Poster of Who Killed Don Quixote
1905 Movie Network Special Article Have you ever wondered how long a movie can be made?
Du Qifeng's "Gunfire" was filmed for only 19 days, and won the Academy Award and the Golden Horse Award for Best Director.
Liu Zhenwei's rescue of Wong Kar-wai's "East into West" took only half a month and became a generation classic.
Han Han's "Riding the Wind and Waves" was filmed for more than 80 days and earned 1.046 billion at the box office.
Richard Linklater's "Boyhood" took 12 years to shoot and eventually won the Golden Globe Award for Best Picture.
Today I want to talk about the closing film of the Cannes International Film Festival, "Who Killed Don Quixote", which took 17 years to complete and became a public case in the history of cinema. Near the opening of the film festival, the film is still entangled in lawsuits, which can be said to be quite fateful.
Closing ceremony of the 71st Cannes International Film Festival
The film's director, Terry Gilliam, is outside of Hollywood and European critics, and his imagery is unique and imaginative, and everyone who has seen his films understands his madness.
The story of the new film Who Killed Don Quixote focuses on an advertising director, Toby, played by Adam Dreifer. In the 21st century, he traveled back to the 17th century, returning to the Spanish village where he had stayed, and discovering his student work based on Don Quixote. One of the villagers, convinced that he was Don Quixote and believing that Dreifer was his servant Sanko Pansa, embarked on an adventure.
The film itself is indeed extraordinary enough, and the director uses flashbacks to blur the line between reality and fantasy, leaving the audience in a huge frenzy. But behind this is actually some messy creation and gimmicky shooting cycle. The final harvest is also a bipolar evaluation.
The Voice of the Village argues that "Gilliam made us feel his madness and pulled us into the crazy and wonderful world he created." ”
"Variety" believes that "this is what the director's fans fear the most, because it is clumsy, confused and chaotic." ”
So, what happened to Don Quixote in those 17 years?
1989: Don Quixote Origins
Terry Gilliam read Cervantes' Don Quixote in 1989 and decided to try an adaptation, with the film having the same name as the novel.
In 1990, he signed a deal with Phoenix Pictures where Sean Connery was negotiating to play Don Quixote. Nigel Hawthorne and Danny DeVito are also discussing the roles of Don Quixote and Sanko Pansa. But eventually, because the budget was too low, Gilliam quit the project, and the film became a wish he had always wanted to complete but could not complete.
Sean Connery
At the time, the studio replaced Gilliam with Fred Shepisi, the director of Cry of the Night, and starred John Chris and Robin Williams, but cancelled the plan in 1997.
1998: Changed the title to rewrite the script
Later, Gilliam resumed working with screenwriter Toby Grysoni, and the film was renamed The Man Who Killed Don Quixote. In this version, the protagonists are not Don Quixote and Pansa, replacing the latter with Toby.
Toby lives in the 21st century and takes his name from Grisoni, who travels through time to meet Don Quixote. This technique is a reference to Mark Twain's 1889 "Mistakenly Breaking into Arthur's Palace".
"Mistakenly Breaking into Arthur's Palace" was made into a movie in 1989
In 1998, Terry Gilliam's other film, Fear of Las Vegas, premiered in the United Kingdom, and he announced that the next film would be Don Quixote's project. Having lost faith in Hollywood, he decided to make a new film in Europe, set in Spain, and reduced his budget from $40 million to $32.1 million.
Gilliam invited him to play the lead role of Jean Reshev, the "perfect Don Quixote in his heart", for which the French actor Reshev studied English for 7 months. John Denip starred in the role of Toby, with then-girlfriend Vanessa Paradis playing the lead actress.
2000: The first shooting was a series of bad luck
In September 2000, filming officially began in Badenas, northern Spain. On the first day of filming, F16 fighter jets flew back and forth in the air, damaging the recording. The next day, a flash flood broke out, important equipment was damaged, and the color of the scene changed.
After the crew searched for some new equipment to resume filming, on the fifth day, when Reshev was preparing to go on a performance, he suffered from prostate disease and his expression was very painful. Subsequently, Reshev went to Paris to see a doctor and was diagnosed with a double disc disease.
For the next few days, the crew continued to film other parts, including several scenes of Depp, but when Reshev will be back, no one knows. Eventually, the project was discontinued in November 2000.
Early set photos of Don Quixote
The director jokingly called it "one of the most troublesome films of all time," and it seemed as if heaven and hell were united in defiance of Gilliam's Who Killed Don Quixote. Words like "disaster," "collapse," and "doom" have always revolved around the project, which has been terminated. The German insurance company said it brought them a $15 million claim for damages, which was later taken as collateral by taking the script rights.
Help! Don Quixote"
It is worth noting that the documentary "Help! Don Quixote", an unexpected fire, was shortlisted for several film festivals.
2005: The Butterfly Effect in the Absence of Financial Support
In 2005, Gilliam again showed interest in the unfinished project, wanting Gérard de Paddillo to play Don Quixote. However, due to the previous unsmooth influence, it was difficult for him to get financial support from the film company.
Gérard dePardieu
During this time, he tried to make other films, but all encountered problems, including Nicolas Cage's "The Defective Detective" and the darker adaptation of the novel, "Good Omens". During the production of Brothers Grimm, there was a conflict with producer Weinstein, and the long-time photographer Nicola Pecorini was also fired.
Stills from Brothers Grimm
At the 2006 Munich International Documentary Film Festival, Gilliam revealed that there were also plays on the project, and producer Jeremy Thomas was interested. In August, he said the film's legal disputes had been resolved and intended to completely remake the film.
2008-2012: Depp or Ivan? Silly can't tell
In 2008, Gilliam resumed film preparations. In January 2009, the script was rewritten. Later, it was reported that in November 2009, Gilliam had completed a remake of don Quixote's role, refusing to name the actor.
In December, he released news that Robert Duval would play Don Quixote and that Depp would still play Toby. But by this time, Johnny Depp had signed a contract with Disney, a claim that was questioned. Depp has said he won't take time out of his stressful schedule to star in Don Quixote.
Robert Duval
On May 17, 2010, it was said that Ivan McGregor played a role in the film. On September 5, Gilliam said there had been a problem with funding a month and a half ago, so filming was postponed again.
Ivan McGregor
By 2012, Duval had been in touch with Gilliam, stating that "we rewrite the script every year and you'll be happy to see Don Quixote come back in a new guise" sitting on the saddle. At this point, though, Ivan McGregor wasn't on the crew.
2013-2015: The actor dies and the project is shelved
In November 2013, Gilliam's Zero Point Theorem, which debuted at the Venice Film Festival, told Variety that he was trying to remake Don Quixote, "I just wanted to finish it and take it out of my life."
In January 2014, Gilliam said on Facebook, "Don Quixote's dream has begun again, can we see that old bastard on horseback come back this year?" In an interview with Empire, he said that on September 29, 2014, the film will begin filming in the Canary Islands. Spanish producer Adrian Guerra will provide funding.
In an interview with The Wrap in August, Gilliam said the script had changed a bit, that the story was contemporary, and that it focused on the harm the film did to people, with "some people going crazy, some people becoming drunks, some turning into prostitutes."
John Hurt
In September, Gilliam confirmed John Hurte to play Don Quixote in place of Duval. In an interview with Rolling Stone, Gilliam said he had some minor problems. He said, "I've wasted so much time on this, and if you come and shoot it, you're going to be as crazy as Don Quixote." The decision was crazy and unconscionable. The smart people around me told me to give up, but I knew they were all reasonable people. ”
In December, the film announced jack O'Connell's decision to play Toby.
In December 2015, film production was again interrupted due to John Hurt being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. Hurt passed away on January 27, 2017. In October, Reshev, who was originally designated as Don Quixote," died.
2016: Funding issues cause the film to stagnate again
In February 2016, Gilliam spoke with Portuguese producer Paulo Blanca at the 66th Berlin Film Festival, when he needed a budget of 16 million euros. The latter promised to give him money in September to start 11 weeks of shooting.
At this time, the main cast changed again, with Adam Dreifer playing Toby, Mike Parrin playing Don Quixote, and Olga Coryranko as the heroine. Dreyver's salary is reported to be 610,000 euros, and Parrin's is reportedly 285,000 euros. Gilliam hired his daughter Amy as production director. The new version of the story is basically consistent with the final presentation.
Adam Dreifer
But it wasn't long before the problem came again. Blanca wanted to take control of the entire project, and Gilliam chose to comply because he saw the former funding David Cronenberg's Metropolis project a success. Still, Blanca seems to feel Gilliam's disgust for herself.
Stills from Cronenberg's version of Metropolis
Before the 2016 Cannes Film Festival, Amazon decided to quit precisely because Blanca was a producer, and the representative of the party said that "we don't want to communicate with him any further."
Blanca angered the latter by scaling back the original budget and reducing Parrin's salary to 100,000 euros. He also told Gilliam that the project needed a real producer and appointed himself as the leader. He tried to replace Palin, abandoning the 35mm device and shooting digitally while threatening Gilliam.
Mike Palin
Since Gilliam did not accept any of the conditions after the change, the funds could not be reached in the end and the project stalled. This also led to Gilliam's heart attack.
2017-2018: After a successful success, there were twists and turns
In March 2017, filming of Who Killed Don Quixote began again, and Don Quixote's character was replaced by Jonathan Pres. He has worked with Gilliam on Fantastic Ideas, Brothers Grimm, and The Ultimate General. As early as the project was first launched in 2000, Pres was one of the cast members, and he wanted to play the role of Don Quixote for 15 years.
Jonathan Pres (right)
Gilliam said the film didn't get as much budget as expected, and the entire crew was eager to complete it, "It's been too long since I wanted to shoot it in 1989." It's a scary experience of thinking, imagining, writing, rewriting, but the interesting thing about the film is that at some point it's starting to shape itself. It's a very different movie, it's like doing my job, and I'm just going to the end. ”
Stills from Who Killed Don Quixote
On June 4, 2017, "Who Killed Don Quixote" was finally completed after 17 years. In November, Gilliam revealed that the editing was nearing completion, but it would still take months to post-produce visual effects, sound, and music.
"Who Killed Don Quixote" set photos
However, there is an episode in which the crew was accused of destroying public property, including the Convent of Christ, during filming in Portugal. Gilliam denied the allegations, though, and said all we did was protect the building. It was later held liable only for insignificant damages.
What is even more unexpected is that the film is close to the release of the regeneration twists and turns. Previous producer Paul Blanca said the 2016 agreement with Gilliam was still valid, that he had a partial interest in the film and that the film could not be released without his consent. The lawsuit will affect the screening of Who Killed Don Quixote at the 2018 Cannes International Film Festival.
The final verdict in the case will be announced on June 15, later postponed to 18. On May 7, a hearing was held on whether the film could go to Cannes, and on the 9th, the film was approved to be screened as the closing film at the film festival.
In response to the incident, the festival organizing committee said, "The film festival is purely about selecting works of art. The first thing to do is to agree with the film director, and this is the case. Past experiences have made us aware of the lawsuits and risks we are about to face, but when we made this decision, no one objected. ”
Closing screening photocall
As the director himself said, "People like Roman ruins because you can't see it, you can only imagine it." So Gilliam always thought his film would be better than expected. He finally turned his imagination into reality.