Line #1 Film/LostInLaMancha


1	[[quoteright:325:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/affiche2.jpg]]
2
3	''Lost in La Mancha'' is a making-of turned documentary film directed by Keith Fulton and Louis Pepe and released in 2002. Narration is provided by Creator/JeffBridges.
4
5	It chronicles director Creator/TerryGilliam's [[TroubledProduction disastrous first attempt at filming]] ''Film/TheManWhoKilledDonQuixote'' in 2000. The project was a fantasy-adventure-comedy inspired by the Miguel de Cervantes novel ''[[Literature/DonQuixote The Ingenious Nobleman Don Quixote of La Mancha]]'' and was set to star Creator/JeanRochefort as Don Quixote and Creator/JohnnyDepp as Toby Grisoni.
6
7	It was shot with the purpose of being the film's making-of, but the failure in getting the movie made back then led it to be retitled ''Lost in la Mancha'' and to be released independently as a one-of-a-kind "unmaking-of" documentary.
8
9	''The Man Who Killed Don Quixote'' eventually resumed filming with a new cast in 2016 and was released in 2018, a testament to Terry Gilliam's sheer determination in finishing his passion project. A sequel to ''Lost in La Mancha'', titled ''He dreamed of Giants'', by the same directors and dealing with Gilliam's mindset and determination, was released in 2019.
10	----
11	!!''Lost in La Mancha'' provides examples of the following tropes:
12
13	* CreditsGag: A "Coming soon" message was superimposed on the footage of the giants and put at the end of the documentary, maybe to twist the knife a bit further given how doomed the project seemed to be. The film would eventually come out... ''in 2018'', although no one could predict that back in the day.
14	* [[invoked]]DeletedRole: Creator/VanessaParadis originally played Dulcinea del Toboso, and some scenes with her were filmed. The role didn't make it to the 2018 movie.
15	* FinaglesLaw: Think about ''everything'' that can go wrong during pre-production and on a movie set, and see it unfold before your eyes.
16	* TheJinx: Watching this, and from the mouth of several people involved, one gets the impression that the ''Don Quixote'' movie Gilliam wanted to make was simply ''cursed''.
17	* MediumBlending: There are animated sections here and there at the beginning, which are made of animated storyboards to help visualize how Gilliam saw a scene and of DerangedAnimation to explain Gilliam's situation in Hollywood.
18	* MovieMakingMess: ''The Man Who Killed Don Quixote'' is one of the most infamous examples of [[invoked]]TroubledProduction for the sheer amount of bad luck and unpreparedness involved. To wit:
19	** Filming was nearly cancelled due to production company shenanigans.
20	** In UsefulNotes/{{Madrid}}, Terry Gilliam wanted a soundstage and was given a "warehouse" (in his own words) with dreadful acoustics. It was anything but a soundstage.
21	** Jean Rochefort's arrival on set being delayed due to his prostate problems.
22	** The desert in which the crew filmed was a Spanish military training zone. F-16s of the Spanish Air Force flew over them constantly, which made sound recording impossible.
23	** An unexpected storm appeared over said desert, with rain then ''hail''. And a resulting mud flood. And it was only the ''third'' day of filming. The dry and sunny desert Gilliam wanted for the film wasn't dry and sunny anymore.
24	** Jean Rochefort had a double spinal disc herniation, which made mounting the horse very difficult for him. He had to go back to France to see a doctor and underwent surgery, which delayed the filming of his scenes indefinitely. It was the final nail in the coffin of that version of the film.
25	** Creator/JohnnyDepp dropping due to his loss of interest in the project and busy schedule.
26	** Endless insurance problems, particularly with Jean Rochefort's health problems, which the crew tried to qualify as a case of "force majeure".
27	* TheNarrator: Narration is provided by none other than Creator/JeffBridges.
28	* TemptingFate: When the early production troubles start showing up, line producer José Luis Escolar states that he's sure that the ''The Man Who Killed Don Quixote'' still can't be a nightmare on the scale of ''Film/TheAdventuresOfBaronMunchausen''. It ended up a ''much worse'' nightmare.

Context Film / LostInLaMancha