Even with the US distribution of “The Man Who Killed Don Quixote” up in the air, still, Terry Gilliam appears to be one happy filmmaker. After 25 years of persistence, his troubled production of ‘Don Quixote’ was finished and premiered at this year’s Cannes Film Festival. Reviews were a bit mixed, but critics couldn’t help but commend the director for seeing his vision through until the end.
And in a recent interview with CineNando, it appears that Gilliam is all smiles. Well, except for when the topic of conversation turns to superhero films. Let’s just say that the filmmaker is far from a fan of the films that seem to dominate the multiplexes.
When asked how he feels ‘Don Quixote’ will fit in a world dominated by superhero films, Gilliam doesn’t hold back:
“I hate superheroes. It’s bullshit. Come on, grow up! We’re not going to be teenagers for the rest of our lives. It’s great to dream of great powers. Superheroes are all about power. That’s what I don’t like about superheroes. They’ve gotta beat the other powerful superheroes. Come on, a bit of peace, love, and understanding is what we need.”
Sorry fanboys, but I don’t think Gilliam is going to be on the shortlist of filmmakers for your favorite superhero projects anytime soon.
However, as with all recent interviews with filmmakers, the conversation covered the #MeToo movement, particularly because of Gilliam’s long history in the film industry. If you remember, Gilliam had previously spoken up about the issue, but his comments were a little bit…controversial. He equated the movement to “mob rule.”
READ MORE: Terry Gilliam Equates #MeToo Movement To ‘Mob Rule’ And Talks Harvey Weinstein
This time, things were different. “I’m kind of naïve because I just thought the world was available to everybody. And equality is very important,” the filmmaker said.
“All that’s happening is all part of the process of bringing everybody up to, ‘Okay, the doors are open to everybody.’ Now it’s your choice to go through those doors or not. And some of those doors are very difficult to get through. But I think the world now is you can do what you want but you have to believe in what you want and you gotta work at it,” he continued.
As mentioned above, Gilliam’s latest film, “The Man Who Killed Don Quixote” premiered at Cannes last month. And we’re still waiting to hear when we’ll be able to watch the film stateside after Amazon pulled distribution.