Review on Lost in La Mancha

Review on Lost in La Mancha (2002)

Lost in La Mancha

The documentary on this film was full of disaster and was destined to never be made, as explained in a review by Elvis Mitchell. "Lost" burns across the screen like a fever dream, the bad luck coming hard and fast. Some nonfiction films enchant us with the cool, sure hand of filmmaking; that's not the case here. Most great documentaries are about willfulness, either the filmmakers' or the subject's. In "Lost," it's the latter, and the drama comes from our awareness that despite the proud determination of Mr. Gilliam, in the end his efforts will be utterly and completely meaningless." (Mitchell, 2003) The chaos continues as this film had previous failed attempts and a lot of optimism. Laura Bushell describes this. "Having spent ten years in pre-production, and with two failed attempts to begin shooting, Gilliam finally gets his main cast of Jean Rochefort, Johnny Depp, and Vanessa Paradis into place, but ends up a mere six days into production before catastrophic events force the team to pause while the financial backers assess the situation. Despite the shoot's lack of success, "Lost in La Mancha" can only serve to raise one's opinion of Gilliam, whose enthusiasm and imagination keep the shoot going long after it seems impossible to continue." (Bushell, 2002) 

Film Production.

Its reason for failure could be how it was handled as well as unavoidable happenings, people were turning up late and storms intervened. It is mentioned by Roger Ebert in a review. "The first day of the shoot begins ominously, someone has forgotten to rehearse the extras, who are yoked to Depp in a chain gang. F-16 fighter planes roar overhead, spoiling shot after shot. Gilliam's optimism remains unchecked, and we get a notion of the film from his sketches and storyboards, and his conferences with members of the production team." (Ebert, 2003)


List of Illustrations


Figure 1. Fulton, Keith (2002) Lost in La Mancha. [Poster] At: http://thecia.com.au/reviews/l/lost-in-la-mancha.shtml (Accessed on: 01.10.11) 


Figure 2. Fulton, Keith (2002) Film Production. [Screen cap] At: http://www.imdb.com/media/rm3408893952/tt0308514 (Accessed on: 01.10.11) 


Bibliography


Bushell, Laura (2002) Lost in La Mancha. http://www.bbc.co.uk/films/2002/07/24/lost_in_la_mancha_2002_review.shtml (Accessed on: 01.10.11)


Ebert, Roger (2003) Lost in La Mancha. http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20030214/REVIEWS/302140303 (Accessed on: 01.10.11)


Mitchell, Elvis (2003) Lost in La Mancha. http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9C0CE3D61F39F932A05752C0A9659C8B63&partner=Rotten%20Tomatoes (Accessed on: 01.10.11)