Man of La Mancha

Youtube ^ | 1972 | Arthur Hiller (producer)

[buwaya]

THE only real film production of Don Quixote YET, in spite of many attempts over decades. Which should be telling as to the difficulty of the task. That said -

This is sprightly, true to the protagonists exuberant madness, and does yield much of the intricate structure of fantasy, irony and hypocrisy of the original. A taste only, as the real thing is...more, much more. But one will have to crack the book for that. Lacking that, this is much better than anyone has a right to expect. The songs really do reflect the ethic of the original and are great fun.

The theme of sentimentality, the love interest, etc., btw, does not exist in the original. That is Hollywood.

Possibly the best role Peter O'Toole ever had. The rest of the cast ain't bad.

The conceit used to frame this all is clever, of a play within a play produced in prison, though it smacks of a bien-pensant excuse for, well, approving of seventeenth century Spain, in this oh-so modern world. Cervantes himself had no problems with it. His real complaints (or comments really) were against human nature, and he would have given his 20th century audience a few lumps!

[ABN 505]

Our history is being rewritten as we live. I can’t keep my anger in check when I see statues torn down, monuments destroyed, history revised to suit the current mores. And it’s being done by beardless, chinless, chestless nancyboys who have never done manly work in their worthless lives.