Lost in La Mancha

Keith Fulton and Louis Pepe, UK/USA, 2002, 93 minutes

Considering that most people would rather have root canal than tackle all 976 pages of the latest translation of Cervantes’ master work Don Quixote, no wonder a film adaptation seemed like a good idea at the time. Known for bizarro classics of the popular surreal such as Brazil, The Adventures of Baron Munchausen and 12 Monkeys, director Terry Gilliam successfully brought Hunter S. Thompson’s gonzo classic Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas to the screen in 1998. Working successfully with Johnny Depp in the title role, Gilliam enlisted him again to play the key role of Sancho Panza in his adaptation of Don Quixote. Lost in La Mancha is the documentary of Gilliam’s ill-fated attempt to make a film of Don Quixote starring Depp, Vanessa Paradis and Jean Rochfort. We follow Gilliam as he secures funding for his pet project. He then casts his actors and even begins shooting on location in Spain. Within weeks, his lead actor is too ill to continue and half the equipment is swept away in a sudden storm. We begin to wonder if the production really is cursed. Lost in La Mancha is many things: a film about the perils of getting into professional filmmaking, the story of one man’s failing vision, and even a film about the difficulty of adapting classic literature to the screen

Review by Sarah Artt
Written for EUFS Programme Spring 2005