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Lynda
Del Sasso previews this month's new films
Lost
in La Mancha
UK 2001, Cert. 15
Directors: Keith Fulton & Louis Pepe
Star Rating * * * *
In
March 1999, when Terry Gilliam began pre-production on
his new feature, The Man Who Killed Don Quixote, he asked
Keith Fulton and Louis Pepe to record the process. This
documentary is the result. Like Eleanor Coppola's screen
diary of the making of Apocalyse Now, it provides a humorous
and at times horrifying insight into the film-making process.
After
10 years' struggle, Gilliam had managed to raise £32.1m
for his take on Cervantes' Don Quixote. As Gilliam himself
comments, an impressive budget for a European film, but
only about fifty percent of what this particularly ambitious
production actually required.
Other
difficulties were soon to emerge. Obstacles encountered
include: actors unavailable for rehearsals (Johnny Depp
and Vanessa Paradis, leads, are unable to rehearse together),
while the star actor - French veteran Jean Rochefort -
becomes ill and is unable to participate. Heavy rain and
flash floods transform the arid Spanish landscape into
a mud bath, while NATO planes flying overhead drown out
the actors' dialogue. After only six days of shooting,
the project stalls. While the crew waits, insurance men
and bondsmen scramble with calculators and interpretations
of 'force majeure'.
The
oompah soundtrack makes light of the whole tragedy, but
all too soon the entire production is shut down, with
the insurers seizing he script and other property as their
own.
Gilliam,
a talented maverick with a reputation for recklessless
and out-of-control budgets, refuses to be beaten. Six
months after the end of the documentary, he is doggedly
attempting to buy his script back. The artist whose powerful
and unique vision has entertained generations, from Monty
Python days though to The Fisher King, just won't give
up.
The
Man Who Killed Don Quixote may yet see the light of day.
In the meantime, this documentary provides a fascinating
glimpse of the film that is (we hope) to be, as well as
an insight into the fragility of the creative process.
Even with an abundance of the best will and passion, the
artistic endeavour can sometimes remain an impossible
dream.
Duke
of York's from August 16.
Crocodile
Hunter: The Collision Course
Australia2001, Cert. PG
Director: John Stainton
Star Rating * * * *
Australian
Steve Irvin and his wife Terri are environmentalists and
wildlife experts. They host a cable TV show for the Animal
Planet channel. While filming in the Australian outback,
they come into conflict with some American secret service
agents who are hunting down a crocodile which has swallowed
part of a top secret spy satellite. Mistaking the agents
for poachers, the Irwins determine to stop the wily croc
from being harmed.
Part
comedy drama, part over-enthusiatic wildlife commentary
by the lead character, this fun adventure makes a refreshing
change from the usual superficial silliness aimed at young
people during the school holidays. Entertaining and educational
for adults as well as children, this fast-paced outback
tale is well above average in its genre. Crikey mate,
this could be the best PG-rated movie of the summer!
Now
on release at Odeon and UGC.
Other
Highlights
Duke
of York's: London Lesbian & Gay Film Festival on tour.
www.picturehouse-cinemas.co.uk
Odeon
Competition
The Brighton Odeon is offering three prizes of a pair
of cinema tickets each to the first correct solutions
to this question: What nationality is main lead Steve
Irwin in the new film Crocodile Hunter: The Collision
Course? Answers on a postcard please to Odeon Competition
at The Insight office (see elsewhere for address details),
by August 25.
Japanese
Film Nights
It's Japanese Film & Music Night on the first Tuesday
of every month at The Queens Head, Steine Street, Brighton.
7-11pm Admission Free. Starts Tuesday August 6, with Wild
Zero (1999) and Appleseed (1994). Info: Matthew Trott,
tel: 07775764186 or email: shinkansen@btinternet.com
copyright New Insight 2002
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