Most documentaries about the making of a movie are essentially promotional pieces to market the film (e.g. "Gods & Generals"). This film may have started out that way, but it turned into something no one expected or could have predicted, that is, until the budget got cut from $40M to $32M. The scope of the movie was such that this left no room for error.
Like a rocket launch that has been preceded with lots of careful planning, disaster can quickly become the byword with only a few mistakes in judgment and some bad luck.
Actors had committed to the making of Terry Gilliams's film "The Man Who Killed Don Quixote" a year prior, now facing other projects, they were time slicing their availability. Almost as soon as filming began, unexpected heavy rains damaged equipment. Poor planning resulted in NATO jets flying over the film set, which was as natural to the subject being shot as an Alaskan cruise ship would be on the Ohio River. In less than a week after shooting began, the production was shut down.
Soon Gilliam is trying to keep his investors happy and is fighting with his insurance company about what constitutes acts of God. Then, have your lead actor become seriously ill and it's all over.
Gilliam worked hard to raise the money for the film; seeking financing exclusively in Europe, from independent investors in a mutual fund type arrangement so he'd have the freedom of not having Hollywood "suits" telling him what he could or could not do. That's the upside; the downside, is that without the deep pockets of the studio, this film would not have imploded so quickly. There are some similarities here to the production/casting problems experienced in "Apocalypse Now."
To understand how movies get made, it might be necessary to see how some are started and then come to a halt. In this case, regardless of how smart you are, how much experience you have or your desire and willingness to work hard on challenging problems, a project can be doomed.
The creative people who bring us real independent films are clearly dedicated film lovers. We should enjoy what they do in the same manner as a great author whose book never makes it even close to the best sellers' list. If you are interested in the creative process of making a movie, don't miss "Lost in La Mancha."
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