Creative Notes:
Thorough revision to compete for the December and Annual Awards.
The Royal Knight
Miguel de Cervantes becomes a sidekick to Don John of Austria, natural son of Emperor Charles V and a practically invincible commander. From their adventures together, most notably the Battle of Lepanto, Cervantes draws inspiration for “Don Quixote”.
Synopsis:
Miguel de Cervantes becomes a sidekick to Don John of Austria, natural son of Emperor Charles V and a practically invincible commander. From their adventures together, most notably the Battle of Lepanto, Cervantes draws inspiration for “Don Quixote”.
In actual History, Cervantes and Don John first met face-to-face in 1571 at a hospital in Messina, where Cervantes was recovering from the wounds he received in Lepanto. After that initial encounter, they developed a friendship (although not exactly a sidekick/hero relationship). In 1575, Don John gave Cervantes a letter of recommendation to be promoted to captain. When Cervantes was sailing to Spain with this letter, his ship was intercepted by Corsairs and he and his crew were taken captive. During his captivity, Cervantes tried several times to escape, most notably in 1577, but was not released until 1580. Don John had died in 1578.
In this fictionalization, Cervantes and Don John meet by accident in 1565 so they start their friendship quite earlier, before Don John becomes a knight and a commander. Also, Cervantes is successful in his escape attempt of 1577, so he is able to interact with Don John once again. Another Amazon Studios script, written by Juan Rodriguez-Briso, has these two historical characters meet in 1565, but the execution of what happens afterwards is completely different.
The tone of my script is somewhat light in order to make a fun adventure, in the vein of yesteryear productions of “The Three Musketeers”, “Cyrano de Bergerac”, “King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table” and “Robin Hood” among many other adventure period pieces. My script also draws a great deal of inspiration from the “Don Quixote” novel itself.
“This is my Quest, to follow that star,
No matter how hopeless, no matter how far,
To fight for the right
Without question or pause,
To be willing to march into hell
For a heavenly cause!”
-Fragment of “The Impossible Dream” from the musical “Man of La Mancha”.
In actual History, Cervantes and Don John first met face-to-face in 1571 at a hospital in Messina, where Cervantes was recovering from the wounds he received in Lepanto. After that initial encounter, they developed a friendship (although not exactly a sidekick/hero relationship). In 1575, Don John gave Cervantes a letter of recommendation to be promoted to captain. When Cervantes was sailing to Spain with this letter, his ship was intercepted by Corsairs and he and his crew were taken captive. During his captivity, Cervantes tried several times to escape, most notably in 1577, but was not released until 1580. Don John had died in 1578.
In this fictionalization, Cervantes and Don John meet by accident in 1565 so they start their friendship quite earlier, before Don John becomes a knight and a commander. Also, Cervantes is successful in his escape attempt of 1577, so he is able to interact with Don John once again. Another Amazon Studios script, written by Juan Rodriguez-Briso, has these two historical characters meet in 1565, but the execution of what happens afterwards is completely different.
The tone of my script is somewhat light in order to make a fun adventure, in the vein of yesteryear productions of “The Three Musketeers”, “Cyrano de Bergerac”, “King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table” and “Robin Hood” among many other adventure period pieces. My script also draws a great deal of inspiration from the “Don Quixote” novel itself.
“This is my Quest, to follow that star,
No matter how hopeless, no matter how far,
To fight for the right
Without question or pause,
To be willing to march into hell
For a heavenly cause!”
-Fragment of “The Impossible Dream” from the musical “Man of La Mancha”.
Latest Work
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Script 2 - Ed's 2nd Draft12/31/11
All Work
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Script 1 - Ed's Original Draft11/26/11
Creative Notes:Brand new fictionalization, crossing History with the Quixotic universe.