Quote:"Showing" Don Quixote "in Cannes was well worth all the annoyances I suffered," says Terry Gilliam
INTERVIEW The director confided in "20 Minutes" before presenting "The man who killed Don Quixote" at the closing of the festival ...

From our special correspondent in Cannes, Caroline Vié

• Terry Gilliam seems quite recovered from his health concerns.
• He is eager to show "The man who killed Don Quixote".
• The film is released on May 19 in the wake of its screening in Cannes.

Terry Gilliam faded form when 20 Minutes met him in Cannes. He finally arrived on the Croisette to present The man who killed Don Quixote , this Saturday at the end of the Festival and will be released in cinemas the same day. Wearing a gorgeous T-shirt from his movie (a "unique copy," he says), the 77-year-old director seems quite recovered from the stroke he suffered ten days ago.

A few hours before the official screening, the ex-Monty Python shines with happiness at the idea of ​​showing his film after the trouble that made him suffer the producer Paolo Branco who wanted to ban the projection. This picaresque tale about a director (Adam Driver) and the actor whose life he changed by making him embody the hero of Cervantes (Jonathan Pryce) is a marvel of fantasy and poetry. It is with a big smile and a communicative energy that Terry Gilliam shared his feelings on a film that we can not recommend too much.

In what state of mind are you before the projection?
I'm looking forward to showing my movie! I have been waiting for this for so long that it seems almost unreal to tell me that people will finally discover it. I am even afraid that they will be disappointed because I fear that their expectations have become unreasonable over the years.

Now that the movie is finally over, do you think the game was worth it?
Yes. Absolutely! It is better than it would have been if I had finished with Jean Rochefort and Johnny Depp. The film matured over time, at the same time as me, no doubt. I find it more successful than the first version, so I do not regret anything. Showing Don Quixote in Cannes was well worth all the annoyances I suffered.

Don Quixote, is it you?
I see myself more in Sancho Pança , his faithful squire because there was a moment when I followed the film that carried me almost in spite of me. I often felt like I did not control anything as things happened that did not depend on me. It's not against windmills that I fought. Showing Don Quixote in Cannes was well worth all the annoyances I suffered

Did you think the movie was cursed?
I could not afford to see things that way! Otherwise I would have stopped everything. I had moments of discouragement but I always believed against all odds. That's why I'm so happy to be in Cannes today ... I was right not to give up.

Something good came out of this case?
I discovered that I had wonderful fans and friends who love me. I also enjoyed the courage of the Cannes Film Festival, Thierry Frémaux and Pierre Lescure, whom I thank from the bottom of my heart. It's not just Paulo Branco in life. I would have learned that and it is warm to the heart when we are at the bottom of the hole.

Are not you afraid of a final tile at the time of the projection?
To be honest, I'm a little nervous. Maybe I should have come with a Kevlar jacket the time Paulo Branco attacks me physically. I'm kidding but it seems that he is furious because the festival would have removed his badge and that the kids follow him on the street imitating the Knights who do not Holy Grail .

Thinking of making other movies?
I will rest a little and then I will get back to work. In fact, I will see myself die well at 106 years as Manoel de Oliveira and continue to shoot movies until my last breath.

Quote:29 years in the Making, Terry Gilliam’s The Man Who Killed Don Quixote inevitably has a patchwork quality and feels hampered by budgetary limitations. But there are flashes of his unbridled imagination, esp in the final third #cannes2018

Quote:THE MAN WHO KILLED DON QUIXOTE: Visually heroic, narratively tilting at windmills, Terry Gilliam's 25-year obsession embraces illusion with such devotion I ended up liking it more than fighting it. #Cannes2018