The death of Heath Ledger presents a list of tragedies. Among all of them (including another seized opportunity for Fred Phelps to spread his particular brand of hate) I keep coming back to Terry Gilliam. As Variety pointed out today, Ledger was key to the financing of The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus; without him the future of the film is very much in doubt.
When you’re considering a death which in directly affects Ledger’s daughter, it almost seems crass to worry about Gilliam. But the guy can’t seem to catch a break. Talk to anyone about Imaginarium and they pegged it as the best possible comeback for a filmmaker that’s been beleagured, ignored and castigated for his last two films. This could have been the one.
If there’s light at the end of the tunnel for Gilliam, it’s that he’s recently implied that The Man Who Killed Don Quixote might get underway again. I feel like I don’t even dare to hope for that, but I wish Gilliam the best possible luck.