By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 3.5 cats
Director: Terry Gilliam
Country: belgium, france, portugal, spain, united_kingdom
Year: 2019
Running time: 132
IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1318517/reference
Thom says: “Dear, talented auteur director Terry Gilliam has always in his long career been quite interesting, and yet, that might be damning him with faint praise. I’ve seen all his repertoire: MONTY PYTHON & THE HOLY GRAIL (3 CATS), JABBERWOCKY (2.5), TIME BANDITS (3.5), BRAZIL (4.5), THE ADVENTURES OF BARON MUNCHAUSEN (4), THE FISHER KING (3), TWELVE MONKEYS (3.5), FEAR & LOATHING IN LAS VEGAS (4), TIDELAND (2), THE IMAGINARIUM OF DR. PARNASSUS (3.5), THE BROTHERS GRIMM (4.5), & THE ZERO THEOREM (4.5) & he’s never been able to ring the whole bell. Here, a frustrated, rebellious film director (Toby) who appears to be filming some type of comic adaptation of the Don Quixote legend, from the classic Miguel de Cervantes y Saavedra novel. Adam Driver assays the mad director with likable fervor, never quite certain how he should be reacting to his madcap adventures. In a fit he roars off from his set on his motorcycle (after being caught fucking his smug boss’s wife) into the countryside where he runs into an old Spanish cobbler who thinks Toby is the reincarnation of Sancho Panza to his Don Quixote and they set off on a crazy journey through time and space so eventually the past, present, and future all combine to make an enormous case for nothing at all. Apparently, Toby made a student film in the same region, also about Don Quixote, and he meets locals he used in his film. I usually buy more into visions but the main problem here for me is that I’m not even a minor fan of Don Quixote, I find his character trite and belabored and God knows I’m given him every opportunity cinematically possible, having viewed some 20 films centered around the same theme, albeit not with Gilliam’s super-kinetic, time-altering style, and I simply can’t buy into his iconic significance.”