Viggo Mortensen stars as the veteran soldier and brawler in this Spanish language adaptation of the novels by Arturo Pérez-Revete. As the film opens Alatriste has been asked by a dying friend to raise his son when he returns from the war. Back in Madrid Alatriste begins to care for young Íñigo Balboa while trying to earn a buck as a hired sword. 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. What I had seen prior to actually watching the entire film made me think that this was film that got the look and feel of the novel right. Now that I've seen the entire film I can honestly say that the film looks and feels exactly as I had pictured it my mind. We are in Spain and Flanders and everywhere else in the seventeenth century. This is a gorgeous film to look at.
The performances are dead on and everyone seems to inhabit the their roles. Viggo is excellent as Alatriste and I can think of no one who could do it better. He's a wonder to watch in both the dramatic scenes as well as the numerous sword fights and action sequences (which are excellent)
The problem is that the script doesn't work. I mean it really doesn't work. Pulling material from several novels there is no plot as such. Things happen, people come and go; and then we're on to the next episode. I kept waiting for things to tie themselves together and they never did. There is no sustained drama, its incidents in the life of Alatriste.The result is what should be emotional high points and hooks just sort of lay there..The romances of Alatriste and his actress paramour (wife of a good friend) appears in fits and starts. The other romance of Inigo and Angélica skips through the tale in such away that nothing is ever resolved and you have no idea what they see in each other.(certainly her early lines about keeping Alatriste alive to raise the boy for some grand plot comes to naught.) We skid through the life and times of the Captain to no clear purpose. 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? It was a major mistake and it makes the entire enterprise feel as though it was three days long. The movie doesn't end it just stops, which kind of makes sense since the movie is so bland and flat there is no way it could ever have a climax since it never builds to anything.(even if the sequences them selves-like the opening attack in and out of the water are mini masterpieces) A major disappointment. I can't recommend this. Its simply too dull to be much more than a sleep aide.
4 out of 10 over all.(higher in parts)
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. What I had seen prior to actually watching the entire film made me think that this was film that got the look and feel of the novel right. Now that I've seen the entire film I can honestly say that the film looks and feels exactly as I had pictured it my mind. We are in Spain and Flanders and everywhere else in the seventeenth century. This is a gorgeous film to look at.
The performances are dead on and everyone seems to inhabit the their roles. Viggo is excellent as Alatriste and I can think of no one who could do it better. He's a wonder to watch in both the dramatic scenes as well as the numerous sword fights and action sequences (which are excellent)
The problem is that the script doesn't work. I mean it really doesn't work. Pulling material from several novels there is no plot as such. Things happen, people come and go; and then we're on to the next episode. I kept waiting for things to tie themselves together and they never did. There is no sustained drama, its incidents in the life of Alatriste.The result is what should be emotional high points and hooks just sort of lay there..The romances of Alatriste and his actress paramour (wife of a good friend) appears in fits and starts. The other romance of Inigo and Angélica skips through the tale in such away that nothing is ever resolved and you have no idea what they see in each other.(certainly her early lines about keeping Alatriste alive to raise the boy for some grand plot comes to naught.) We skid through the life and times of the Captain to no clear purpose. 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? It was a major mistake and it makes the entire enterprise feel as though it was three days long. The movie doesn't end it just stops, which kind of makes sense since the movie is so bland and flat there is no way it could ever have a climax since it never builds to anything.(even if the sequences them selves-like the opening attack in and out of the water are mini masterpieces) A major disappointment. I can't recommend this. Its simply too dull to be much more than a sleep aide.
4 out of 10 over all.(higher in parts)