Mud Songs

Lost in La Mancha is a documentary about Terry Gilliam’s first attempt to make a film based on Don Quixote called The Man Who Killed Don Quixote. (I say first attempt, because Gilliam plans to start up a new production in 2009.) Nothing I’ve seen captures the insanity of an out-of-control film production better than Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker’s Apocalypse. Lost in La Mancha shows what can happen when you add extremely bad luck to the mix. It’s painful to watch and I’m sure there are plenty of filmmakers out there who know what it’s like. Recommended to anyone who thinks film work is glamorous.

The Fisher King is a much better film than I remember (I last saw it around 1991) and one fans of The Fountain might appreciate too. Both are existential meditations on love and loss, and they cut deep. I don’t think Jeff Bridges, Robin Williams and Mercedes Ruehl could have given better performances in this surreal yet uncomfortably realistic film directed by Terry Gilliam. A fantastical mix of sorrow and humour.