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Post by schlager7 on Dec 8, 2006 14:43:36 GMT -6
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Post by fox on Jan 23, 2007 7:44:31 GMT -6
Alatriste?
Good novels, but if this movie ever made it to Houston over the holidays, I missed it.
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nemo
Blademaster
mobilis in mobili
Posts: 729
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Post by nemo on Jan 23, 2007 10:45:25 GMT -6
There are reviews on IMDb: www.imdb.com/title/tt0395119/I certainly never saw it at the movies. The reviews on the website are a mixed bag. I think combining 5 books into a single flick would usually be a bad idea.
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Post by schlager7 on Jul 25, 2008 23:30:53 GMT -6
Thanks to phillipmj I have now watched the movie Alatriste.
I have read the first three of the five novels combined to make this film. I am SO disappointed! They crammed way too much into one film. Better five mediocre films, each based on one of the novels and, thus, comprehensible, than this mish-mash.
The cinematography is gorgeous, like The Girl with the Pearl Earring. Several... SEVERAL... of the images were absolutely striking.
Viggo Mortenson was an excellent choice. The acting was first rate.
That said, the film races at a blinding pace. If you have not read the novels you will be hopelessly lost. As I stated, I have read the first three (the English translation of number four becomes available at about the time of the Fete de Lune) and was stunned that the first novel occupies maybe 15 minutes of film time. The second novel is mostly just hinted at. (In terms of character motivation, this is like making a movie of the novel Moby Dick with NO references to the White Whale). It makes very good use of 1/2 of the third novel.
What a sad, sad waste of talent on both sides of the camera.
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Post by bladesparks on Jul 26, 2008 10:12:50 GMT -6
That IS disappointing. I have read the first three novels and was wondering how well the three (let alone 5) could be shoe-horned into one film.
So few books have been faithfully rendered into film. (If I think hard I believe I might actually need a finger or two on my second hand... just).
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Post by JEC on Jul 26, 2008 11:48:46 GMT -6
I just read the 6th novel last weekend. I think is the best one thus far. As John said, if you have not read the books, the movie does not make much sense. I agree with John, the novels are rich enough in character development to have resulted in more than 1 film for the first five books. At least, they could have split it into 2 movies. One of the things that is not widely known about the movie is that the completed version before it was edited was almost 5 hours long. The DVD was released but does not seem to contain the 130 minutes that were cut. The theatrical release had 147 minutes duration. Perez-Reverte has written quite a few books that were turned into movies much more succesfully. Currently, the Queen of the South is being filmed. Other prior movies of Perez-Reverte's books are: The Ninth Gate (El club Dumas), Uncovered (La tabla de Flandes), The Fencing Master (El maestro de Esgrima), Cachito (Cachito) and Gitano. capitanalatriste.com/escritor.html?s=cine
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Post by bladesparks on Jul 27, 2008 7:24:03 GMT -6
Perhaps eventually the Kevin Costner-length "director's cut" will be available.
Seriously, though, I would give it a try.
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Post by esoteric on Aug 1, 2008 11:46:05 GMT -6
I've been looking forward to seeing this one from some time, even though it sounds dissapointing as an adaptation. Any idea if they're ever going to release a domestic dvd, or is it only going to be available as an expensive import, if at all (like The Fencing Master)?
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Post by phillipmj on Aug 1, 2008 14:15:21 GMT -6
I got Alatriste through ebay. It was only around twenty bucks.
It's a Latin American release, so it's Region 1, NTSC. It will play on standard American DVD players.
You have to be careful with Latin American DVDs, as they come in both Region 1 and Region 4, for some reason.
All in all, a multi-region/format DVD player is a nice thing to have. There are *so* many movies that don't get released over here. Or else you have to wait years for them.
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Post by schlager7 on Aug 1, 2008 18:05:35 GMT -6
To JEC, we agree. The individual novels were more than sufficient in character development and time/place mood for individual films. The plots were quite sufficient one at a time and I would have loved to have seen each novel rendered by the cinamatographer. The use of camera and light to reproduce painting has not been this lush since The Girl with the Pearl Earring.
From the first novel: I was quite stricken that we did not have the swordfight at the theatre, with the Prince of Wales and the Duke of Buckingham jumping in from the royal box. What a great scene it would have been.
The second novel was completely emasculated: no ambush of the rescue from the convent; no youth-as-prisoner of the Inqusition! This was a major aspect in Inigo's development as a character!
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