Vicente Aranda and his collaborators took liberties when they decided to base their film on the tragic figure of Juana, a Spanish princess, the daughter of the Catholic Kings of Spain. Leave it to Mr. Aranda's feverish imagination, and he will have the viewer thinking this young woman was a nymphomaniac of epic proportions. Historically this film is incorrect as it's derailed by the sexual context Mr. Aranda gave the movie.When Juana is sent to Flandes to marry Phillip, little prepared the young and sheltered woman to find a man who was, above all, a womanizer and a libertine, who took his pleasure wherever he could find. He captivates Juana with his good looks and bed manners. In fact, Phillip's nickname was "the handsome", something that comes across in the way this vain man acts throughout his life.Pilar Lopez Ayala, who plays the leading role, shows some passionate moments in the way she portraits the tragic Juana. Danielle Liotti, is seen as Phillip. Eloy Azorin appears as Alvaro and Giuliano Gemma is DeVeyre, Phillip's right hand man.

While this is not a film for the fainthearted, its explicit passion isn't gratuitous. And while the fair-minded viewer will find much to recommend it, "__Juana la loca__" (English title "Mad Love") is probably (and understandably) best appreciated by those who know the history, culture and language inspiring it. Two of the film's strongest features are its artfully ambivalent treatment of Juana's insanity (contributing to a debate that has fascinated people for over four hundred years), and its raising of all kinds of feminist questions. Into the bargain "__Juana la loca__" is gorgeously filmed, and well acted, especially considering themes and situations essential to the story that might seem like pure melodrama if less well executed. There are segments that could seem excessive in another context; but this is a story about excesses. Intelligent, thoughtful audience members will find much in the film worth pondering.

True story of "the mad queen of Castile" focuses on the innocent daughter of Ferdinand and Isabella contracted into marriage with the infamous Hapsburg heir of the Holy Roman Empire. Juana becomes so enamored of her young libertine husband that her jealously makes her emotionally unstable. Between the faithlessness of her husband and the treachery of her unscrupulous father King Ferdinand she is declared mad and forced into incarceration for most of her life. For a clearer understanding of the events leading to this, read Lawrence Schoonover's intriguing biographical novel "The Prisoner of Tordesillas." How ironic that Juana's younger sister Caterina (Katherine of Aragon) was also betrayed by a ruthless philandering husband (Henry VIII of England) and incarcerated unto death.

The movie should be seen chiefly for its main actress, the beautiful and talented Pilar López de Ayala. She does the absolute best with what the script gives her. This should be an entertaining and engrossing film, especially for those interested in Renaissance Europe, but it may be taking just too many liberties with the historical facts. It is highly doubtful that the real Juana became "mad" chiefly out of love for an unfaithful husband, who in this movie is not shown to be particularly interesting anyway. And if the real Juana was anywhere near as beautiful as the actress who plays her, I suppose the real Philip would not have been such a mean husband to her. Aside from her husband, her father King Fernando of Aragón and most of the Castilian nobles are not depicted too favorably either. Still, this movie is a good movie if you like costume drama, especially one with a southern European more than an English background.