'Any sensible person would have given up years ago'

It has taken him the best part of two decades, but Terry Gilliam has finally finished shooting on The Man Who Killed Don Quixote.

Posting on Facebook the director said: ‘Sorry for the long silence. I’ve been busy packing the truck and am now heading home. After 17 years, we have completed the shoot of THE MAN WHO KILLED DON QUIXOTE. Muchas gracias to all the team and believers. QUIXOTE VIVE!’

The former Python later said in a statement: ‘Don Quixote is a dreamer, an idealist, and a romantic, determined not to accept the limitations of reality, marching on regardless of setbacks, as we have done.

‘We’ve been at it so long that the idea of actually finishing shooting this "clandestine" film, is pretty surreal. Any sensible person would have given up years ago but sometimes pig-headed dreamers win in the end, so thank you to all of the ill-paid fantasists and believers who have joined to make this longstanding dream a reality!’’

Gilliam first tried to make a Don Quixote film in 1998 with Johnny Depp as the lead. It was cancelled mid-shoot after a series of disasters, which were chronicled in the acclaimed 2002 documentary Lost In La Mancha.

On the first day of shooting in Spain, the crew discovered that their location was plagued by nearly constant noise from a nearby Nato aircraft target practice area. The second day the area was hit by a flash flood and hail which damaged equipment, and permanently changed the appearance of the location. Co-star Jean Rochefort then suffered herniated disc, halting production completely and resulting in a record $15 million insurance claim.

Gilliam made repeated subsequent attempts to make The Man Who Killed Don Quixote, but was constantly plagued by problems. John Hurt had been due to take the title role in this latest attempt, but filming was suspended in 2015 when he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. Michael Palin and Robert Duvall had been linked to the Quixote role, too, but in the final version, Jonathan Pryce takes the lead.

The film, written by Gilliam and Tony Grisoni, starts in modern times and tells of a deluded old man who is convinced he is Don Quixote, and who mistakes Toby, an advertising executive, for his sidekick Sancho Panza.

But even now, the film is not completely clear of problems.

Portuguese officials have ordered an investigation into claims that Gilliam's crew damaged the 12th Century Convent of Christ in Tomar, a Unesco World Heritage site, during filming.

They are accused of chipping masonry, breaking roof tiles and uprooting trees, but Gilliam said the allegations were ‘ignorant nonsense… Everything we did there was to protect the building from harm ... and we succeeded.

No release date has yet been announced for The Man Who Killed Don Quixote.

Published: 7 Jun 2017