Alatriste

[meatball]

   

Trailer

Director : Agustin Diaz Yanes    
Cast : Viggo Mortensen, Elena Anaya, Eduardo Noriega, Javier Camara, Ariadna Gil, Victoria Abril
Producers : Estudios Picasso / Origen PC / La Chauve-Souris    Spanish
Delivery : 2006         
 
SYNOPSIS    

The story takes place in the 17th century imperial Spain under the reign of Philip IV, a weak and easily manipulated monarch dominated by a corrupt court. Intrigue and betrayal, duels and battles, love and hatred are the stage for the adventures of "Captain Alatriste". In His Majesty's service, a proud soldier in Flanders and in times of peace, a hired sword in Madrid and Seville. He wasn't the most virtuous of men, nor the most devout, but he was a man of valour. His name was Diego Alatriste!
       
TREATMENT
       
Thus begins the international best seller, "Captain Alatriste", created by Arturo Pérez Reverte, now a superproduction written and directed by Agustín Díaz Yanes coming to the screen as "ALATRISTE".

The story takes place in the 17th century imperial Spain, between 1622 and 1643, under the reign of Felipe IV, penultimate king of the House of Austria. Felipe IV is a weak and easily manipulated monarch, dominated by a corrupt and intrigue-ridden court, the head of which is the influential Count-Duke Olivares.

The decline of the Empire is incipient, society is infested with contradictions. The luxury and opulence of the aristocracy coexist with the misery and vulnerability of the common people; side by side stand sumptuous palaces and dilapidated hovels, elegant chambers and lugubrious taverns. This is where Quevedo and Góngora pen their verses, Velázquez creates his paintings and Lope de Vega premieres his comedies.

This world in decline is the stage for the adventures of Diego Alatriste, in His Majesty's service a proud soldier in Flanders and in times of peace a hired sword in Madrid and Seville. Alatriste is in love with the beautiful María de Castro, the most famous actress of her time. Accompanied by his comrades in arms he keeps the promise made to his dying father and takes charge of the young Iñigo Balboa. Alatriste attempts in vain to safeguard Iñigo both from a military career and from the Machiavellian woman he loves, the sweet and disturbing Angelica Alquézar. Angelica is the daughter of Luis de Alquézar, Alatriste's sworn enemy. According to circumstances, Alatriste is either an ally or an apponent of Gualterio Malatesta, a cynical and unscrupulous Italian swordsman given to retrospection and murder.

In this atmosphere and with these characters we witness intrigue and betrayal, duels and battles, love and hatred. All brought to life with a rigorously accurate reconstruction of the period.

[cron]

ugh, i had to read this books for school and they were boooooooring.


edit: smells like a spanish blueberry.