Terry Gilliam isn't known for making straight forward films (although not all his films are madness masterpieces either, cough cough Brothers Grimm cough) so I was prepared for some Baron Munchausen shenanigans. Clearly, Gilliam being so dedicated to birthing this story there must be something special about it, so I was ready to have a narrative of twisted importance. All in all I was expecting the unexpected. But The Man Who Killed Don Quixote turned out to have very little of any of that. The most unexpected surprise was just how little there was there.
The Man Who Killed Don Quixote is a random, rambling, inconsistent meandering, almost a stream of consciousness. There is a sort of a story about a sell out director (Adam Driver) being confronted with his past (through ridiculous coincidence) who must question his own sanity by encountering what he perceives to be madness. All of that sounds fascinating except that Gilliam's take on it is ADHD and refuses to be shackled to things like plot, character, or even cinematographic style. The film breaks the fourth wall, then it doesn't. The film oscillates through time, but then drops that. The film indulges in absurd humour but ends up mostly slapstick. The Man Who Killed Don Quixote can't seem to decide what film it wants to be.
Perhaps it was the long production issues and funding problems which shrunk the budget, but The Man Who Killed Don Quixote looks cheap and often feels like a student film. I considered whether this is on purpose due to certain references in the film, but once again the film isn't consistent. Later in the film more of Gilliam's artful style starts poking through and there is more of his avant guard artistry.
I puzzled over this as I watched. What is intentional in all this chaos? Is the chaotic approach completely the point? Or is it a rather bold failure of story telling, attempting to be something greater than it manages to be? So instead of searching for artistic meaning I began looking into what the story was telling me. And I got even more lost. The film never says anything coherent. Again I asked myself, is that the point? But this endless circle of questions leading to nothing finally started to feel like a shell game. And I began to believe that the elusive pea is just not there at all.
Would I recommend you see The Man Who Killed Don Quixote? That truly depends. It is certainly not for those who want escapist entertainment. Perhaps if your tastes lead you to enjoy the absurd without needing much meaning. Or perhaps, if you just want to see what a brilliant artistic mind can produce when it isn't restrained by needing to be anything other than just what it wants at any moment. So puzzle it out for yourselves if you dare. I worry this emperor has no clothes, and it may not be the most beautiful nude out there.
The Man Who Killed Don Quixote
Starring: Adam Driver, Jonathan Price, Stellan Skarsgard, Olga Kurylenko, Joana Ribeiro
Writer/Director: Terry Gilliam
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