Alatriste

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. Mortensen is an awesome Capitán Alatriste despite his slight accent. You can see he took this role very seriously. He fits perfectly into the roguish, ruthless but noble character's skin. The sword fights are nicely choreographed. The atmosphere of seventeen-century Spain and the historical context are superbly recreated. Actually, I find there are interesting parallels between the decay of the Spanish Empire and present day United States, between the "tercios" and the US Marines.

I recommend this film highly to anybody who's interested in period films, or who likes Mortensen as an actor.

Congratulations to the marketing department. I bit the hook and contributed my 6.5 Euros to this calamity. Awfully acted out sketches of what should have been characters, disastrous editing, horrible script, dreadful muzac, even the locations are terrible and terribly shot! What a sad joke. Worst of all: boring. Even the darkest epic needs some humor and wit. Quevedo on prozac? Let's forget about it and let the great man rest in peace. Sorry about that, Don Francisco. The premise was inspirational, the money was there, of course that alone does not produce another "Barry Lyndon", "Master and Commander", or "Unforgiven", not even "Cyrano", but at least I think we could expect something better than "Curro Jimenez", a Spanish TV series about andalusian "bandoleros". "Curro" turns out to be a grand epic when compared to this fiasco. 10.000 extras? Someone ran away with their paycheck or the dp forgot to bring the wide angle that day to fit them in. I firmly believe the problem is the same as always. The same "amiguetes" with their unresolved complexes, telling each other how great and daring the other is. Bring a friendly international Star to the mix (one that is acceptable because walks barefooted, drinks mate, and again, tells all the others how great they are and how great it is to be in such company) and see how it adds to the disaster. Viggo (as every amiguete "in the know" friendly calls him) can't pronounce a decent syllable, but he is, oh well... VIGGO, and that's what matters to our provincial "you are so great o' you" actors and director. I heard a few of the actors talking about how wonderful "Tano" (the director) had been on set, letting every one contribute and understanding how film making was a team effort. Yes, film making is a team effort, as well as a classical orchestra is, but IT NEEDS A DIRECTOR. Where were you Mr.Tano? If you ever have another chance (of course you will, you are an amiguete and a great guy), please at least DIRECT. Really "triste".

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). Special mention to the clothing, light, ambiance and the interiors. Just exactly the same you can see in Velazquez and Goyas pictures in the Prado Museum in Madrid! In the bad side, I felt the rhythm was bit slow a few times, and maybe more digital effects to recreate opened scenarios would have been good idea. But maybe these are just personal feelings (used to megaproductions!).

Nice surprise from the Spanish industry. Entertaining. I will definitely read the three books left in the saga!

XVII Spanish Century is too rich to be told in two hours and a half, and that's what the film has tried. Perhaps too many characters that unable us to be identified with them. Alatriste is too many things in just one: the brave, the hard, the rebel, the lover, the good father... but far from us. I don't think it is Viggo's problem. If you read the novels you will find the same lack. Although we have expected more of this film, it would be unfair to say that this film is not worthy watching it. Actors are great, also wigs and customs (sometimes Spanish people cannot forget them without wigs!). Battles and photography are excellent. The films' atmosphere is much more better than other history films, the fog, the use of light. Go, watch it and make your opinion!

It's big-budget, it boasts extras by the planeload, and a broad historical panorama: it's all about intrigue, loyalty, love, and loads of a real man doing what a real man's gotta do. This is the Spanish film industry's most serious attempt yet to break into the mainstream international market, and Viggo Mortensen's brooding, laconic Alatriste makes a convincing bid for the job. 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. We are led, or perhaps bullied, on an epic sweep through the muck and bullets of Spain's military meddling in its neighbours' affairs, seen through the jaundiced eyes of Alatriste and his fellow hired hands. Death is a constant presence; if you're not torn apart by a cannonball on the battlefield, or knifed in a dark alley, it may well come for you in the shape of the Inquisition – and in which case, you might be better off cutting your own throat.

We cut frantically and frequently back to the Spanish court, where the grandees plot and connive, and we just know that someone inconvenient is about to get dispatched to the colonies at the very least. Here, Alatriste's glint-eyed soldier's determination gives way to the quizzical gaze of a hard man out of his depth, as matters of State are signed and sealed on oaken desks. Watch your back -- you get the impression that the most blood-sodden battlefield is a far safer place to be.

The film covers a massive swathe of turbulent European history, some three decades of a long Spanish Catholic struggle against the Protestant heretics of the Low Countries. And this, perhaps, is the film's greatest flaw – the screenplay is a pull-together of some of the most dramatic episodes from a clutch of Arturo Pérez-Reverte's Captain Alatriste books, and the joins show badly. Sub-plots come and go in a tangle, and the film develops its undoubted dynamism from a regular dripfeed of another bit of swashbuckling, or whispered courtly dirty deeds, rather than the convincing development of any interplay between the characters themselves. For such a valiant warrior, poor Alatriste doesn't seem to have much say in his destiny.

That said, the film looks fabulous, from the opening misty waterlogged shots off the Flanders coast, to the final crunching battle of Rocroi. 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. If only director Augustín Díaz Yanes had the faith in the attraction and bankability of his lead character to take a deep breath, and slice the action up into more manageable chunks: a trilogy, even. Why not? Everybody else seems to be doing it, and so often with inferior material to this.