La conjura de El Escorial

I usually wait some time after a movie is released to watch it. I prefer to avoid the crowds and rely on some friend's advice. Still, I am not always consistent with this and, sometimes, movies like this one painfully bring me back to the right path.

"La conjura de El Escorial" could have been excellent. Excellent as most of its actors (a very experienced, international cast) or its historical recreation (location spots, costumes…). And yet… A good movie needs a good script. When the script is bad, and this one is awful (or, to say the least, very uneven), all hope is lost. The narrative is hesitant; there are several unneeded, distracting (and even positively disgusting) scenes; the entire love-story subplot (of course there is one!) is hard to believe, simplistic and boring… The movie's changing pace is made worse by the editing: for instance, a fadeout between two scenes with some 20 seconds between them and involving the same characters. I also suspect the poor editing is to blame for not understanding how and why a number of scenes take place, the character's reasons for a change of mind, and son on. Quite true, some takes are brilliantly shot; but others are simply laughable (NOT funny). Take the fights for instance. I was wondering why they forgot to play the theme tune of Benny hill's show. Bud Spencer or Terrence Hill could have signed it- but we're talking of a 16th century sword fight… Poor action scenes, bad editing, mostly static dialogs: technically speaking, this is more of a play than a movie.

All things considered, I believe Antonio del Real (director and scriptwriter here) is much to blame for this waste of my time and money. The movie is worth watching, perhaps, if you like costumes or have a historical interest in 16th century life in Spain. Also, it is probably one of the best renditions of Phillip 2nd of Spain (a very interesting king), much unlike most productions. But if you like movies, please, forget this one.

The 'conjuration' in the title refers to a real event: the political assassination in Madrid of a high-ranking official in the Spanish court in 1578. A plaque marks the spot today in the exact corner of the street where it happened.

The script begins with the scene of the murder and then takes us back to recount the events leading up to it. There are many characters involved, and although at the beginning it is not clear why we are being introduced to so many, eventually they all find a reason for being there, from a priest who ends up a the centre of the investigation, to a young 'morisca', a half-Moorish girl who is plucked from the streets to serve in a rich house.

The film is not very imaginatively shot and some of the expository dialogue is quite clumsy: some actors seem to be there just to summarise in words what the atmosphere at the time was, which is always a pitfall in historical films. Many actors means many lines of dialogue and this film -not short, about two hours and a quarter long- is full of conversations, often stilted and stagy. There's a lot of standing upright with broody brows with the purpose of looking imposing and serious, in bunches around the king or other important characters. It is not a slow film, however, but it's not a swashbuckler either. In fact, the one time when we are given a good old sword-fight, it goes so lamely clichéd, with stalls of fruit and ceramic bowls being turned upside down in a street market and a couple of unrealistic fight moves, that it feels utterly wrong.

In its favour, the costumes are great and many scenes are shot at El Escorial itself, the palace-cum-monastery where king Phillip II pored over the business of governing the world's leading superpower. Some of the actors are quite good in their roles, and this despite a cast mixing Spanish and foreign stars. I would single out for praise Julia Ormond, who looks not a day younger than her 43 years old. With her ageing beauty, she brings alive one of the most fascinating characters of her time, the eyepatch-wearing princess of Eboli. Joaquim de Almeida is also very good as the vigorous secretary Juan de Escobedo, acting his scenes with much-needed energy. It is a pity, though, that the role of Jason Isaacs, Antonio Pérez, fizzles out somewhat towards the end, when he should be one of the most memorable characters, according to the real story. Juanjo Puigcorbé plays a more ironic and even affable Phillip than the sombre and adust quasi-monk we have seen in other portrayals. And I personally took a liking to Jürgen Prochnow's character, a local 'alguacil' (sheriff) who becomes involved in the matter both through his job and his private life.

The question at the heart of the film is: did King Phillip II order the dismissal of one of his own officials? This has been much debated by historians, and the evidence is not conclusive. It may have been in his favour because of political rivalries, but the public backlash would have been uncomfortable (as it in fact was), even for a monarch as self-assured and with so great a grip on power as he happened to be. This matter is one of the central charges against him laid out by the so-called 'Leyenda negra' (Black legend), with which other European rulers and political enemies sought to discredit him in public, in particular in the Netherlands and Britain. Whether the film takes a stance on it or not, you will have to see it.

Thin story. Great opportunities. And a tired tale. The dialogs are just signs for atmosphere. The acting is collection of different pieces. The action - crumbs from The three musketeers. Julia Ormond as new Milady, Juanjo Puigcorbe in the clothes of ambiguous puzzle and river of soulless words. A script with so many nuances in the boring swamp. Only virtue - first step to discover a Spanish history page. But may it enough ? Sure, the props, the costumes are beautiful illustration of Golden Age but facts and intrigues are suffocated in velvet coffins. May be a moral lesson ? I don't know. Is love story a good part ? Only as slice of old bread. A common movie about an exciting events ball. And the dreams about its possibilities.

Great actors. Great costumes. Boring script. Boring acting. Boring directing. I saw until finish just because I love History of Spain.

It could have been a great movie on the right hands.

This is a historical case shrouded in mystery, which history never managed to solve. And as the film warns in the opening credits, it is a fictional film based on real events and these real events are treated quite accurately, explaining the more accepted version of the murder of don Juan de Escobedo, secretary of don Juan de Austria, half brother of King Felipe II of Spain. Sprinkled with fiction such as the beautiful love story of the Moorish girl executed for having tried to poison Don Juan de Escobedo (a fact that was true, the film simply creates a background story for the girl). Excellent film that, those who have read about this topic, will greatly enjoy.