Ìý User Rating 
"It's got a lot of potential for chaos here", say Terry Gilliam on the set of his long awaited adaptation, "The Man Who Killed Don Quioxte". And that's before the actors arrive late, he's given a sound stage that's not sound proof, and the equipment gets washed away in a flood.
Things always fall apart, especially in film production, but never has it been so painfully apparent than in "Lost in La Mancha", the documentary of a film that never made it to the cinema. But considering Orson Welles also tried and failed to adapt Don Quioxte, Gilliam's troubles are perhaps a little more understandable.
Having spent ten years in pre-production, and with two failed attempts to begin shooting, Gilliam finally gets his main cast of Jean Rochefort, Johnny Depp, and Vanessa Paradis into place, but ends up a mere six days into production before catastrophic events force the team to pause while the financial backers assess the situation.
Despite the shoot's lack of success, "Lost in La Mancha" can only serve to raise one's opinion of Gilliam, whose enthusiasm and imagination keep the shoot going long after it seems impossible to continue. Watching him finally resigned to failure is heartbreaking.
There are, however, some hilarious scenes, mostly involving the casting for three angry giants. Animated versions of Gilliam's storyboards bring his vision to life, as do clips of the scenes that actually got shot. Hopefully one day we'll get to see the real thing.
