A report by public broadcaster RTP suggested recent filming for ‘The Man Who Killed Don Quixote’, being directed by Gilliam, left behind chipped masonry, broken roof tiles and uprooted trees at the 12th-century Convent of Christ in Tomar in central Portugal. Filming is said to have taken place between 24 April and 10 May.
The movie spearheaded by Gilliam is a co-production of Spanish film company Tornasol, Belgian Entre Chien et Loup, French company Kinology, and the Portuguese Ukbar Films.
According to RTP, the Convent was rented out for three weeks while the film was being shot, with production therein involving a several-metre log fire being constructed inside one of the cloisters, for which the team allegedly “cut trees that embellished the monument and broke old stones.”
Newspaper Público also looked into the goingson, reporting “a 12-metre high pyre burning in the middle of a monument that is a world heritage site is raising, not only questions, but concern. Not just because of the damage it caused, but for what it might have caused, irrespective of the presence of experts in special effects, firefighters and heritage technicians, and regardless of the existence of insurance to cover any accidents.”
It claimed the use of the convent brought in €172,000 for the State.
Speaking to the newspaper, Jorge Custódio, archaeologist and heritage historian who was director of the Convent of Christ for five years (2002-2007), said: “It is not because six tiles have fallen and there are some broken stones that the situation is alarming, it is because a huge bonfire was made in one of the cloisters; it is because they took dozens of gas cylinders into a set that is unique in the world. Putting fire and gas cylinders in the Convent of Christ? It should never have happened.”
Portugal’s General Directorate of Cultural Heritage told RTP the damage was “an accident”, while the movie’s producer claimed everything had been authorised.
Intriguingly, RTP further claims that “behind this case, we have also discovered a scheme that could have seen the State being swindled out of box office takings, which has been going on for decades.”
The convent, once a stronghold of the Knights Templar, has been classed as a UNESCO world heritage site since 1983, and is one of the most emblematic monuments in the country.
The Portuguese government is investigating the claims.