Friday, December 4, 2009



The love story who transformed Juana, Queen of Spain, into Juana "The mad". A story of passions, lies and jealousy with a politic fight behind.

Mad Love <<>> (2001)

Directed By: Vincente Aranda

Plot Synopsis: Juana is married off by her pious parents, the Catholic kings Ferndinand of Aragon and Isabella of Castille, to ally Spain, united by their marriage, to the Burgundian and other Habsburg heritage of archduke Maximilian's son Philip. When they meet, it's love at first sight, for her all-consuming, for him one of many happy bed partnerships as she later discovers. Deaths in her family soon make Juana Isabella's heir, but Ferdinand suggests she inherited her grandmother's madness and supports Philip's ambition to rule instead, which becomes the stakes of political maneuvering in the Cortes (nobility-dominated parliament). Combined with Philip's incurable infidelity, which includes a Moorish whore-princess, multiple drama is inevitable, and worse follows. Written by KGF Vissers
In 1496, Juana de Castilla, daughter of the Catholic Kings, travels to Flandes to marry the Archduke Felipe de Austria, known as 'El Hermoso' (The Handsome) and son of the emperor Maximiliano. Even though at the beginning this marriage obeys a political decision, later on passion and desire appear beneath the couple. Juana becomes queen of Spain when her mother and her older brothers die in 1504. However, due to the pressure of being queen and the discovery that her husband has many lovers, her mental health starts getting worse. Felipe, seeing his wife in these circumstances, makes the Burgos Court to declare the insanity of Juana and recludes her in the Monastry of Las Huelgas, proclaiming himself as the king.

2 comments:

  1. Spanish Movie: Mad Love
    Escrito por: Stacy Fenstermaker

    Mad Love was one of my favorite movies this semester. The movie was a little long, but I thought it kept my interest well. The actors and actresses did an amazing job portraying the real king and queen. I like that this movie was unlike the other ones, you choose a good variety of movies. I have always preferred movies that are true stories set back in history. It seems more interesting to know how things have changed throughout history.

    It was sad that the woman suffered for all those years because her husband was so unfair and unfaithful to her. Back in those days men especially the oyalty hand entirely too much power over people. I thought that although the movie had a lot of issues about love, it also had issues about power, scandal, respect, and stereotypes about both men and women. I think that this movie was very interesting and it would be worth showing again in the future because it was really intriguing.

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  2. Movie Review
    Escrito por: Kayleigh Collins

    I thought this was a very interesting movie. I thought it was acted out good and had a good story line. Although, I did think the story line was a little disturbing. I think it is very sad what happened between the couple.

    I feel bad for the queen, she had lost her husband and is trying everything to get him back. She is so in love with him, and he is off cheating on her. I don't understand why she wouldn't divorce him. She has more power since she is the queen and he is only the king because of her.

    Its interesting how the queen (Joan) is getting punished for being "Mad." I think she had every right to be mad, her husband is unfaithful and she had a lot of pressure. I think the king is the one who should be getting punished, the way he treats his wife is not king worthy.

    I also wondered why her babies were never shown in the movie. She had a few kids, but they never played a part in the movie. The few times I did see them, the king was never around. An absent father.

    I liked when the Queen finally stood up for herself, she came out while they were in court. And she spoke her mind, and she had her people there to back her up. That showed a lot of power and something she should've been doing for a while.

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