HE DREAMS OF GIANTS | FILM REVIEW
Dir: Keith Fulton / Louis Pepe (15, 85 mins)
Terry Gilliam’s directorial career has been full of battles and attrition – from his war with distributors over his 1985 dystopian classic Brazil, to the mauling of his Baron Munchausen and his long-in-gestation adaptation of the Don Quixote story, dealt with here. The Man Who Killed Don Quixote has had a tremendously difficult journey to the screen, already well documented in another film – Lost In La Mancha, back in 2002, when Gilliam attempted to bring his knight shouting at windmills to the screen. His set was plagued with floods, his leading man fell ill and ultimately it was all abandoned.
Amazingly, he came back for more, finally making The Man Who…, the film of his heavily compromised dreams, in 2018 with Johnathan Pryce and Adam Driver. He Dreams Of Giants again documents the making of the film, showing Gilliam’s tortured directorial musings, his worries and insecurities, and providing a glimpse into his creative process. Gilliam himself is rather like his hero, trying to keep his imaginative vision alive amidst financial problems. His maniacal joy in creation is infectious, as are his darker moods: racing to get shots done, thinking he’s a failure rather than the visionary genius he is.
Peppered with plenty of revealing interviews, with Gilliam baring all to the film makers about his ups and downs, He Dreams Of Giants is a must-see for anyone who has enjoyed his work from Monty Python onwards. Gilliam has a unique voice in cinema: the brilliance of films like Time Bandits, Brazil, The Fisher King and Twelve Monkeys all bear his stamp, even when he had to work within the studio system. His later films have always had memorable moments, if not quite matching the genius of what has come before, and his Don Quixote opus, when finally completed, was mired in financial wranglings – and far from his best film. Gilliam wonders whether he has any more creativity and films left in him in the wake of the mammoth task of Quixote, but this documentary leaves you wanting to see more of his imaginative whirligig madness.
Released on Mon 29 Mar
words KEIRON SELF