Terry Gilliam to Return to Tilting at Windmills in Hopes of Bringing Quixote to Big Screen

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According to Cinematical.com, Terry Gilliam is set to make another attempt at making a movie based on the classic novel Don Quixote by Miquel Cervantes. The initial attempts at making the film were disastrous and have for years been the subject of much discussion and rumor by film and literary fans alike. It almost seemed as though the film was cursed by some sort of enchantment the likes of which Quixote was familiar with during his many adventures. Cervantes made numerous references in the second Quixote book (now usually sold as one book instead of two) to his disdain for imposters who tried to pass off their works as though they were official adventures of Don Quixote. One would hope that Cervantes would have appreciated Gilliam bringing his work to a whole new audience if he ends up making a film worthy of the original source material. Having heard some of the tales from the initial attempts at making the film if I was of a mind like Don Quixote’s, instead of a skeptical mind like my own, I would seriously wonder if the project was indeed doomed.

Gilliam did a great job in successfully adapting “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas” by Hunter S. Thompson for the big screen. Unlike Cervantes, Hunter was still very much alive when Gilliam made the movie so he would have likely received the full wrath of Thompson and his many fans if he had messed up the film adaptation of Fear and Loathing. It will be interesting to see if he can meet or succeed his success in bringing Raoul Duke and Dr. Gonzo to the screen with Quixote and his sidekick Sancho Panza.

People often ask me why this blog is titled Blogger of La Mancha, they asked more before I put up an explanation about it on the main page, but hopefully if this movie is made a new generation will come to enjoy the story of the legendary Knights-Errant Don Quixote Man of La Mancha and his trusty squire Sancho Panza. I became of a fan of Hunter S. Thompson’s after seeing the movie by Gilliam so hopefully the new movie will do the same. Yes it does seem strange to me too that I somehow lived twenty years without ever hearing of the great doctor of journalism.

Full Disclosure: I know most people when referencing Gilliam would mention Monty Python, but somehow I have never really gotten into Monty Python. I know everyone tells me I should love it, but I did not like it as a young kid and have never really revisited it. Maybe someday I will. After reading Gilliam’s filmography on Imdb.com it is pretty remarkable how many interesting projects he has been involved in.

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