6/10
Lively and enjoyable musical version based on immortal novel written by Miguel De Cervantes Saavedra
1 September 2015
Musical rendition upon the best literary work ever written that stands in a unique position between medieval chivalric romance and the modern novel . This ¨Man of La Mancha¨ adapted from the musical play , a hit Broadway , by Dale Wasserman , being compellingly directed by Arthur Hiller packs a nice cast such as Peter O'Toole , James Coco , Sofia Loren , Harry Andrews , John Castle , Brian Blessed , Ian Richardson and Rosalie Crutchley . Based on the classic novel written by Miguel De Cervantes , Don Quixote is considered one of the most influential works of literature from the Spanish Golden Age and the entire Spanish literary canon and deemed to be one of the greatest novels in literature history . Miguel De Cervantes (Peter O'Toole) is framed by an issue allegedly from the thunderous life and is incarcerated by the Inquisition . Don Quixote (Peter O'Toole) is the crazy , aging nobleman who embarrasses his respectable family by his feats . It follows the adventures of a nameless Hidalgo who reads so many chivalric romances that he loses his sanity and decides to set out to revive chivalry , undo wrongs , and bring justice to the world , under the name Don Quixote . To these ends, ¨Alonso Quixano¨ dons an old suit of armour , renames himself "Don Quixote", names his exhausted horse "Rocinante", and designates Aldonza Lorenzo (Sophia Loren) ,who is actually a downtrodden prostitute , as his lady love , renaming her Dulcinea del Toboso . Quijote , nearing fifty and some years of age , recruits a simple farmer, Sancho Panza (James Coco) , as his squire, who often employs a unique , earthy wit in dealing with Don Quixote's rhetorical orations on antiquated knighthood . Adapted from the work of Miguel de Cervantes , we then follow Don Quixote on their adventures , his squire Sancho Panza and an old horse named Rocinante . On their journeys , they rescue dames in distress in honorable acts and fight giants among other perils , with Don longing to be with the love of his life , lady Dulcinea . Backed by his faithful sidekick Sancho Panza, he duels windmills and defends his perfect lady Dulcinea named Aldonza.

This musical version of The Man of La Mancha starred by Peter O'Toole as Cervantes and Don Quixote giving nice acting . While Peter O'Toole was generally slated for his "singing" performance in the film, what many critics chose to overlook was the fact that this was not O'Toole's first musical ; indeed, his appearance in Herbert Ross' musical remake of Goodbye, Mr. Chips (1969) . This is the amazing and fun story of a Hidalgo , fanatic for chivalry novels , decides to go on imaginary adventures along with his friend , the simple farmer Sancho Panza , who becomes his squire . This enduring romantic adventure deals the enthusiast , passionate knight Don Quixote and it is paced in enjoyable as well as deliberate rhythm . The film is quite amusing with emphasis on spectacle and following freely the immortal novel scripted by MIguel De Cervantes Saavedra .At the picture occurs several known episodes , such as : when ¨the knight of sad countenance¨ arrives at an inn , which he believes to be a castle , as he calls the prostitute he meets ,"lady¨ : Sophia Loren ; Don Quixote's attack on windmills that he believes to be ferocious giants ; Don Quixote attacks 'the ¨knoght of the mirrors¨who actually results to be the Bachille Sanson Carrasco played by John Castle . Being stunningly photographed by excellent cameraman Giuseppe Rotunno and well produced by Alberto Grimaldi and Saul Chaplin .

¨The man of La Mancha¨ results to be another of uncountable versions dealing with the unforgettable novel ¨Don Quijote De La Mancha¨ by Miguel Cervantes y Saavedra and in which Quixote and Sancho take on numerous dangers and adventures . Other recounting about this notorious story are the followings : ¨Don Quixote¨ (1933) by G.W. Pabst with Feodor Chaliapin Sr. ; ¨Don Quijote De La Mancha¨ by Rafael Gil with Rafael Rivelles , Juan Calvo and Sara Montiel ; Don Kikhot (1957) Russian recounting by Grigori Kozintsev with Nikolai Cherkasov as Don Quixote de la Mancha / Alonso Quixano ; ¨Orson Welles's Don Quijote¨ with Akim Tamiroff ; ¨Don Quijote Cabalga De Nuevo¨ by Roberto Gabaldon with Cantinflas and Fernando Fernan Gomez ; and for American TV : ¨Don Quijote¨ by Peter Yates with John Lightgow and Bob Hoskins ; latterly : ¨Don Quixote: The Ingenious Gentleman of La Mancha¨ (2015) by Dave Dorsey . Besides , Spanish series titled ¨El Quijote de Miguel de Cervantes" (1991) TV series 1991-1992 by Manuel Gutierrez Aragon with Fernando Rey , Alfredo Landa , Aitiana Sanchez Gijon , Manuel Alexandre , among others . And for cartoon movie was made ¨Don Quijote De La Mancha¨ by Cruz Delgado and ¨Donkey Xote¨ (2007) by Jose Pozo .
6 out of 8 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink

Recently Viewed