Uncovered

This is a 1994 British/Spanish/French co-production film titled ¨The Flandes panel¨ or ¨ Uncovered¨, starring Kate Beckinsale and John Wood, it is a cinematic adaptation of the bestseller novel about a mystery spanning from the 15th century to the present day . It deals with Julia (Kate Beckinsale) , an art restorer and evaluator living in Barcelona . While restoring an old painting showing two men and a woman playing chess , Julia discovers a text underneath the paint which reads "Quis Necavit Equitem", written in Latin (English: "Who killed the knight?"). The owner (Michael Gough) of the painting tells her that one of his forefathers was murdered , the painting might identify the killer . She consults a gypsy named Domenec (Behan) , a quiet local chess master , who reconstructs the game from the painting . When Julia's friends are killed she understands that there is more to it and with any piece she takes , somebody dies . With the help of a chess genius and her old friend as well as father-figure , an antiques dealer named César (John Wood) , Julia works to uncover the mystery of a 500-year-old murder . At the same time , however , Julia faces danger of her own ; as several people helping her along her search are also killed .

Thrilling suspense movie packs thrills , violence , intriguing events , gruesome slaying , nudism and winds up into an astonishing finale . Passable whodunit in which a beautiful young girl discovers a painted-over message on a 1471 Flemish masterpiece called ¨The Chess Game¨, while a serial killer executes gruesome murders and subsequently the art restorer attempts to resolve it . Exciting and stirring development , though predictable , when starring finds that his fellows , friends and relatives are being murdered one by one . This is an acceptable thriller but contains several flaws and gaps , in fact there was trouble brewing on the set because of overages and creative concerns between the director , writer and the studio . It is based on a novel written by Spanish author Arturo Pérez-Reverte in 1990 . Reverte is a Spanish journalist and TV reporter, who turned to writer and today the best-selling author in Spain and the best-selling Spanish author in the world . Famous author of "Alatriste" novels as he carried out quite a lot of the work of investigating historical documents relating to 17th Century Madrid. His novels have the common thread of being based on real historical times and that in each case a great deal of investigation goes into the making of his stories, as well as the fact that he has had to learn a great deal on topics ranging from chess-playing to historical first-editions from 16th Century Dutch masters to Informatics and even swordsmanship . His extraordinary imaginative abilities have been able to produce well-written adventure stories , being adapted for cinema the following novels : ¨The Fencing Master¨ , ¨Territorio Comanche¨ , ¨The ninth gate¨ , ¨Cachito¨ , ¨Gitano¨ and ¨Carta Esferica .

Regular acting by a very young and without experience Kate Beckinsale as Julia , a restorer who comes undone after witnessing brutal murders on her way . Very good support cast though really wasted , all of them play weird people varying from psychotically aggressive , paranoids , drunken and killer ; being performed by Sinéad Cusack , Peter Wingfield , Helen McCrory , Michael Gough , Art Malik and James Villiers . Anti-climatic and inappropriate musical score by Philippe Sarde . Evocative cinematography by Alfonso Beato , but an alright remastering being necessary because of the copy of the film is worn-out . Shot on location in Canet de Mar (Castle) and Barcelona where appears several touristic palaces and monuments such as Park Güell , Casa Mila and Sagrada Familia Cathedral . This intrigue movie was ordinarily directed and with no originality , by Jim McBride . He is an American director and writer, known for Great balls of fire (1989), Big Easy (1986) , Breathless (1983) , The wrong man (1993) and The informant (1997) . Rating : 5.5/10 , average .

Julia (Kate Beckinsale) an art restorer finds a hidden message in medieval painting she is working on that points to the murderer of one of the subjects depicted. Fascinated she digs deeper into the origins of the painting and the clues within. The old mystery though is soon paralleled by a new mystery as the people involved in her research start to die. The story is seemingly well suited to the British mystery genre but fails largely due to aspects of the execution.

Kate Beckinsale manages with her portrayal to be both slightly awkward as well as endearingly cute but she seems decidedly out of her depth in a few of the more emotional/dramatic scenes. The film does boast a strong supporting cast of British character actors who may not have name recognition to some but should be highly recognizable to many including; John Wood, Sinead Cusack, Michael Gough. For the most part the supporting cast acquit themselves well considering how clichéd their characters are.

While some may find it slow I was interested in the glimpse at the Art restoration process, I thought some things look authentic about the process, but other aspects didn't quite ring true. The current day murder mystery aspect was far less satisfying, character behavior and actions seemed inconsistent and for me the biggest flaw (considering the genre) was that the identity of the murderer seemed far to obvious. Further the brief flashbacks to the subjects of the painting did virtually nothing to advance or support the story, they simply felt unnecessary.

The film is set in Barcelona but features an almost entirely English cast that speaks entirely in English and makes no attempt at Spanish accents. This is common in American films but seemed odd in a British film. The film makes reasonable use of the Barcelona locations including some wonderful Gaudi architecture, but I actually would have preferred even more attention on the culture and the city.

A truly bad movie, from a generally good director like Jim McBride (I loved "Great Balls of Fire"). Based on a novel from Perez Reverte, this film is dull and uninteresting, and the only thing you can recommend from it is a nude scene from Kate Beckinsale (48 minutes after the start, so press your fast forward button in your video).

Julia (Kate Beckinsale) is a restorer working in a five hundred years old painting, which theme is a chess game: there are two men playing chess and a woman watching them. This painting will be sold in an auction after the restoration, and the amount will be split among the owner, an old man who lost his wealthy, Julia's best friend Menchu (Sinéad Cusack) and her partner. Max and Lola, relatives of the owner, are very interested in the selling. Julia has no family and was raised by Cesar (John Wood), who has a fraternal love for her. Cesar is also homosexual. Julia finds a hidden message in Latin in the paint, an after some investigation, she finds out that the translation would be `Who killed the knight?' Soon, many characters are associated to the pieces of the chess and are killed, following the movements of the game in the painting. This incredible and complex plot is a great disappointment. One of the attraction is Kate Beckinsale in the beginning of her career, with a beautiful body and breasts, but with a rough and common face. Presently, nine years older than in this movie, she is very gorgeous, very well produced in her films, with a delicate face, thin nose, beautiful and long hair and wonderful costumes. My vote is five.

The story behind this movie is quite interesting. Perhaps for some the real mystery was obvious all along, but for me, it held my attention for the whole duration, and it took a second viewing to fully unravel the threads.

The real gem in this movie is Ms. Beckinsale. She is radiantly lovely throughout, and there is a strong sensuality about her that pervades the entire movie. And yes, those who long to see her unclothed will not be disappointed. Even with clothes on, though, she manages to exude this alluring aura that is irresistible.

The supporting cast is mixed. Perhaps the best is the investigating police detective, who is a classic. The gigolo guy is rather over the top.

I also wish they had not inserted those brief historical re-enactments, as they neither fit well into the narrative thread, nor are they in any way convincingly real.