of users liked it
(15,087 ratings)

For years, one of filmmaker Terry Gilliam's great dreams was to make a screen adaptation of Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra's classic tale Don Quixote, and in 2000 it looked as if his dream was to become a reality. In collaboration with Tony Grisoni, Gilliam had written a script called The Man Who… More For years, one of filmmaker Terry Gilliam's great dreams was to make a screen adaptation of Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra's classic tale Don Quixote, and in 2000 it looked as if his dream was to become a reality. In collaboration with Tony Grisoni, Gilliam had written a script called The Man Who Killed Don Quixote, in which a 20th century advertising man accidentally travels back in time and is mistaken by Don Quixote for his faithful companion, Sancho Panza. After ten years of shopping the project to American studios with no success, Gilliam and his producers had secured financing for the film from a consortium of European sources, and Johnny Depp had been cast as the time-tripping adman, with the venerable French actor Jean Rochefort as Don Quixote. However, as the production moved closer to its start date, more and more things began to go wrong -- contracts went unsigned, key cast and crew members had not yet arrived, and the carefully prepared budget seemed stressed to the breaking point. Nevertheless, Gilliam soldiered on, but after a mere six days of shooting, during which Spanish Air Force jets ruined several takes, flash floods destroyed several sets, and Gilliam struggled to keep his dream afloat, Rochefort suffered a severe back injury. The film's financiers decided to cash in their chips and pulled the plug in order to cash in on their insurance, though Gilliam struggled for months afterward to find a way to put the production back on track. Documentary filmmakers Keith Fulton and Louis Pepe had been invited by Gilliam to make a film about the production of The Man Who Killed Don Quixote, and after shooting 80 hours of footage of the chaotic pre-production process as well as the aborted shooting schedule, they instead created Lost In La Mancha, a look at the "un-making" of the film, which along with the story of the project's brief rise and messy collapse, featured a look at several completed scenes from the film, as well as animated versions of the film's storyboards which offered a glimpse of the look and scale of the film Gilliam was attempting to create. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

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Rating, Runtime: R, 1 hr. 33 min.
Directed By: Keith Fulton, Louis Pepe
Written By: Keith Fulton, Louis Pepe
Genres: Documentary, Television, Musical & Performing Arts

In Theaters: Jan 31, 2003 Limited
On DVD: Jun 24, 2003
Studio: IFC Films

Critic Reviews

Roger Moore, Orlando Sentinel
Wondrous document of a film gone wrong and an artist who inspires fans, cast and crew, even as he terrifies financiers, insurers and anyone more firmly footed in filmmaking reality.
Bill Muller, Arizona Republic
A fascinating study in the cinematic arts, as we watch a talented director and a committed crew and cast thwarted by nature, human failings and just plain bad luck.
Rick Groen, Globe and Mail
Gilliam himself is a joy to behold. His wit stays sharp even as his fortunes dull, and the conditions that conspire against him only prove the mettle in our man of La Mancha.
Jane Sumner, Dallas Morning News
Should be required viewing for all film-school students, aspiring filmmakers and studio suits.
Eleanor Ringel Gillespie, Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Bitterly funny and oddly poignant.
Steven Rea, Philadelphia Inquirer
One hopes that some day Gilliam gets to realize his dream, but in the meantime, in Lost In La Mancha, the shards of that dream offer tantalizing -- and tear-inducing -- glimpses of what might have been.
Jeffrey Overstreet, Looking Closer
It's worth watching to catch glimpses of the Gilliam works, and to be strangely reassured that disasters and misfortune happen even to the best artists.
Jay Antani, Los Angeles Alternative
entertaining without always being compelling
Martin Scribbs, Low IQ Canadian
I'd pay to watch Terry Gilliam take out his trash, but there's nothing in Lost in La Mancha much more exciting than that.
Robert Roten, Laramie Movie Scope
A fascinating documentary for film fans. Those who are not real film fans or film students probably won't find it as interesting.
Jurgen Fauth, About.com
Seeing Gilliam's vision falter is simply painful and joyless.
Dennis Schwartz, Ozus' World Movie Reviews
Viewers always seem to have a strange curiosity about disasters.
Urban Cinefile Critics, Urban Cinefile
This is a lively film, as optimistic in tone as Don Quixote is in character. And Terry Gilliam is a bright, expansive and enthusiastic filmmaker, a likeable, charismatic guy who jokes about having a budget of US$31.5 million being "half the money we need"
Linda Cook, Quad City Times (Davenport, IA)
The only person who has jousted at more windmills than Don Quixote seems to be Terry Gilliam.

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Featured Audience Ratings

Melvin W

Terry Gilliam: At least if we're going to be fucked, let's know we're fucked ahead of time. "They have a story... but they've lost the plot" Lost in La Mancha is a fascinating documentary of Terry Gilliam's failed attempt to bring Don… More
Terry Gilliam: At least if we're going to be fucked, let's know we're fucked ahead of time. "They have a story... but they've lost the plot" Lost in La Mancha is a fascinating documentary of Terry Gilliam's failed attempt to bring Don Quixote's story to life in film. He had worked over a decade on the film and says countless times throughout this documentary that he has ran through it in his mind several times. Jeff Bridges narrates and there are several interviews from the crew and actors, including Johnny Depp, working on the picture. Gilliam and his team have to work through endless amounts of bad luck, including planes flying over while they are shooting, bad weather and a lack of funds. Worst of all, the actor playing Don Quixote(Jean Rochefort) isn't in the best of health. It's said that Gilliam isn't the only one to try and fail to make an adaption of Quixote. Orson Welles tried for many years to make Quixote, but never ended up finishing it. Lost in La Mancha is a pretty entertaining and extremely interesting look at some of the struggles that occur during production. It's definitely worth a watch if you enjoy seeing how films are made, or in this case tried to be made.
xGary X

Lost In La Mancha is a video diary of Terry Gilliam's attempt to make his adaptation of Don Quixote in which a modern day advertising executive finds himself transported back in time and mistaken for Quixote's faithful companion Sancho Panza. Failing to get financial backing… More
Lost In La Mancha is a video diary of Terry Gilliam's attempt to make his adaptation of Don Quixote in which a modern day advertising executive finds himself transported back in time and mistaken for Quixote's faithful companion Sancho Panza. Failing to get financial backing from Hollywood because of the shadow of his one heroic failure Baron Munchausen looming over his head (despite the fact that he had made financial successes before and since), he tried to make the film using European money and although he was forced to work with half the budget he would have liked, it was actually shaping up quite nicely. Unfortunately a catalogue of catastrophes plagued the film in the first week of shooting, from the set being buzzed by F-16s to the star being diagnosed with a double hernia. Not to mention the fact that Gilliam had to watch all of his equipment being washed away by a freak flash flood! It's actually a fascinating look behind the scenes of the movie making process; from Gilliam's mind's eye being transformed into storyboards, to the process of costume design, make up, scouting, screen testing and eventual (if disastrous) shooting. The footage that was actually shot (of which there is maybe a minute!) looks like it could have been another of his great successes and it is strange how there seems to be a real parallel between Quixote and Gilliam himself; in this case the grim reality that defeats him is represented by the insurance men who avoided paying out by claiming that a 70 year old actor falling ill was an "act of god". It makes you wonder why any of us ever pay for insurance for anything in the first place. The suits still own the rights to his script, and I for one hope that Terry will continue to shout at these pinstriped windmills and never accept defeat.
Anthony L

Interesting in places and educational for those who want to be film makers but ultimately its quite a dull film to watch. I really hope they get to make the real thing!
Jens S

We've all seen Making of-films, some of them are wonderfully detailed, giving you an idea of the amount of work that has been done. This is the Making Of documentary of a film that could not be completed. It feels as if the Gods were against director Terry Gilliam ("Twelve… More
We've all seen Making of-films, some of them are wonderfully detailed, giving you an idea of the amount of work that has been done. This is the Making Of documentary of a film that could not be completed. It feels as if the Gods were against director Terry Gilliam ("Twelve Monkeys") and his star Johnny Depp, while trying to shoot a new adaptation of the classic tale of Don Quixote. It starts with the pretty chaotic, multi-lingual planning, the actors showing up late, more delays and problems, bad hail storms, fighter jets over the sets, a leading actor becoming very ill and all ends in the depressing and frustrating cancellation of the project. If that wasn't so sad to witness, especially how hard it is for Gilliam, it would be a great insight into some of the mechanisms of film industry. Actually, that's exactly what it is: the documentary gives you a better idea about the effort behind a movie than most Making Ofs where the crew just compliments each other. Interesting, amusing, partially unbelievably frustrating.
Jason S

An excellent look at how a movie can fall apart very quickly. The speed at which the whole production goes to crap astounds me as does the slight craziness of the director. The movie looked interesting and I kind of wish we could have seen it. Very good doc though and I recommend… More
An excellent look at how a movie can fall apart very quickly. The speed at which the whole production goes to crap astounds me as does the slight craziness of the director. The movie looked interesting and I kind of wish we could have seen it. Very good doc though and I recommend it to anyone who likes the behind the scenes stuff...
Craig S

Directed by: Keith Fulton and Louis Pepe. Starring: Terry Gilliam, Johnny Depp, Jean Rochefort, Jeff Bridges, Vanessa Paradis. <<"The budget of this thing is about $32.1 million… More
Directed by: Keith Fulton and Louis Pepe. Starring: Terry Gilliam, Johnny Depp, Jean Rochefort, Jeff Bridges, Vanessa Paradis. <<"The budget of this thing is about $32.1 million dollars...which by European standards without American investment is a big chunk of change...for what we're trying to do, its half the money we need.">> The tragic story of Terry Gilliams film 'The Man Who Killed Don Quixote', from its battles through pre-production and later problems that ended up forcing the production to shut down after only six days of production. Such a tragic yet fascinating documentary. I'm not usually a fan of them at all but after hearing so much and knowing that Terry is such a genius, I had to find this. What the documentary manages to achieve is the right sense of every emotion that happened on set. By the end of the film, I was heartbroken to see all this shit that had happened to such a potential project that I want to see it pick up and finally get made...and throughout the film, I found myself to be laughing and feeling strangely hurt, the fact that a man with such amazing qualities and a great interaction with everyone he works with, a man who has had nothing but bad luck in his career is once again getting shafted by not only the acts of god, but the situation of illnesses, unexpected happenings and ultimately a battle with the insurers which lead to everything being abandoned. If you love film you should certainly watch this...if you love Terry Gilliam...why the hell have you not seen this yet? I strangely compelling documentary that delivers the emotions felt on the set of this film and such a fascinating look into the ways of this director, even through the terrible things that happened. Highly recommended.
Curtis L

Would have been a cool movie, too bad it didn't happen. Not sure why we really care about this though, other than to see Johnny depp swearing at a fish.
Steve B

Heartbreaking account of Terry Gilliam's struggle -- and ultimate failure -- to bring The Man Who Killed Don Quixote to the screen.
Luke B

A beautiful modern tragedy. Especially for any film fans out there. We see Gilliam try and create a film, and everything that can go wrong does. Even more heartbreaking since all the existing footage makes the film look damn good. Highly enjoyable and is at least funny with all… More
A beautiful modern tragedy. Especially for any film fans out there. We see Gilliam try and create a film, and everything that can go wrong does. Even more heartbreaking since all the existing footage makes the film look damn good. Highly enjoyable and is at least funny with all that's going wrong.
Nate Z

[center][font=Arial][color=darkred][img]http://img505.imageshack.us/img505/4390/924242lostinlamanchaposters7yg.jpg[/img][/color][/font][/center] [font=Arial][color=#8b0000][/color][/font] [font=Arial][color=darkred]Poor Terry Gilliam. One of the best visual directors today hardly… More
[center][font=Arial][color=darkred][img]http://img505.imageshack.us/img505/4390/924242lostinlamanchaposters7yg.jpg[/img][/color][/font][/center] [font=Arial][color=#8b0000][/color][/font] [font=Arial][color=darkred]Poor Terry Gilliam. One of the best visual directors today hardly ever gets a break. If there was justice in the world (a rhetorical question) Gilliam would be directing a Harry Potter movie. Just imagine the greatness of something like that. But Gilliam is seen as an “eccentric” who doesn’t keep good track of his budget, as evidenced by the inflating costs of his ‘Baron Munchausen’ effort. As a result of making classy yet quirky pictures his way Gilliam has become a director that works on the fringe. His last effort was a delirious retelling of the Don Quixote tale. When it came time to film ‘The Man Who Killed don Quixote’ it seems everyone, even God, was against Gilliam realizing his dream[/color][/font] [font=Arial][color=darkred]‘Lost in La Mancha’ is a fascinating and equally heart breaking documentary following the making of and, more so, the breaking of Gilliam’s movie. For starters the location for a pivotal scene in the desert is located near a Spanish air force base and fighter jets roar overhead. Then there’s a flash food that destroys equipment and a set. Then there’s the star of the picture that may or may not have cancer but sure can’t ride a horse. It’s enough to pull your hair out. ‘Lost in La Mancha’ is like the cinematic version of the highly entertaining, and addictive, HBO series ‘Project Greenlight’: witness movie making first hand and witness one catastrophe after another! The two directors of ‘Lost in La Mancha’ are the same people that created the nearly 90 minute documentary on the trials and tribulations of making ’12 Monkeys’ (and this documentary is by far the best special feature on any DVD ever released). The two have a certain fondness for Gilliam but push the Gilliam-as-Quixote image way too much.[/color][/font] [font=Arial][color=darkred]The really sad part about this documentary is that the glimpses it does show of the film (when it is working and not going into devastation) prove it could have been a wonderful and whimsical fantasy. Heck, he even got Johnny Depp to be in it! Gilliam will move on as will everyone else involved in this aborted film but there will now be a lasting mark. Whether it serves as an open sore or a Band-Aid is a different matter.[/color][/font] [font=Arial][color=darkred]Nate's Grade: B+ [/color][/font]
Jon O

It is a documentary that was clearly made "after the fact," and it's fairly shallow. But it's a must-see for anyone wanting to know how not to make a movie.
Stephen E

A well-made documentary focusing on the failure of "The Man Who Killed Don Quixote."
Marcus W

Poor Terry Gilliam. He's truly one of the greatest maverick film makers, and yet every film he makes is a struggle and becomes beset with bad luck - none more so than here. Illness, weather and everything else conspire to ruin his Don Quixote film. Thankfully, someone was filming… More
Poor Terry Gilliam. He's truly one of the greatest maverick film makers, and yet every film he makes is a struggle and becomes beset with bad luck - none more so than here. Illness, weather and everything else conspire to ruin his Don Quixote film. Thankfully, someone was filming on set, and what was going to become a "making of" doc, became a film in itself.
Ina S

You are a movie buff? Watch this! Detailed, funny and devasting account of the failed filming of Terry Gilliam's Don Quixote movie, production was stopped after 6 horrible days. The "unmaking of" allows for an insight into filmmaking that no "making of" could… More
You are a movie buff? Watch this! Detailed, funny and devasting account of the failed filming of Terry Gilliam's Don Quixote movie, production was stopped after 6 horrible days. The "unmaking of" allows for an insight into filmmaking that no "making of" could ever offer. Gilliam's commitment and pain is palpable, and it is as painful as it is interesting to see the movie fail. I still want to see that film, though!
Sarah B

The ultimate making of documentary that becomes a film in its own right, with movie stars, obstacles to overcome, natural disasters, villains, heroes and behind the scenes footage. It is one man's struggle against the system, Hollywood bureaucracy, financial constraints, fate and… More
The ultimate making of documentary that becomes a film in its own right, with movie stars, obstacles to overcome, natural disasters, villains, heroes and behind the scenes footage. It is one man's struggle against the system, Hollywood bureaucracy, financial constraints, fate and mother nature. It'll make you want to see the film that probably won't ever be made now: The Man Who Killed Don Quixote.
David S

A great documentary and brilliant examination of a film-maker at work. Am a big fan of Gilliam and here you see him in all his manic grandeur. The clips of the scenes that were actually shot for the film suggest that this could have been great which makes it all the more painful to… More
A great documentary and brilliant examination of a film-maker at work. Am a big fan of Gilliam and here you see him in all his manic grandeur. The clips of the scenes that were actually shot for the film suggest that this could have been great which makes it all the more painful to watch. Watch this after you've read Battle for Brazil and Losing the Light and you might end up thinking that Gilliam is the most unlucky filmmaker in the world!
Andrew P

Terry Gilliam seems an amazing director, i have heard of his work but have not given it a chanse (expect reviews of brazil and time bandits up shortly) but after watching this documentary about his failed film attempt you cant help think and watch how badly he handled his production,… More
Terry Gilliam seems an amazing director, i have heard of his work but have not given it a chanse (expect reviews of brazil and time bandits up shortly) but after watching this documentary about his failed film attempt you cant help think and watch how badly he handled his production, alot was down to bad luck but down to the contracts and bboking poor locations...The film was doomed. Enetertaining insight to how a film can fail tho, interesting watch.
FanGirl B

Interesting look into what it's like to make a Terry Gilliam film.
Wu C

Interesting doc. Shows everything bad that can happen during a production.

Read all 19 featured audience ratings

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