La fornarina

This is an effort to reconstruct the possible true story of Raphael's passion for Margherita Luti, a baker's daughter with whom he was greatly infatuated, perhaps more than with anyone else, although he surrounded himself with beautiful ladies all his life, actually making a quest of his life for the supreme female beauty, which he perhaps found in Margherita Luti, a simple girl, "La Fornarina". His ultimate portrait off her is his only nude, but it could possibly bear witness of his final passion. The film is well made with exquisite costumes, perfect environment reconstruction with very apt music all the way, and some great rustic scenes with horses. The film goes too far though in indulging in his sentimentality and exaggerating her passion for him, of which we know nothing, involving other ladies around him as well, one playing dirty of jealousy and plotting a dreadful Shakespearean cloak and dagger intrigue of heinous malevolence. The film borders on melodrama, and the best part is the beginning, before she gets lost and his heart is broken. His final illness remains a mystery forever, he died suddenly on Good Friday 1520 after 15 days of fever, but Walter Lazzaro is convincing enough as Raphael, and all the ladies are perfect. It's not a great film but a must for every admirer of Raphael, his art and his age. Bramante has a small part, while Leonardo and Michelangelo shine by their absence.