La Celestina (1996)

Film difficult to follow Rojas work, but worth watching the film.

The language in the film is great. My students will see the film and we have already read part of La celestina. Beautiful film but difficult to place in a screenplay. But yet excellent. April 22, 2008

Why was it censored

The American DVD was censored, the way they censored Wild on E!. Maybe the american moral is different from all others. How would americans censored a theatrical representation of La Celestina? Have they not see La Cestina in a Theater? Buy the Spain DVD PAL version. It is not censored, as it should be. It is a completely different experience. March 14, 2007

A Masterpiece of Medieval Spain which could have been better

As a graduate student with a keen interest in the masterpieces of medieval Spain and the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries (Siglo de Oro as some call it), I was excited to only recently find this film in a local rental store. I rented it hoping to find a brilliant film adaptation of Fernando de Roja's work - only to be disappointed.
I have little to add to the review done by the gentleman Mr. Grady Harp. His review just about sums it up. The subtitles are not as accurately translated as they could have been but still tell the basic story line to the novel-in-dialogue. Also, the acting could have been of a higher calibur. Cruz's Melibea lacked the frustration and annoyance that Calsito is supposed to have caused her by his many approches and requests for her love. I would be disinclined to recommend this film to an undergraduate class for this reason and the one to follow...
I have commented over and over on film, that pornography is not only an unnecessary accessory to a movie of any kind but a complete waste of time and an avoidable element. The nudity of this film is so stark, shocking and literally "in your face" that the uneducated public would be questioning whether they were witnessing a medieval literary epic caught on film, or an adult porno made last week. Yes, some of the nudity is censored - but why include it at all when I have seen other film adaptations of this novel-in-dialogue and they have been just fine? The nudity did not need to be present nor did the poor directing.
I still enjoyed the fact that there are some who care to produce such a film and that there are still some who care about works of literary art published long ago. The soundtrack is absolutely wonderful and just the attempt and the music have caused me to be merciful in my review. I give this three stars. December 22, 2006

An Attempt to Recreate the Magic of LA CELESTINA

LA CELESTINA was written in 1499 by Fernando de Rojas and is considered to be second only to Cervantes' DON QUIXOTE as the greatest work of Spanish literature. Here the novel is adapted for the screen by Rafael Azcona, Francisco Rico, and Gerardo Vera, the last contributor serving as director of this sadly uneven film. Despite boasting a cast of some of the finest actors in Spain, the dialogue is such a mishmash of old rhythms and contemporary expressions that much of the magic is lost.

But then the story is a bit on the 15th century wild side: a handsome young knight Calisto (Juan Diego Botto) is obsessively in love with the beautiful Melibea (Penélope Cruz) yet it takes the love potions of the bruja Celestina (Terele Pávez), enlisted by Calisto's conniving servant Sempronio (Nancho Novo), to effect the magic. Calisto's faithful and humble servant Pármeno (Jordi Mollà) fails in his attempts to block the spells delivered by Celestina but to no avail. Once the magic is in effect the worlds of each person fall apart. The human passions of love, greed, lust, revenge, and desire interplay in a manner that brings destruction in the path.

Made in 1996 before many of the actors involved became famous, the film 'looks' magical with radiant costumes and sets and spot on music. But the dialogue is clumsy, the English translations even clumsier, and the whole story fails to work its spell on the audience. Instead of a fiery climax the film just sort of fizzles. But it is interesting to see Penélope Cruz, Juan Diego Botto, Maribel Verdú, Jordi Mollà and Nancho Novo in their early stage of development. This is an escapist period piece that could have been so much better, but even in this state it is entertaining. Grady Harp, November 06
November 1, 2006

A great film

In spite of minor issues related to censorship of nudity, which do not affect the plot, the cinematographic version of the play is excellent. Both the acting and the recreation of the atmosphere of the Spanish Barroque are major achievements of this film. January 18, 2006

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