Alatriste

Plot synopsis:
The story takes place during the 17th century in the Spanish Empire. Diego Alatriste is a soldier in the service of King Philip IV of Spain, during the Eighty Years War. The story begins in the Netherlands, where the tercio of Diego Alatriste fights against the Dutch during the Dutch Revolt. Lope Balboa (father of Íñigo and friend of the captain) is killed here. Diego decides to return to Madrid where he receives the young Íñigo Balboa in his care.
He is hired, along with a Sicilian assassin named Gualtiero Malatesta to kill the Prince of Wales (future King Charles I of England) and his companion, the Duke of Buckingham. The job is contracted by Emilio Bocanegra and Luis de Alquézar (uncle of Íñigo's love interest - Angélica de Alquézar). Alatriste finally returns to the Netherlands in 1624 (although the movie says it's 1625) and participates in the final battles leading to Breda's surrender. After the return to Spain, Íñigo wants to elope with Angélica, but she gets cold feet at the last moment. Alatriste has a romance with actress María de Castro. Because she was disappointed that failed to marry him, she became the lover of Philip IV. And Alatriste ends up crossing swords with Guadalmedina, a friend of the king. In the end, the object of their attention falls ill with syphilis. The duel with his friend Martín Saldaña and the punishment of Íñigo in the galleys are part of the film's spectacular ending.
The last scenes are at the Battle of Rocroi (May 1643), described in the last book of the The Adventures of Captain Alatriste saga. During the battle Abel Moreno Gómez's "La Madrugá" is playing as the defeated army's march and this is where it is assumed that the old Captain Diego Alatriste dies.
The plot of the film has elements from each of the five books published up to the premiere, and it maintains the same storyline for the main characters. It includes excerpts from the future books of the saga.

Tags: boring, cruelty, murder, violence, intrigue, action, revenge

Review:
Director Agustín Díaz Yanes, who also adapted the script, condensing the five novels into 134 minutes of action, said from the beginning that the film would be made only if a major movie star fronted it, and the search soon took him beyond the Spanish frontiers.
To his credit, Mortensen accepted to follow up his stardom-achieving role in 'The Lord of the Rings' trilogy (the clinching conversation for 'Alatriste' took place during the Berlin premiere of 'The return of the king' in December 2003) with a daring move that raised many eyebrows: starring in a non-English language film, and speaking his whole part in Spanish with his own voice, whose accent he had to change from the South American he knew since childhood to the Old Castillian his role demanded.The film follows 40-something Diego de Alatriste y Tenorio through 20 years of his life, from the wars in Flanders in 1623 to those against France in 1643, when Spain, under king Philip IV, accelerated its decline from its position as the world's dominating superpower.
The first one is, as can be expected, important to move the political plot forward, and the second might seem peripheral and time-consuming, but his picture and verses are in every school textbook in Spain, so for Spanish people these two play the important role of making Velázquez's paintings move and speak, bringing closer to home the other characters.
A heroic figure despite himself, Alatriste is the poor bloody footsoldier whose unquestioning courage provided the flesh and blood foundations of the Siglo de Oro, the golden age of the early 17th Century when the Spanish crown laid claim to half of western Europe.In scuffed boots and floppy fedora, Mortensen cuts an attractive figure in an amoral, down-at-heel sort of way: women are prepared to leave their husbands for him, men fight for the privilege of dying at his side.
Director of Photography Paco Femenia -- responsible for the similarly atmospheric Carmen and Juana la Loca -- takes his inspiration from the contemporary canvases of Velásquez to evoke an atmosphere painted in rich earthy tones; the camera conveys the glittering sterility of the Spanish court as tangibly as the dirt that Alatriste and his ever-dwindling band of chums are forced to eat  so often without pay -- to enable their lordships to live in the appropriate style.The film, at two hours and 20 minutes, rattles along well, but is too long.
The story takes place in a real time in history, and i'm sure that the sword-fighting wasn't like in the middle earth.And Viggo: I think he's great in the role.
I enjoyed Alatriste; it's not your typical fast-paced Hollywood action flick (if you go see it expecting something of the sort, you'll probably be disappointed and bored) and the plot is not too clearly defined, but it has an excellent cinematography and costume design that recreate Velazquez's Spain, and most of the actors are very good.
Just saw the movie today and have to say that it was a very nice surprise.Two years ago I read a couple of books within the 5-books saga by Spanish writer Arturo Pérez Reverte and have to say that the movie captures the complexity of Capitán Alatriste and the rest of characters as well as recreates the atmosphere that is present in the books in the 17th century of Spain.
Quite difficult deals bearing in mind the ambitious narrative line traced in the books, were good and bad concepts are just embossed (I guess it was like that in Spain 3-4 centuries ago).There would be a lot to say but just briefly, the story is good and entertaining, the movie is brilliant recreating the books (in my imagination, Alatriste is exactly Viggo's characterization/performance), script is powerful, actors and actresses performance's are in average good, remarking Viggo Mortensen (Alatriste), Javier Cámara (Conde-Duque de Olivares) and Juan Echanove (Francisco de Quevedo).
Alatriste is definitely one of the best Spanish movies of the last years.The cast is definitely wonderful with special mention to Javier Cámara as Count-Duke of Olivares, Juan Echanove as Francisco de Quevedo, Eduard Fernández as Sebastián Copons and Elena Anaya as Angélica de Alquézar.
The rest of the cast is pretty good as well with the possible exception of Martín Saldaña being played by Francesc Garrido whose acting just didn't move me.The music is gorgeous and a big effort was made to reproduce the atmosphere both in the filthy dangerous streets of XVII century's Madrid and in the opulent royal palaces and nobility's villas.The decadence of the Empire and the selfish and greedy courtesan life is very well shown as well.I would remark just two weak points in my opinion: 1) The attempt to concentrate 5 books in a single film makes you get the feeling that the script lacks continuity at some points, even when the story is a good one itself.2) Although the atmosphere of the narrow old streets of Madrid is well reproduced I miss scenes where whole areas of imperial Madrid can be seen.
Firstly, I must say I haven't read the Alatriste books, so my comments are not based at all in the classic 'book into film' translation disappointment.As a trained professional filmmaker my opinions can't be and are not based in personal taste; they actually are not opinion, but fact analysis: This film, which I really, really expected to be a very good one, specially after watching the cinema trailer (which is really good, something exceptional, as Spanish trailers go), got me shocked when I saw it on its premiere day in Spain: It is really, really bad.
The film being just a succession of events loosely related, like scattered paintbrush strokes which just give a vague impression of a whole when seen in its entirety from a distance (too many books to condense into a single film?); and mostly poorly covered, with far too many close shots and close-ups (some of them really painful to watch) and an acute scarcity of wide coverage, in part probably due to lack of big enough period locations and sets (a not big enough budget???), and in general Diaz-Yanes shows a constant clumsiness in terms of telling through a meaningful succession of shots; apparently more interested in portraying period scenarios in a painterly manner (mostly a là Velazquez) than in actually telling a story.Another example of this is the scene in which the interior of a Spanish galley is shown just to tell us the character played by Unax Ugalde is to be released from his chained rowing penalty.
Quickly things are set in motion as Íñigo spies the girl who will haunt his life and the good captain gets involved with some intrigue that will play out over the next decades.I like what I've read of the first book and my enjoyment of that made me go out and pick up an import DVD of the film.
It might have helped had the film had the same sort of narration that the novels do, the stories are told from Inigo's point of view, since it might have been used to bridge the many "What am I missing"moments.Who's idea was to do all of the books in one 140 minute movie?
Viggo Mortenson acting is poor, and his speech is often inaudible, and he ends up muttering one liners, which gives little clue of his true feelings, making him a flat, hard to like, character.None of the five stories it tells is properly developed, so we end up having the feeling of having a Powerpoint presentation full of Velazquez inspired pictures, which not only fails to entertain, but also to give a balanced view of the complex times when Spain was the leading power of its time, relying instead in easy stereotypes.Small wonder if the end you feel cheated, and only wish the movie to finish.A pity......
They really had material for a very good movie but you feel like there was no story at all, only a description of the characters (specially Alatriste, of course).
O.K., nice cinematography in the mood of great Spanish artists like Velázquez or Murillo, gorgeous art direction and costume design, but there is no point, only a bunch of dull scenes with cheesy lines and three or four poor action sequences.
Well, first I'll introduce myself, I am Spanish and I've seen the movie the day of the releasing (really disappointed me, feeling so stupid after spent 6 euros on 2+ hour of boredom) and I've read 4 of the books of Alatriste by Arturo Pérez Reverte, one of my favourite writers (check his latest book, "El pintor de batallas", it's really good).
It feels like a 5 hours movie being cutted to be "only" about 2 hours.Viggo Mortensen acts very well, although his Spanish is, let me put the definition of my sister when she heard his voice for the first time, "He has voice of a mental retarded person".
Later as you are more familiar to his voice, it doesn't become a big problem, but I think the movie will improve if someone had dubbed him.Actors are good all, great Javier Cámara, Ariadna Gil, Elena Anaya, Juan Echanove, Unax Ugalde (the best in my opinion), Blanca Portillo (although it doesn't seem a man, maybe I've seen her too much times in TV), Eduardo Noriega too.
You don't care about the story: the excellent historical setting and art direction does very little to keep you interested in a succession of events with no sense of continuity (puting five novels in one film was definitely a bad idea).
Some of them have been drawn too close to caricatures (Quevedo), some others have been 'modernised' so they seem nailed to the stage, so artificial, so unnecessary (Maria de Castro), some others have been ridiculized, using a woman to play a monk (Fray Emilio Bocanegra).The script is plenty of dirty words, making it an impossible entertainment for all audiences, and certainly not advisable for family fun.If all this was not enough, we see excessive violence in some takes, with blood and gore details lowering more and more the level and worthiness of the film, and we learn little on the time and its characters.I got so disappointed with this movie that I rented 'The Mission', also based in Spanish characters from 1750's, but belonging to a totally different galaxy, to save the day.The book the movie is based upon may deserve a better treatment, and not everything is to be based on the international flavors of a good supporting actor for action films as Viggo is.
but overall is really a great movie thanks to Viggo Mortensen, who is really superb as Alatriste.I miss some extra artwork & visual effects in the final battle, which in fact is remarkably poor...
This lengthy film will likely disappoint North American readers who have yet to read the fifth in the Antonio Perez-Reverte historical series chronicling the life and death of one Captain Diego Alatriste.
I almost cried at least twice while watching the film...not only because of the historical background but also for the outstanding performances...I don't really understand those who said the casting was awful, the movie was too long...maybe I watched another movie.Of course it's impossible to take five novels (so far) and melt them down in two hours and a half...but I think that Yanes did it quite well.One last thing...when the movie ended, people started to clap, for the first time in a long long time.I'd recommend this movie without hesitation, regardless of being a fan or not of Perez Reverte's books..
It would have served the film to also show the kind of lavish and beautiful excesses, such as public festivals that even the poor and exploited revel in, which are part of what seduces and deludes a society into collapse.I gather that the Alatriste books are wildly popular in Spain, and thus the Spanish audience will probably be at an advantage in both following the movie's plot and appreciating its historical and artistic references.
'Alatriste' is a decent movie but after watching it, I just could feel it's a lost chance to make one of the greatest Spanish movies.The main mistake is inspiring this film in all the books.
I would say lesser duels, better produced battle scenes and the feelings could be made more important.One last note: when I watched this film I found it not great, but in the end the chaos caves in a little and you can finally think something of the characters and get involved for those last 30 minutes..
Alatriste starts with an excellent sequence which shows the adventurer Alatriste rescuing a nobleman who was captured by the enemy,during the war in Flandes.That sequence has a lot of emotion,a great atmosphere and a realistic style which shakes the realism of the combat in Europe during the Spanish Golden Sigle with a stylization which makes the sequence totally fun.But,after that scene,the film goes down and it never has the energy of the sequence in the beginning.This film has been announced in many different places as the most expensive Spanish film ever done.Also,this film is based on the books Arturo Pérez Reverte wrote about Alatriste.The problem is that the film,which its running time is of almost two and a half hours,tries to put the stories of three different books in a film.The result is a weak screenplay with many forced elements.I have not read the books on which this film is based on.I found on this movie well filmed scenes but without connexion and,sometimes,incoherent.Viggo Mortensen has a good performance,Javier Cámara is totally credible as the villain and Ariadna Gil also brings a good performance.Alatriste promised a lot with the beginning.But,sadly,my expectations and the movie went down.This film is good and I have to say it's fun but it could have been a lot better..
The result was...oh my God I fell asleep in the cinema and was going to leave soon (and this is the first time in my life I fell asleep during the movie) And Viggo, well I really like him in Lord Of The Rings and Hidalgo but in Alatriste, there's something weird and I just felt like his acting were somewhat fake, something in his voice, the way of walking...and the last scene is probably the worse when he just didn't even move for at least 5 minutes before he'd been shot, well I just could't help laughing at its meaningless ending.
Considering the popularity of the character, it was not a surprise that a movie adaptation began to be considered, however, what is indeed a surprise is the sadly poor quality of the resulting product.Set in 17th century Spain, "Alatriste" is the story of Diego Alatriste (Viggo Mortensen), an aging soldier who after serving in the Flanders War makes his living working as an assassin for hire.
The movie chronicles many of the adventures that Alatriste lives in Madrid, including the meeting of the love of his life, his problems at the King's court and specially his often difficult relation with his "adopted son", Iñigo.The movie was written by director Agustín Díaz Yanes himself, and sadly, this is were things start going wrong for the movie, as Díaz' script is an example of what not to do when adapting a series of books.
Without a cohesive narrative, it doesn't matter how good the characters are or how interesting the setting is; the result ends up as boring, and often incoherent.The terrible quality of the script contrasts enormously with the excellent work of production done in the film, as it is really one of the best and most realist portraits of 17th Century Spain committed to film.
This ambition destroys what otherwise could had been the best swashbuckling adventure in many years, as no matter how amazing the movie looks or how good the actors are in their roles, the movie feels simply incomplete."The Adventures of Captain Alatriste" are excellent adventure novels, as not only they offer an accurate portrayal of the period, but also have really interesting characters and wonderfully thrilling story lines.
OK, Pilar Lopez de Ayala is our best young actress, and she's in he movie, but Díaz yanes gave her a minor role.So, I think those are reasons enough to state that "Alatriste" is a mediocre film with a good setting...
Since Alatriste, when not on a battlefield, is a hired assassin, he gets to meet the rich and powerful, but he lives in the back store of a tavern in a poor area of Madrid, so the spectator gets a fascinating tour of 17th century Madrid.I love historical movies with a lot of period details (set, costumes, architecture, etc), and in Alatriste the cinematography is gorgeous (chiaroscuro, composition, etc.), the music great, the acting fantastic, especially by Echanove, Fernández, Gil and (of course!) Mortensen.This does not mean that I don't agree with some of the criticism expressed towards this movie (too many books covered, choppy transitions, difficulty in identifying characters, etc.) but to me the pros definitely outweigh the cons.Mind you, I am a big Arturo Pérez-Reverte fan, I have read all the Alatriste books (and most of his non-Alatriste books).
Viggo Mortensen plays (very well) Diego Alatriste, a soldier in the Spain of the 17th century, with his blade and his wits he must not only survive battles but also political intrigues in the Spanish Court.
It's a fact: maybe we all know Viggo from his portrayal of Aragorn, son of Arathorn, but in "Alatriste" he does a superb job as a Spanish captain and I really got into his role.I've seen many good movies in the past weeks (I could tell you about Magnolia, Fight Club, among others) and none of them had brought me a sense of truth and acting like Alatriste did.