Andrew Yule

Most stories about film production train wrecks usually involve out-of-control directors sabotaging their own films through outrageous attention to detail and a flippant attitude towards budgetary concerns. While Terry Gilliam is not immune to similar criticism (The Man From La Mancha, for example), Losing the Light is an extraordinary account of how The Adventures of Baron Munchhausen was almost completely destroyed by the faulty, incompetent, and borderline criminally negligent production itself, spearheaded by the highly delusional German producer Thomas Schühly. How much of the blame belongs to Gilliam becomes an increasingly moot point as the book takes you from one disaster to another. Never ending troubles with the crew is a constant source of dark entertainment, from overpriced handlers for a dog with five minutes of screen time, to crew relatives renting their personal vehicles out to the production as transportation, to crew members taking bets on who would be the first to 'deflower' the underage Uma Therman. Whatever could go wrong most certainly did, and the biggest surprise is that the film was ever completed at all. If you like behind-the-scenes filmmaking disaster stories, this is one of the best.… (mere)

The book puts the blame for all the troubles on the greatest producer in his own mind Thomas Schuley. What I gained from the experience of reading this book is that great people (Terry Gilliam) are not just great because of the things that they do, but their resilency in the face of disaster. Gilliam should never have worked again- especially considering his aborted Man of LaMancha project and the tribulations from Brazil. But he does.

The book itself is an accountant's dream. There were lots of figures flying and it was very confusing. I recomend writing down a character and relationship diagram to keep all the players straight. I was hoping for more anecdotes from the filming process but it mostly focused on politics and lawyering. I liked the story about the traquilized tiger.… (mere)