Lost in La Mancha (2002) – 7.2

A documentary about Terry Gilliam’s failed attempt at filming Don Quixote, Lost in La Mancha (2002) depicts the enormous pitfalls and hazards of making a big-budget flick; by the end, one is amazed that movies get made at all.  Using surprisingly not-ugly digital camerawork, the documentary’s directors Keith Fulton and Louis Pepe follow Gilliam and his producers as they undergo hell with budgeting, schedules, inclement weather, and cast problems, including a Don Quixote, played by Jean Rochefort, who eventually begs off with medical ailments for an indefinite period of rest and recovery, which effectively shuts down the production.  Given the almost hilarious chain of events, Fulton and Pepe are fortunate to record a story of such consistent, dazzlingly bad luck; in the end, Gilliam seems a modern-day Job, although the credits inform us that he still hopes to buy back the rights to the film and eventually make it, perhaps setting up a nice Lost in La Mancha II.