Don Quixote (1992)

The timeless tale of imagination and the human will comes to the screen like never before in Orson Welles' Don Quixote.. Many of Welles' film projects remained incomplete at the time of his death, and for years the footage from this incomplete version remained locked away, unseen by the public. Finally a release undertaken by his assistant director, Jess Franco, unveils this unique vision of two men, Don Quixote (Francisco Reiguera, Major Dundee) and his companion Sancho Panza (Akim Tamiroff, Alphaville), whose journey through provincial Spain suddenly pits them against enemies both real and imagined in the modern world. An audacious, fascinating, and rarely-seen piece of film history, Don Quixote is essential viewing from one of the world's most revered and influential filmmakers. Album Description

BE WARNED

I am an Orson Welles fanatic. I love Chimes At Midnight and Othello and Macbeth and Ambersons and Kane and etc etc etc. I bought this not expecting much other than perhaps some beautifully filmed scenes. I was not prepared for it to be so unremittingly awful though. The film is in less than bad shape. The shots are not strong in the slightest and the whole thing is put together terribly. They try to dub it and nothing works. In addition, the actor hired as narrator is doing an absurd imitation of Welles himself. The editing is also semi professional. The whole thing is a shambles. I say avoid it at all costs. Even if you adore Welles and think you need this to complete your knowledge of him and his work, you DON'T. You will be sorely disappointed. It is just awful. September 1, 2008

Based on the world's first novel

DON QUIXOTE is the most curious of all Orson Welles films. He began work on this adaptation of the Cervantes novel in the 1950s and continued the project on occasion, and over many years. The film was still unfinished at the time of the director's death and remained so until 1992, when Jesus Franco (his assistant director) shot additional footage and everything was pieced together.

It's been claimed that this version bears little resemblance to the movie Welles had started and worked fitfully on, and that several discarded original scenes are to this day being held in private collections. The movie was filmed and released in Spanish; presented here is an English-dubbed version.


CITIZEN KANE, Orson's first movie (and widely considered his greatest) is the only one that he ever managed to get released without studio tampering or alteration.


Parenthetical number preceding title is a 1 to 10 viewer poll rating found at a film resource website.

(6.1) Don Quixote (Spain/Italy/USA-1955-'92) - Francisco Reiguera/Akim Tamiroff/Orson Welles/José Mediavilla (narrator)/Juan Carlos Ordóñez/Fernando Rey (narrator)/Beatrice Welles August 15, 2008

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