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Spain's answer to Elizabeth is a 16th-century political conspiracy drama inspired by the true story of the "mad" Queen Joan and transformed by septuagenarian Vicente Aranda (Lovers, Jealousy) into an earthy bodice ripper. Age certainly hasn't dulled his taste for hot-blooded cinema. Spanish beauty Pilar López de Ayala, with her doe eyes and milky complexion, is the royal innocent sacrificed in a political marriage to the swarthy Prince Philip (Daniele Liotti with a Fabio mane of hair), a womanizing cad whose wandering eye transforms the naive virgin into a tempestuously jealous wife. Aranda matches Pedro Almodóvar in the arena of self-destructive love, obsessive passion, sweaty cinematic sex, and deliriously melodramatic spectacle. If this portrait of Joan as a volatile package of emotional nitroglycerin borders on melodramatic cliché, López de Ayala gives her a fiery, full-blooded passion and Aranda mounts her romantic obsession in an unhinged, undeniably lusty costume drama. --Sean Axmaker ... Read more

Description

Some of the world's leading directors (David Lynch, Spike Lee, Wim Wenders, Zhang Yimou, John Boorman) use the original Lumiere picture camera to create short films all over the world.Interactive Menus, Production Notes, Scene access, Trailer, Languages: French, Subtitles: English ... Read more

Reviews (9)

A Filmmakers Dream Project
In 1885, the Lumiere Brothers perfected a hand-cranked movie camera that moved the world. This 100th year anniversary takes forty filmmakers to task with the same camera to produce a film less than a minute. It's not as interesting in its results as one might have hoped. It was a huge challenge and few really completed something of interest. Of those, David Lynch, Patrice Leconte and Alaine Corneau are the most intriguing, while well known directors like Spike Lee and Liv Ullmann are less so. However, this is subjective. Many of the directors are asked simple questions with the hopes of profound answers. "Why do you film" and "Is cinema immortal" get answers as mundane as 'climbing a mountain because it is there'. Film students will, however, be fascinated with this project and historians will marvel that an invention so old can still be of artistic use. For the average viewer, this 88 minute documentary might seem boring, but at the very least, it is historic.

Cinemaphiles will love this film
As a tribute to the spirit of motion pictures, Lumiere & Company is a tremendous achievement and a sublime experience for true cineastes who are fortunate to find a copy on DVD. Produced in celebration of the centennial of what is considered to be the first motion picture camera, invented by the Lumiere Brothers of France, the approach is similar to asking the most accomplished electric guitar player to go acoustic.

The producers asked a collection of international film directors to create a 52-second piece each using the same technology as the Lumieres did more than one hundred years ago, 52 seconds being the amount of time it takes for one spool of film to run through their camera. Therefore, each of the segments is done in one take. All the directors are well respected, but among the more well-known participants are David Lynch, Wim Wenders, John Boorman, Spike Lee, James Ivory, Zhang Yimou and Liv Ullman.

Each segment is intriguing. While the results are understandably uneven, the pleasure of watching this film is in discovering the remarkable diversity in the working minds of motion picture's prominent practitioners. The DVD allows for free roaming and alternative selection of each short film. Given the nearly limitless possibilities available in the modern film industry, it's worth noting how the directors make use of their limited time and yet still reveal their own styles.

The subject matter ranges from miniature narratives to political statements and social documents. The locations are as varied as the directors themselves, from Bedford-Stuyvesant to Hiroshima. Although this film may seem a bit obscure and tedious to the non-enthusiast, historians and die-hard cinema fans will marvel not only at how limitations forcibly create ingenious ideas to spring forth, but also at how well the Lumiere camera still functions.

The DVD release also offers production notes, a trailer, French language, and English subtitles.

GOOD GOOD VERY GOOD
THIS IS GREAT WORK,GOOD GOOD GOOD VERY GOOD,YOU MUST TO SEE

A gem.
Lumiere and Company (Sarah Moon, 1995)

No, Lumiere and Company is not some sort of obscure sequel to Disney's Beauty and the Beast. (And where I got that idea, which I had for years, is completely beyond me.) Instead, it's Sarah Moon's third film, and a kind of global version of her second, Contriere l'oubli. Moon took the original camera manufactured by the Lumiere brothers, set some ground rules, and asked forty world-famous directors to shoot a fifty-two second scene with it. She then made a documentary incorporating behind-the-scenes footage with the short pieces themselves.

The result is a wonderful look into the mind of the filmmaker as he goes about the filmmaker's art. Each of the filmmakers does something completely different, and each answers the five questions put to him by Moon so disparately that the overall effect is one of a sort of comprehensive feeling about how films get made; one that no one director would subscribe to, but all embrace.

The short films themselves are directed by such luminaries as Costa-Gavras, Spike Lee, David Lynch, Liv Ullmann, Lasse Hallstrom, and many others who are easily recognizable; the trick was to get Moon, the relative neophyte, to create a wrapper that is the equal of the movies therein. And she did so, admirably. The is a fine little gem of a film, and well worth seeing. **** ½

Less Is More
What an intriguing idea. Take several well known directors used to working with today's state of the art equipment and see what they can do with the first practical motion picture camera. And to make it more of a challenge, give them less than a minute to work with. The results are naturally uneven. How could they not be? I won't name names but even the weakest entries have something to offer while the best lend credence to the old adage "less is more". The viewer will ultimately have to decide for him or herself which is which. As a longtime admirer of silent films I found the voiceovers during the segments rather distracting in the manner of Mystery Science Theatre 3000. One of the rules should have called for no comments made during filming to be allowed on the soundtrack. Let us supply our own voices to what we see. All in all an interesting concept that is well executed and worth seeing for any serious student of film. The DVD format is ideal for this type of omnibus film as you can easily select the segments that you want to see again and again. You should also check out the LUMIERE BROTHERS FIRST FILMS on DVD to see what was originally done with this remarkable piece of equipment. ... Read more

Description

Spain, July 19, 1936. The War has just begun and women as always play their part in this human tragedy. Maria, an innocent young nun, is forced to leave the convent after the arrival of the revolutionary troops in Barcelona. She takes refuge in a brothel, where she meets a group of "Libertarias", who are being "drafted" for the "Free Women" organization under the leadership of Pilar (Ana Belen) a pure feminist warrior, passionate and fiery. Alongside, Charo (Loles Leon) the hooker with the heart of gold and Floren (Victoria Abril) a spiritualist, Maria joins in. Within the brutal realities of war, Maria experiences love with an unexpected character and companionship through those she is fighting with. Libertarias is an epic of six women fight for freedom, their struggle for justice amid their passionate cry for a better world. One of Spain’s best known directors, Vicente Aranda, Winner at the Tokyo International Film Festival, has made 17 previous films including the internationally acclaimed "Amantes". ... Read more

Reviews (3)

Great film; should have been letterboxed!
I own the VHS WIDESCREEN VERSION and was anxiously awaiting the DVD release. To my dismay it's FULL SCREEN. What happened to the WIDESCREEN VERSION? A cinematic film like this (shot in 2:35 anamorphic) that ended up cropped loses a lot of detailed visual information. Bummer!

Guess I'll have to wait for an overseas letterboxed version to be available.

Amazing Film About Spanish Anarchist Militia Women
I heard about Vicente Aranda's magnificent film "Libertarias" ("Freedomfighters") shortly after I first heard of Ken Loach's "Land and Freedom". In this film, instead of the retelling of the George Orwell "Homage to Catalonia" story, we instead follow the lives of a group of anarchist CNT militia women at the opening phase of the Spanish Civil War, some liberated from a brothel, and some former nuns liberated from a church. The two movies have some similarities - both are based around the Spanish Revolution that occurred during the Spanish Civil War... but there as a far greater focus on the anarchist state of mind in this film. It also does not shy away from the issue of free love, of the Revolution's effects on the minds of liberated religious people, or even mysticism, as in one curious scene where an old anarchist ghost is channeled through a woman in a trance - the grumpy spirit criticizes the anarchist militia hero, Durruti, and tells the militants how to defeat a nearby enemy.

This film is a lot of fun. Originally I was a little put off by the less serious "feel" of the characters in the film than I initially expected (Prostitutes? Nuns? Sex?) ...but as the film took it's course I could see how different threads - the war, personal transformation, feminism, catholicism, anti-fascism, sexual feelings, and anarchist direct action - were all woven together quite cleverly.

As with Loach's "Land and Freedom", don't expect a happy ending in this film - we all know who won the Spanish Civil War! But this movie helps us see deeply into the world of the left libertarians who resisted Franco and Fascism and dared to imagine a more free, more libertarian world than the one we have today.

LIBERTARIAS
This film tells the mostly unknown story of anarchist militiawomen in the initial days of the Spanish Civil War, "the last idealist war". It is the story of a nun and a prostitute who join a group of loyalist militiawomen in their fight to resist the rebellion of the majority of the Spanish Army led by General Franco against the Republic and the people's revolution.
Seeing "Libertarias" will be an unforgettable experience and the acting is superb. Famous spanish film actors and actresses like Ana Belen, Victoria Abril, Blanca Apilanez, Loles Leon and Miguel Bose all deliver excellent and convincing performances.
This action packed film is guaranteed to become a favorite of those who see it. I highly recommend it. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Word thriller is stretched
This is a psychological thriller that lacks that tingling, excited, edge of your seat feeling because it goes on too long and there is not enough tension. A little physical tension might have helped. Veteran Spanish director Vicente Aranda, tells a tale of jealousy and places the male character Antonio as the focal point. He is nuts, insanely jealous, to the point of obsession. He seeks information about a photograph that has his lady, the lovely Aitana Sanchez-Gijon, who is Carmen, pictured with a group of friends with another man with his arm around her. Oh my God! She had a life before she met him, shame on her! For that she will become part of his obsession as Antonio seeks the mystery man and consequently finding out about her past. Antonio is a truck driver who delivers the oranges from the factory from which Carmen works. It seems that Antonio just has to give a nod of his head when he arrives and she can get relieved from her work on the conveyer belt to get together. Antonio spends alot of time on the road asking everyone about the mystery man. He does enough detective work, including the information gained from a prostitute to track the mystery man down. He eventually finds out what he doesn't really want to know and the ordeal brings Antonio and Carmen closer together for a drawn out climax. The cast is small but another woman's performance is worth watching. Maria Botto Cacho, who is the peg legged Cinta is great. Her performance won her a Goya(Spanish Oscar) and she is super as she tantalizes and teases men and complicates the plot. Not the best nor worst of thrillers, this movie experience is neither heaven nor hell, it is like being in purgatory, not hopeless but left somewhat dissapointed. It is an interesting portrait of a man over the edge, possessed by thoughts and ideas that are usually damaging to all parties involved. It reveals the insanity jealousy can create and ends with a twist of fate.

Pure melodrama, but excellently done and entertaining
A little more of some semblance of a subtext than Amantes de Arandas, but, obviously, less serious than the ultimately harrowing Libertarias. Aitana Sanchez-Gijon (apologies for being lazy and not turning on the proper alphabet) is quite beautiful and a good actress, if not as brilliant as the divine Victoria. Which, inevitably, leads to this review's complaint about absent DVDs. This time, you get two, both with Abril. Libertarias as noted above and, somebody get a grip please, Padre Nuestro. Sorry, back to Celos. Might take 'em a bit of time to get it, and it appears the English market version "Jealousy" (same movie) doesn't even exist, but it IS good and it is worth the wait. ... Read more