jackleg2010 Posted March 25, 2019 Share Posted March 25, 2019 Watching this movie at the moment. It seems set in Spain during their Golden Age. Pretty good so far! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vAcrIr84OdQ 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jackleg2010 Posted March 29, 2019 Author Share Posted March 29, 2019 I probably should have given more than just link to the YouTube trailer for the movie. It is based on the books by Arturo Perez-Reverte. It is set during the Golden Age of Spain. Kind of like a more realistice version of those times. Less swash and more buckler. I plan on reading the first book of the series. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StevenGEmsley Posted March 30, 2019 Share Posted March 30, 2019 (edited) Thanks for the recommendation, I had no idea the book had been filmed! Picked it up cheap on Amazon video and watching it now. Visually, it's stunning! Love the opening scene of the Spanish soldiers wading through the water with muskets held high, then Alatriste gently blows on the matchcord around his wrist to keep it lit. Edited March 30, 2019 by StevenGEmsley 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StevenGEmsley Posted March 30, 2019 Share Posted March 30, 2019 And the scenes in the tunnels at the siege of Breda...brutal!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jackleg2010 Posted March 30, 2019 Author Share Posted March 30, 2019 It is the little things that made the film for me. The having to keep the match cord going, the cut of the clothing. or even the poet willing to cross swords over a perceived slight. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StevenGEmsley Posted March 30, 2019 Share Posted March 30, 2019 It's almost required viewing for Renaissance players - "stuff looks like this!" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StevenGEmsley Posted March 30, 2019 Share Posted March 30, 2019 Genius cinematography too...the scene where Maria tells Alatriste that her husband is dying looks just like a Rembrandt painting 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jackleg2010 Posted April 3, 2019 Author Share Posted April 3, 2019 Reading the 1st book. Quite good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StevenGEmsley Posted April 3, 2019 Share Posted April 3, 2019 I enjoyed the books. I think they would be better in the original Spanish, the English versions suffered in the translation. Going back to the film...tercios!! Don't think I've seen that on film before!! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jackleg2010 Posted April 3, 2019 Author Share Posted April 3, 2019 Well, I cannot read Spanish,so English for me. Though the poems could have been is Spanish, with the translations in the back. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StevenGEmsley Posted April 4, 2019 Share Posted April 4, 2019 Nor do I, regrettably, but the English translations are adequate, not great IMO Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michaelsbagley Posted April 5, 2019 Share Posted April 5, 2019 Except book 7 (?) "The Bridge of Assasins" was released in Spanish in 2011, and 8 years later I am still impatiently awaiting an English translation. But the first 6 Alatriste books were enjoyable, translatory problems or not. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HierophantX Posted June 23, 2019 Share Posted June 23, 2019 Simon Vance does the readings for the audio versions. I've only read "Purity of Blood" and "Corsairs of the Levant" or something. It's GRIMDARK. No doubt about it. So, if you're liking that.. I recommend a Spanish-language series on Netflix called Ministerio del Tiempo. Some of it takes place in the Golden Age, and Velazquez is a recurring character. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Susimetsa Posted July 18, 2020 Share Posted July 18, 2020 I still consider Richard Lester's The Three Musketeers and The Four Musketeers as the "go to" movies for the period, but Alatriste is a decent watch and shows the dirtier side of the era. It suffers from trying to cover all of the novels in one short film, however, and skips along at far too great pace for the story to have real impact. Many wonderful scenes, however. There's also a Spanish TV series of Alatriste, but I have not been able to find it in English anywhere. The author of the novels is a huge Dumas fan and it shows in his writing (especially in Club Dumas). The novels suffer a bit from the melancholy description of the fall of Spain's glory that takes quite a bit of room in each story. The series does get better as it continues, though, and I also hope for eventual translations of the last couple of novels. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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