Allegories of Aging Masculinity: The Myth of Don Quixote in Albert Serra’s Honor of the Knights

Abstract

This article develops a discussion of Albert Serra’s Honor of the Knights (2006) and his radical interpretation of Don Quixote on a final journey before death. The analysis explores Serra’s portrayal of the quixotic myth and argues that the film demythologizes the literary figure and unveils underlying meanings that can be read from the perspective of gender and aging. The article argues that rather than divest the myth, Serra’s film recognizes the quixotic mythology and reclaims the elements of the character that cast Don Quixote as the prototype of the sorrowful errant knight. Drawing from discourses on masculinity and aging the reading explores how Serra’s avant-garde esthetics and minimalist dialogues present an intimate and contemporaneous portrayal of the characters. Don Quixote’s journey through the landscapes becomes an allegory for a life journey where aging and decline, and the ordinariness of life, are juxtaposed with the chivalric ideals of the wandering knight. The discussion will focus on aspects of the film narrative where the quixotic myth as archetype speaks to us and voices his concerns about defection and decline, which resonates with present collective anxieties about senectitude and the perils of old age.