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Terry Gilliam’s Don Quixote film finally hits the big screen after 25 years

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Re: Terry Gilliam’s Don Quixote film finally hits the big screen after 25 years

#81

Post by RobertKerans »

malloryerik wrote: post #80
RobertKerans wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I love Gilliam films, and I'll watch anything he does, but I think this a stretch: he's _very_ patchy. No-one ever accuses him of not being interesting, of not being full of ideas, not having a unique vision. It's just that those ideas are so rarely fully realised, and his films tend to ramble. They often feel incomplete, more surface than depth, gossamer. As I say, I love his films and I'd happily watch almost anyth…

When they aren't at their best, sitting through his films can feel like watching some captivating person shoot arrows at the moon.

Yes, definitely, thats a nice description. He tends to miss quite a bit, and can be a quite frustrating experience just willing those arrows to hit.

Re: Terry Gilliam’s Don Quixote film finally hits the big screen after 25 years

#82

Post by TipVFL »

Quekid5 wrote: post #79
devindotcom wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well, without spoiling anything in particular, let me just say this. Do you feel it was a happy ending? If so, it is probably not the director's cut.

Ah. The reason I ask is that the ending I saw could be interpreted either way, but I saw the 'happy' ending as obvious satire/irony. I'm just worried that I saw the wrong ending and over-interpreted it.

It sounds like you saw the "Love Conquers All" version, but saw through the illusion. It's actually part of the original ending, but with all the framing of the scene removed. Definitely check out the director's cut.

Re: Terry Gilliam’s Don Quixote film finally hits the big screen after 25 years

#83

Post by swiley »

lisper wrote: post #59
satori99 wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> It is one of the most prescient films ever made. "People think I am a prophet and that Brazil described the world we’re living in now a few years ago. But we were living in that world then; people just weren’t paying attention the way they do now." https://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/01/magazine/terry-gilliam-is...

Interesting. I'm not sure I agree though. I was in my early 20s in 1985 and so I can tell you from personal experience that things were really very different back then than now. In 1985 it was possible to escape surveillance without to much difficulty. Nowadays it's nearly impossible. Also, in 1985 the stock villains weren't terrorists, they were Russians.

There's an interview with Noam Chomsky somewhere in which he talks about his surprise at having his phone (tapped/found can't remember) after attending a protest in the 60s or 70s.

I don't remember the exact details but I remember thinking "wow it really wasn't all that different then" when I saw it.

Re: Terry Gilliam’s Don Quixote film finally hits the big screen after 25 years

#84

Post by joshuak »

Quekid5 wrote: post #56
willtim wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's one of my all-time favourites too. The Criterion Collection edition I believe contains the final directors cut. The ending is superb, it beggars belief that Hollywood tried to butcher it.

Now I'm worried that I haven't seen the right version. Is there a breakdown of the different versions floating around somewhere?

There was a release, perhaps the lazerdisk box set not sure, that had both the theatrical cut and a (I believe) BBC tv edit. Although the BBC tv version could be characterized as more up beat, the commentary and inclusion in the box showed it great respect. They discuss the editing choices that needed to be made to reframe the story as if it had been conceived that way from the beginning.

It's one of the most educational discussions of cinematic storytelling and editorial technique. It is absolutely worth seeing both versions and listening to the commentary if you can find them.

Re: Terry Gilliam’s Don Quixote film finally hits the big screen after 25 years

#85

Post by [deleted] »

monocasa wrote: post #39
Steko wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> After [Munchausen] he was sort of written off ... including the critics who know to pay the piper Do the facts even support this? The Fisher King and 12 Monkeys followed Munchausen and were well reviewed critically. Instead of inventing a cabal of critics out to get Gilliam, let’s just acknowledge that he’s made a number of divisive films. Michael Palin’s comments to Gilliam about Tideland encapsulate this: I don't…

The Metacritic scores for the Fisher King and 12 Monkeys is still well under the user reviews.

[deleted]

Re: Terry Gilliam’s Don Quixote film finally hits the big screen after 25 years

#86

Post by max_likelihood »

toyg wrote: post #77
tomohawk wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Great movie. When you watch it, you need to pay attention to every little thing. For example, the movie opens with an advertisement for government services. The dittie is hysterical, but its easy to miss. That theme gets expanded quite a bit in the film culminating in a fantastic scene with Robert De Niro as a rogue heating engineer.

I think you forgot the quotes around "heating engineer".

If you want the quotes added, you're going to need to fill out a 27b-6 ;)

Re: Terry Gilliam’s Don Quixote film finally hits the big screen after 25 years

#87

Post by peterwwillis »

lisper wrote: post #59
satori99 wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> It is one of the most prescient films ever made. "People think I am a prophet and that Brazil described the world we’re living in now a few years ago. But we were living in that world then; people just weren’t paying attention the way they do now." https://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/01/magazine/terry-gilliam-is...

Interesting. I'm not sure I agree though. I was in my early 20s in 1985 and so I can tell you from personal experience that things were really very different back then than now. In 1985 it was possible to escape surveillance without to much difficulty. Nowadays it's nearly impossible. Also, in 1985 the stock villains weren't terrorists, they were Russians.

How do you know you escaped surveillance? The government's been doing it to civilians since at least the 1930's.

Re: Terry Gilliam’s Don Quixote film finally hits the big screen after 25 years

#88

Post by neves »

monocasa wrote: post #33
neves wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

May you elaborate?

There was a lot of bad blood over the US studio's reedit of Brazil to give it a happy ending (which was atrocious). Following that Baron Munchausen was a flop (and while I like it, def not his best work to be fair). After that he was sort of written off from the establishment as it were (including the critics who know to pay the piper). But while that would have killed off the careers of most directors, Terry Gilliam…

> pretty positive as far as user submitted reviews go, but is one of the worst movies ever if you were to go off the critics reviews.

Probably I say this about any superhero movie :-)

Re: Terry Gilliam’s Don Quixote film finally hits the big screen after 25 years

#89

Post by _emacsomancer_ »

golemotron wrote: post #75
lisper wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Interesting. I'm not sure I agree though. I was in my early 20s in 1985 and so I can tell you from personal experience that things were really very different back then than now. In 1985 it was possible to escape surveillance without to much difficulty. Nowadays it's nearly impossible. Also, in 1985 the stock villains weren't terrorists, they were Russians.

> Also, in 1985 the stock villains weren't terrorists, they were Russians. They still are.

> > Also, in 1985 the stock villains weren't terrorists, they were Russians.

> They still are.

Or, again, rather. Everything comes around eventually.

Re: Terry Gilliam’s Don Quixote film finally hits the big screen after 25 years

#90

Post by lisper »

peterwwillis wrote: post #87
lisper wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Interesting. I'm not sure I agree though. I was in my early 20s in 1985 and so I can tell you from personal experience that things were really very different back then than now. In 1985 it was possible to escape surveillance without to much difficulty. Nowadays it's nearly impossible. Also, in 1985 the stock villains weren't terrorists, they were Russians.

How do you know you escaped surveillance? The government's been doing it to civilians since at least the 1930's.

Most of the technology that makes surveillance easy today (cell phones, the internet, electronic processing of credit card transactions) didn't exist in 1985. The government certainly could have spied on me but it would have been expensive and they would have had no reason to target me. I was nobody. Nowadays surveillance is cheap enough to do it indiscriminately, but it wasn't then.
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