Kirpianuscus
costumes, pieces from soap opera, atmosphere, characters only as silhouettes. a film who could defined as beautiful but nothing more. its beauty remains at the first level and that does to be one of many historical movies useful only for remind an episode from the past of Spain . presented in large lines, the story of Juana has no soul. the actors seems be tired, the colors are the basic ingredient, the story seems be far by its interpreters. and seems far by the story of a queen because the roots of her gestures remains obscure. story of a woman like many others, captive of her jealousy, it is one of films who not gives more than small references about a generous subject.
ma-cortes
This is the historic tale with a politic fight behind , concerning a deep love story who transformed Juana, Queen of Spain, into Juana "The mad" in which Pilar Lopez De Ayala did a powerful interpretation of the nutty queen . Juana is married off by her pious parents , the two famous Catholic kings : intelligent Fernando of Aragon (Héctor Colome) and sensible Isabella of Castille (Susi Sanchez) , to ally Spain , united by their marriage, to the Burgundian and other Habsburg heritage of archduke Maximilian and Maria's son Philip (Daniel Liotti) . As in 1496, Juana De Castilla, daughter of the Catholic Kings, travels to Flandes to marry the Archduke Felipe De Austria, known as 'El Hermoso' or The Handsome . When they meet, it's love at first sight, for her all-consuming, for him one of many happy bed partnerships as she later figures out . Deaths in her family soon make Juana Isabella's heir , but Ferdinand suggests she inherited her grandmother's craziness and supports Philip's ambition to govern instead , which becomes the stakes of political maneuvering in the Cortes and then multiple drama is inevitable . Combined with Philip's relentless infidelity , which includes a Moorish whore-princess (Manuela Arcuri) , and other lovers as the things go awry when Juana uncovers his treason . As mental health Juana starts getting worse and Felipe makes the Burgos Court , nobility-dominated parliament , declare the incurable insanity of Juana and confines her in the monastery of Las Huelgas, proclaiming himself as the king . Finally , Juana is locked at a convent in the city of Tordesillas , Valladolid . Juana "The mad"concerns a peculiar story of love , lies and jealousy with a political confrontation behind . This interesting as well as intimate story is a passionate retelling and a touching drama , including strong sex scenes . Vicente Aranda also writes the script along with Antonio Larreta based on a story by Manuel Tamayo and being filmed in his usual formal and stylistic scholarship , without leaving a trace the thought-provoking issues , in terms of dramatic and narrative excitement . Extraordinary acting by main star , Pilar Lopez De Ayala , she steals the show at a portentous acting who won several awards . The secondary actors were very intelligent chosen and they all did a marvelous performance . As support cast is frankly magnificent such as Rosana Pastor , Giuliano Gemma , Roberto Álvarez , Eloy Azorín , Guillermo Toledo , Susi Sánchez , Héctor Colome and many others . Original and evocative Music by José Nieto , Vicente Aranda's ordinary . The settings are awesome and the palaces and castles are a right manner to show the life style of those days along with the gowns , royal activities , aristocracy , the Middle Age way of life and mentality of those days . Perfect clothing and costumes by Javier Artiñano . Spotless pictorial cinematography by Paco Femenia , he carries out a photography with juicy atmosphere , being filmed on location in Burgos , Castelo de Guimarães, Portugal El Paular, Madrid, Guimarães, Portugal , Huelva, Andalucía, León, Castilla y León , Sigüenza, Guadalajara,Talamanca del Jarama, Madrid . Cameraman Paco Femenia is deemed to be one of the best Spanish cameraman with a long and prestigious artistic career . The motion picture was lavishly produced by two great producers , Pedro Costa and Enrique Cerezo ; being professionally directed in his particular style by veteran filmmaker Vicente Aranda . He directed a series of award-winning movies firmly establishing him as one of the best Spanish filmmakers . His usual film editor is own wife , Teresa Font . Vicente is an expert on literary adaptations , he has been working from the 60s with ¨Fata Morgana¨ , Las Crueles¨ , ¨Novia Ensangrentada¨ , ¨Clara es el Precio¨ , among others . His greatest successes were intense dramas with plenty of sex such as ¨Amantes¨, ¨Pasion Turca¨ , ¨Si Dicen Que Cai¨ , ¨Intruso¨ , ¨Tiempo De Silencio¨ , ¨Carmen¨ , along with a delinquency tale : ¨El Lute¨I and II starred by Imanol Arias , his fetish actor and specially this historical story titled ¨Juana La Loca¨. Other retelling about this known story based on the play by Manuel Tamayo Y Baus are the followings : A silent version (1909) by Ricardo Baños ; the Spanish classic ¨Locura De Amor¨(1948) by Juan De Orduña with Aurora Bautista as Doña Juana , Fernando Rey as Felipe El Hermoso , Sara Montiel as Aldara , Jorge Mistral as Capitán Don Alvar ; a comical rendition titled ¨Juana La Loca De Vez En Cuando¨ by Jose Ramon Larraz with Lola Flores as Reina Isabel I 'La Católica' , Beatriz Elorrieta as Infanta Doña Juana De Castilla , Jaime Morey as Felipe 'El Hermoso' , Manolo Gómez Bur as Cardenal Cisneros and Quique Camoiras as Fray Tomás de Torquemada .
monimm18
I liked this film, but I think it could have been better. There were three things that, in my opinion, weakened its impact. The first thing was the presence of a narrator. I happen to believe that using a narrator in a film with characters and dialogue, although sometimes justifiable, is many times a sign of script or directing weakness; usually, if both the screenplay and the director are good enough, conveying all the information should be possible (and would be more powerful) without a narrator explaining what's going on.The second thing that bothered me was the acting. I found it impossible to connect with the characters, however poignant I found their story (OK, Liotti's looks grabbed my attention quite a bit, but I wouldn't chuck that up to talent...). I felt that de Ayala's acting lacked a certain depth and had a narrow range (most of it consisted of numerous infantile fits of rage in between scenes where she eagerly spread her legs). Liotti seemed lifeless, although I was told his voice was dubbed in Spanish, which usually lowers the power of a performance quite a bit (apparently, he originally delivered a lot of his dialogue in Italian).The third thing that bothered me was the film's (director's?) incapacity of explaining the roots and justification of Juana's mad love for Phillip. Yes, I know it was a powerful combination of lust and emotional dependency, that Juana was a passionate woman and apparently Phillip was quite a fiery lover, but I never felt the characters' passion.The film focused too little on Juana's personality/character and the way the chemistry between her and Phillip developed. I realized how powerful her passion for him was, but it was only thanks to the dialogue, not to the acting, neither to the filming style (does anyone else think the film needed more close-ups, mostly during highly emotional scenes?). In my opinion, the film scratches the surface emotionally and artistically, but fails to go deep.Having said all that, let me assure you that, overall I think it's still a film worth seeing, although definitely not for historical accuracy. The story, loosely based on the Spanish queen Juana de Castilla's life, is quite moving, maybe more for those who have experienced the kind of passion that Juana had for Phillip. A woman so passionately in love with her man, so consumed by her love and so anguished by his philandering and growing lack of reciprocity to her love that she becomes obsessed with possesing him and forgets she is a queen and that her first duty is to her people. I was just sorry to see such a passionate love story idea being presented in a bit of a lethargic manner.
