La ruta de Don Quijote: A slow walk through history

Is it worth your time?

If you have a soft spot for literary history and don't mind a film that feels more like a travel diary than a movie, you will probably dig this. It's slow. Like, really slow. If you need a plot that moves at the speed of a Flying Devils stunt sequence, this is going to drive you absolutely up the wall.

It’s the kind of thing you watch when the rain is hitting the window and you’ve already finished your coffee. It doesn’t demand much, but it gives back a nice, hazy sense of place.

Notes from the road

• The camerawork has this grainy, unpolished feel that makes the fields of La Mancha look like they haven’t changed in four hundred years.
• There’s a moment where the narrator is talking, but the wind is so loud you can barely catch the words. They left it in. I liked that.
• Sometimes the editing feels a bit jumpy, like the film just couldn't decide which windmill was the most important one to look at.

It reminds me a bit of the way Leatherstocking leans into the landscape, though this feels much more personal and less concerned with being a proper epic. It’s just a guy walking around, thinking about dead authors.

There are long stretches where nothing happens except the sun hitting a dusty road. You can almost feel the heat radiating off the screen. It’s weirdly comforting.

I found myself wondering if Ramón Biadiú actually enjoyed the trip or if he just wanted an excuse to get out of the city. There’s a restlessness to the shots that makes me think he was constantly checking his watch.

Don't expect some grand revelation about Cervantes. You aren't going to get that. You just get the dust, the sky, and the feeling that some stories just refuse to stay inside the pages of a book. It’s not a masterpiece, but it doesn't try to be, which is its biggest win.

Just let it play in the background while you fold laundry or stare at the ceiling. It’s fine.