Terry Gilliam - Lost In La Mancha

Started by MacGuffin, January 22, 2003, 05:10:52 PM

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MacGuffin

Andrew Davis to Rescue Don Quixote?
Source: Moviehole

Moviehole tells us that director Andrew Davis is in talks to rescue The Man Who Killed Don Quixote...

Andrew Davis, The Oscar nominated director of "The Fugitive" and helmer of "Holes" and "Collateral Damage", among others, tells Moviehole today that he is considering directing the troubled "The Man Who Killed Don Quixote", a film that Terry Gilliam was attached to.

"I'm thinking of doing Don Quixote. Terry Gilliam tried to do it. I talked to someone who's involved in it, and he still wants to do it... its very complicated. But I'm in talks", says Davis.

"It's hard to think how I can make a movie that's going to be so all of the world, that's going to have somebody in it that people are going to want to come and see, because every three years someone else is 'hot' and it's such a classic story – not unlike "Holes" – that has such a following, I've got to do it right. If I got to make it, I'd like to make it with someone like Jon Voight you know, or someone like John Leguizamo – who probably aren't big enough stars to get it greenlit. If Johnny Depp said he wanted to do it again right now, we'd get the money. We'll see..."
"Don't think about making art, just get it done. Let everyone else decide if it's good or bad, whether they love it or hate it. While they are deciding, make even more art." - Andy Warhol


Skeleton FilmWorks

SoNowThen

How about he keeps his filthy paws off of Gilliam's baby? The bastard.



And that Brothers Grimm thing sounds great. Of course, anything with Monica sounds great...
Those who say that the totalitarian state of the Soviet Union was not "real" Marxism also cannot admit that one simple feature of Marxism makes totalitarianism necessary:  the rejection of civil society. Since civil society is the sphere of private activity, its abolition and replacement by political society means that nothing private remains. That is already the essence of totalitarianism; and the moralistic practice of the trendy Left, which regards everything as political and sometimes reveals its hostility to free speech, does nothing to contradict this implication.

When those who hated capital and consumption (and Jews) in the 20th century murdered some hundred million people, and the poster children for the struggle against international capitalism and America are now fanatical Islamic terrorists, this puts recent enthusiasts in an awkward position. Most of them are too dense and shameless to appreciate it, and far too many are taken in by the moralistic and paternalistic rhetoric of the Left.

modage

according to AICN...

Terry Pratchett, author of the book Good Omens, hinted at a recent book signing that Terry Gilliam will be returning to the project after finishing up with the Brothers Grimm.
Christopher Nolan's directive was clear to everyone in the cast and crew: Use CGI only as a last resort.

modage

Brothers Grimm on Entertainment Tonight
Source: Entertainment Tonight Monday, October 20, 2003

Entertainment Tonight will have a first look at Matt Damon and Heath Ledger's new fantasy film, The Brothers Grimm, filming in the Czech Republic.

The Hollywood heartthrobs are bringing the tale of real-life fairy-tale spinners, brothers Will and Jacob "Jake" Grimm, to life (in a loose interpretation of their story). Set in the early 1800s, the imaginative Will (Damon) and Jake (Ledger)'s claim to fame is their proclaimed ability to rid townfolk of "mysterious creatures."

The inventive brothers make a living going from village to village with this ruse -- until NAPOLEAN's government calls them in to investigate a potentially real-life villainess (played by MONICA BELLUCCI), who may be responsible for taking the blood from innocent, young girls.

Be sure to check out the program tonight for more on director Terry Gilliam's new movie.
Christopher Nolan's directive was clear to everyone in the cast and crew: Use CGI only as a last resort.

MacGuffin

Quote from: themodernage02Be sure to check out the program tonight for more on director Terry Gilliam's new movie.

I didn't learn one thing about the film; only about Matt Damon's sadness over the Red Sox out of the World Series.
"Don't think about making art, just get it done. Let everyone else decide if it's good or bad, whether they love it or hate it. While they are deciding, make even more art." - Andy Warhol


Skeleton FilmWorks

modage

yeah, but did he mention his thoughts on the Bennifer wedding!?!?!?
Christopher Nolan's directive was clear to everyone in the cast and crew: Use CGI only as a last resort.

modage



Brothers Grimm: Around four months into filming and with about 2-3 more weeks to go, the Terry Gilliam project underway in Prague's Barrandov Studios has opened its doors to some press - most notably TV news-tainment show "Entertainment Tonight" which did a behind-the-scenes peek in their Monday edition. In the video interview with stars Matt Damon & Heath Ledger, the pair revealed a little more about the tone of the movie - "They're con artists, going from town to town trying to fool people into thinking they're ridding the town of the local witch or bridgetroll. We've got forest fires ... running and people trying to kill us! It's all that kind of swashbuckling stuff!". The basic plot has the conmen - Will & Jake Grimm - getting a famed reputation so good that they're hired by Napoleon's Government to investigate a woman (Monica Bellucci) who may be stealing the blood from young girls in order to stay beautiful. The footage in the segment also shows the pairs look in the film - Ledger donning whiskers and glasses, Damon a Vines-style hairdo and both in some almost Dracula-era garb. The interview is now online and can be watched by going to the ET website and clicking on video camera symbol on the left. http://et.tv.yahoo.com/celebrities/2003/10/20/mattdamongrimm/
In other news on the project, a new photo has gone up over at Dreams which is also so far the best collection of information so far on the film. http://www.smart.co.uk/dreams/grimfact.htm
Christopher Nolan's directive was clear to everyone in the cast and crew: Use CGI only as a last resort.

MacGuffin

Damon, Ledger Laugh Through Gilliam's Grimm Tale

PRAGUE (Reuters) - Standing in front of a monitor watching their latest take during the filming of "The Brothers Grimm," Matt Damon and Heath Ledger burst out laughing.

Not exactly the reaction one would expect from a fairy tale, but precisely one director Terry Gilliam was aiming at.

"This film certainly is like nothing I have ever done before," Damon told Reuters in an interview.

Gilliam, looking to move on from the disastrous end to his film about Don Quixote when financing was abruptly pulled, has chosen to guide the stories of the Brothers Grimm in a not so fairytale way for co-producers MGM and Dimension Films.

As with previous films "Brazil" and "Twelve Monkeys," Gilliam, once part of the British comedy team Monty Python, has brought his exaggerated sense of space and shapes to the stages of Prague's Barrandov Studios.

FAIRYTALES OR CON MEN?

His take on Jake and Wilhelm Grimm is that they were 19th Century conmen who duped people into paying them to drive out "evil creatures" that are actually fictitious beings created by the brothers themselves.

Eventually the two are asked by the French government to deal with an actual real-life evil creature -- played by Monica Bellucci -- that sends them on a wild adventure.

Damon and Ledger, heartthrobs to millions, are barely recognizable in their Bavarian costumes.

For Damon, the role was one he couldn't turn down, even if shooting delays have eaten up any chance for a holiday before filming a sequel to his hit "The Bourne Identity" later this month in Germany.

"I saw the script and knew I wanted to do the movie. I knew it would cut it close with the next Bourne movie, but I didn't care. Now, when I see what is going on film, I have no doubts I made a great choice," said the affable American.    

Damon and Ledger have hit it off during filming, with the Australian referring to Damon "like he's my brother."

WARPED SETTING

If the costumes and acting are exaggerated, they are equaled by the set.

In a sign of the determination of Gilliam and set designer Guy Hendrix Dyas to create a dream world, they traveled to dozens of the Czech Republic's medieval towns before realizing the real thing was pretty, but too practical.

Instead, after shunning some of the world's best preserved castles, Hendrix Dyas created his own village barely a stone's throw from the studios and within sight of the ugly concrete apartments that serve as a reminder of nearly five decades of Communist rule.

"After talking to Terry, I realized very quickly we were on the same page," said Hendrix Dyas.

"That made it easy to test the boundaries, and in the end, it's true, we would never have found a village such as this. No one would ever have left something like this standing!"


Guy Hendrix Dyas captured the imagination of director Terry Gilliam with sketches of set designs such as this. Hendrix Dyas then recreated the drawing on a massive sound stage at Prague's Barrandov Studios for the shooting of 'The Brothers Grimm.' The movie, starring Matt Damon and Heath Ledger, is scheduled to be released in autumn 2004.
"Don't think about making art, just get it done. Let everyone else decide if it's good or bad, whether they love it or hate it. While they are deciding, make even more art." - Andy Warhol


Skeleton FilmWorks

meatball

After watching his ordeal in Lost in La Mancha, I realized that I would HATE and LOATHE to be working under his direction -- at least, when things aren't going well on his sets. He really came off as obsessed, overwhelmed, and sad in this.. no wonder his co-workers lost faith in him. I'd like to see him in action when things are flowing smoothly.

modage

A First Look at The Brothers Grimm!
Source: Empire Magazine Sunday, November 16, 2003

The December, 2003 issue of Empire magazine has a first look at director Terry Gilliam's The Brothers Grimm, starring Matt Damon, Heath Ledger, Jonathan Pryce and Monica Bellucci. Included are quotes from Damon, Gilliam and production designer Guy Hendrix Dyas, as well as several spoilers.

In the fantasy/adventure/comedy, filmed at Barrandov Studios on the outskirts of Prague, Damon & Ledger star as the legendary German fairy tale authors, Will and Jacob Grimm, reinvented as 17th century con men who find themselves facing the perils of a real enchanted forest.

Gilliam took a break after his last production, The Man Who Killed Don Quixote, fell apart. "After the whole disaster with Don Quixote, I was really quite depressed. When this came along, it seemed to have all the right elements - it had fantasy, imagination, it was intelligent. And it had the money," laughs the one-time Python, oft-visionary director. He tells the magazine that "it was strange getting back in the saddle. In the first week I was out of practice and making stupid mistakes. But we seem to be getting there now."

Joining Gilliam on the set was X2: X-Men United production designer Guy Hendrix Dyas. "Guy's work on this is amazing," added Gilliam. Dyas has had the chance to build and entire fairy tale village on the backlot, ruined castles, and not one but two full sized forests - one studio-based, one outside.

"We tried to find a real forest," Dyas explains. "Terry and I spent nearly a month scouting out here trying to find one. But then we realized that to control that environment we'd have to build it on set. So Terry can shoot day or night - do whatever he wants to do."

The magazine visited the set where Matt Damon was licking a toad. Repeatedly, take after take after vomit-inducing take. "It was okay until the lady doctor told me to take these three infection pills afterwards," laughs Damon. "Then again, for the money they're paying me, I can't complain." Also, Gilliam was admiring one of his forests as it's burnt to the ground by an army of Napoleonic soldiers. "Now that's a fire!" he shouts, an impish grin on his face.
Christopher Nolan's directive was clear to everyone in the cast and crew: Use CGI only as a last resort.

MacGuffin

It’s Grimm Up Town
Exclusive - Terry Gillam speaks to Empire Online

Terry Gilliam was on fine form at the Big Fish premiere, and paused to chat to Empire Online about projects old and new. We asked about his upcoming film, The Brothers Grimm.

“Well we’ve finished shooting! Now we’re editing it. I actually saw the first assembly today for the first time, and, well, it’s going to be busy for the next few months. There’s hundreds of special effects shots. Part of it is editing in the dark, because you’re trying to imagine extraordinary things.”

The film stars Matt Damon and Heath Ledger as the eponymous brothers, who are con men travelling around 18th century Europe and pretending to rid villages of mythical beasties. Their bluff is called, however, when Napoleon orders them to a forest actually plagued by enchanted creatures. So how did Matt and Heath handle it?

“Well these are very different from their normal characters. They’re cast completely against type, which is always a gamble, but when it pays off I love it. The actors love it, and the audience likes waking up and discovering the world is different every day.”

There is, however, one question on everyone’s lips for Gilliam, and that concerns his lost film, The Man Who Killed Don Quixote. No one who has seen Lost in La Mancha, the story of its abortive production, could fail to care about the fate of what looked suspiciously like the perfect Gilliam film. So is there any hope that it could rise from the grave?

“That’s one reason for making The Brothers Grimm – make a big successful film and generate the money for that. I’m actually going to Paris at the end of this month to try to get the rights to the script back – we’ve been at this for two years. It’s just become very complicated – mainly legal things. I’m going to go over there and hopefully resolve some of these issues face to face, because this film is going to be finished fairly soon and I’ve got to work again.”

And now for something completely different – are there any Python films in the works? “No, they’re all dead. I’m the only one left. You see Michael Palin going around the world, but those were all filmed ten years ago when he was young and handsome. No, the only Python thing that looks like it is going to happen is a Broadway production of Holy Grail, which is going to be called “Spamalot”. Eric Idle has written the book and new lyrics for new songs. That’s due in 2005 – Broadway things take a long time. I think they’re supposed to be doing a reading in the next month, but Broadway is a very long slow process. If it works over there, of course we’ll bring it over here to try and make money. We’re not ashamed of trying to make money in our old age. We didn’t do it when we were young making Python, so now we basically do it by making Python products.”
"Don't think about making art, just get it done. Let everyone else decide if it's good or bad, whether they love it or hate it. While they are deciding, make even more art." - Andy Warhol


Skeleton FilmWorks

SoNowThen

You've gotta hope that somewhere/sometime in life there's a great equalizer waiting for good guys like Gilliam. Here's to hoping that he gets Don Quixote back off the ground.


And Grimm sound pretty fucking great, too!
Those who say that the totalitarian state of the Soviet Union was not "real" Marxism also cannot admit that one simple feature of Marxism makes totalitarianism necessary:  the rejection of civil society. Since civil society is the sphere of private activity, its abolition and replacement by political society means that nothing private remains. That is already the essence of totalitarianism; and the moralistic practice of the trendy Left, which regards everything as political and sometimes reveals its hostility to free speech, does nothing to contradict this implication.

When those who hated capital and consumption (and Jews) in the 20th century murdered some hundred million people, and the poster children for the struggle against international capitalism and America are now fanatical Islamic terrorists, this puts recent enthusiasts in an awkward position. Most of them are too dense and shameless to appreciate it, and far too many are taken in by the moralistic and paternalistic rhetoric of the Left.

modage

Christopher Nolan's directive was clear to everyone in the cast and crew: Use CGI only as a last resort.

SoNowThen

thank -- you --- mod....

omg

pure beauty
Those who say that the totalitarian state of the Soviet Union was not "real" Marxism also cannot admit that one simple feature of Marxism makes totalitarianism necessary:  the rejection of civil society. Since civil society is the sphere of private activity, its abolition and replacement by political society means that nothing private remains. That is already the essence of totalitarianism; and the moralistic practice of the trendy Left, which regards everything as political and sometimes reveals its hostility to free speech, does nothing to contradict this implication.

When those who hated capital and consumption (and Jews) in the 20th century murdered some hundred million people, and the poster children for the struggle against international capitalism and America are now fanatical Islamic terrorists, this puts recent enthusiasts in an awkward position. Most of them are too dense and shameless to appreciate it, and far too many are taken in by the moralistic and paternalistic rhetoric of the Left.

Ravi

http://www.britfilms.com/britishfilms/inprogress/

BROTHERS GRIMM, THE
Director:   Terry Gilliam
Producer:   Charles Roven, Daniel Bobker
Screenwriter:   Ehren Krueger, Tony Grisoni, Terry Gilliam
Cast:   Matt Damon, Heath Ledger, Lena Headey, Jonathan Pryce, Peter Storemare
Enquiries:   Julia Finn, DDA, +44 (0)20 7932 9800
Status:   in post production