Joana, a Louca

Prior to seeing this film , the fact that it was in Spanish and in Spain(therefore no English sub-titles), gave me the worrying feeling that I would miss the main outline of the story. Now this would have happened were the film slow and psychological. Fortunately this was not the case. The fim was beautifully shot and acting was incredible. Pliar Lopez as Juana La Loca was so believable. You really should look at the paintings of the period to understand what I mean. But for me the best element was the story. In fact there are two stories. The first the historical one tells of Juana, daughter of Isabel, Queen of Castille(spain)(one of the most important figures in history) who is arranged to be married to Philippe of Flanders, heir to the Holy Roman Empire, which consisted of Germany, Flanders and northern Italy. Here you can see the machinations and the politics which went into the building of the greatest power of its day. Juana's son Charles would later rule most of the world, but that is later. The second story is the personal one. Juana falls totally in love for Philipe and it is such an extreme and jealous love that it reminds me of Catherine in Wuthering Heights. To avoid spoiling I'll leave it at that, but to conclude, this was a really worthwhile film, and I cannot wait to see it in its sub-titled version.