The movie is pretentious, boring and lacks a plot. The attempt to condense five books in one movie results in a hard to follow story, or even more, the lack of a proper story, with action being replaced by steady shots and characters becoming extreme simplifications. 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.....
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.....