XVII Century , Madrid ; after spending a night at a bordello a young and inexperienced monarch , King of Spain Felipe II , is infatuated by the nudism (a pose reminiscent of Rokeby Venus) of a beautiful prostitute called Marfisa (Laura Del Sol who holds some nude scenes) and as he wishes anxiously watch his naked wife , Queen Elisabeth of France (Anne Roussel). Felipe II is amazed and he then goes to his secret room where there are paintings of naked women , Venus , painted by known painters : Velazquez , Tiziano . His decision causes a real revolution amidst his subjects . Due to this the Grand Inquisitor (Fernando Fernán Gómez) is obliged to convene a meeting of theologians to discuss the matter . Both sides of the debate are represented by the figure of the stiff-upper-lipped friar Villaescusa (Juan Diego), and the Father Almeida (Joaquin De Almeida) who explains the desire of the king is a private matter . Although the Queen is willing to accommodate to the wishes of the King , Villaescusa and his minions do enough to frustrate his desires . Finally , with the help of the Jesuit and the Count of la Peña Andrada (Eusebio Poncela) , the King gets to meet with the queen alone in the monastery of San Plácido and achieves his goal . Meanwhile, the Count-Duke of Olivares (Javier Gurruchaga) fears that he could being punished by God because he fails to have children with his wife (Alejandra Grepi) , so he gets advice from Villaescusa (Juan Diego) , who informs him that the pleasure he and his wife obtain when performing the sexual act is to be blamed for the infertility and he then proposes a "divinely inspired" solution . Villaescusa ultimately says that the happy ending is due to the sacrifices they all have passed , but the Count Duke replies that could be seen that the fleet had arrived in Cadiz two days ago "just the day King went whores". An engaging story that describes the main literary issues from prestigious writer Gónzalo Torrente Ballester . Surprising story with luxurious settings , glamorous costumes and abundant erotic frames , but the movie has not mythological accuracy neither expecting historical . However , the film talks about the successful arrival of the Indian fleet to Cadiz and the victory of Spanish troops in Flandes . It is a decent picture in which entertainment and embarrassing events are well developed from start to finish , though crammed with several unappropriated intercourse scenes -in softcore style- between the Earl and his wife when copulate in the choir of the church of San Plácido (where by coincidence are also very nearly the kings) in front of the choir nuns . Nice acting by Gabino Diego as Felipe II who after watching a sensual prostitute , he wants to see his wife naked . Top-notch Joaquin De Almeida as a Jesuit missionary who replies that the luck of the governed depends on the ability of its rulers rather than their morality . And overacting by Juan Diego as a Capuchino friar who ensures that the claim of the king is a serious sin that can bring punishment on the whole country . As trivia to be noted the close resemblance of Gabino Diego and Gurruchaga with Philip IV and the Count-Duke of Olivares respectively . In addition , a fine support cast such as Luis Barbero , Emma Cohen , José Maria Tasso , Eulàlia Ramon Enrique San Francisco , Carmen Elias and Pepe Soriano . Atmospheric and evocative musical score by José Nieto who composes a stirring soundtrack , including a magic leitmotif . Adding a spotless pictorial cinematography by Hans Burmann and a willingness , almost perfect of the elements of each shot , every sequence , every space ; being rightly filmed on location . Most of the film was shot in the Renaissance palace of the Marquis of Santa Cruz in Viso del Marqués (Ciudad Real) and the Monastery of Uclés (Cuenca). This Andrés Santana production was professionally written , produced by Imanol Uribe who also directed , though has has some gaps and flaws , such as the different treatment of historical characters , but these are outweighed by good realization and a good cast . Filmed in his usual formal and stylistic scholarship , without leaving a trace the thought-provoking issues , in terms of dramatic and narrative excitement ; being extremely academic and a cold rendition . It resulted to get enough success at Spanish Box office . And won Goya Awards to Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Juan Diego) , Best Costume Design (Javier Artiñano) , Best Makeup and Hairstyles (Romana González and Josefa Morales) , Best Original Score (José Nieto) , Best Production Design (Félix Murcia), Best Production Supervision (Andrés Santana) , Best Screenplay – Adapted (Joan Potau and Gonzalo Torrente Malvido) and Best Sound (Ricard Casals and Gilles Ortion) . Uribe who lived and had a son with actress María Barranco , gained fame early in his career for his controversial socio-political portraits of the Basque people , such as ¨Fuga Segovia¨, ¨Muerte Mikel¨ . His extraordinary imaginative abilities have been able to produce well-written stories , as he turned to thriller as ¨Adios Pequeña¨, ¨Plenilunio¨ and drama as ¨Bwana¨ , ¨Rey Pasmado¨ , ¨Extraños¨ and his biggest hit smash : ¨Dias Contados¨ or ¨Running out.

A delightful, endearing, and fun film which is also intriguing and thought-provoking, like the terrific short novel on which it is based. Not surprisingly, the film was nominated for 14 Goyas – Spain's equivalent of the Oscars – and won eight.The star-studded cast reads almost like a Who's Who of Spanish filmmaking in the early 1990s, featuring enshrined greats like Fernando Fernán Gómez and Juan Diego alongside then-youthful favorites like Gabino Diego and Javier Gurruchaga.I would highlight that the excellent Portuguese actor Joaquim de Almeida, for many years now a regular in Hollywood as well as Europe, delivers an absolutely delicious performance as the Jesuit priest Almeida (no, no relation!). The intellectual Jesuits have always been suspect to the more conservative establishment in the Catholic Church, and Almeida plays the role with such subtle ambiguousness – an ambiguity that is absolutely key to developing the more complex elements of the film's plot – that long after the credits have rolled you will still be wondering about and arguing over his place in the story.The film is also very well shot and expertly set, creating a suggestive yet realistic ambiance that is up to the level of the plot and the acting.In perhaps his best role ever, Gabino Diego is the young Felipe IV, the homely Habsburg monarch to whom he bears a surprising resemblance. Felipe is dumbstruck by the brief sight of a naked prostitute – the Court favorite because of her exquisite beauty – which suddenly leads him to realize that he has never seen the Queen, his own lovely wife, in the buff. Why? Because although ribaldry and bawdiness were the norm for the commoners of 17th-Century Spain, the nobility and royals only had sex for procreation's sake – at least with their spouses – with floor-length nightgowns tailored with a conveniently located opening at the level of the pelvis to avoid the sins of concupiscence. Something that Felipe's equally young Bourbon Queen finds hard to understand, but she acquiesces to the customs of these oddly pious and dour Spaniards. Surrounded as he is by very conservative priests who constantly protect (and isolate) him as one of the visible heads of the Church in Spain, the naive King needs more than a little help to arrange a romantic tryst alone with the Queen, without the overbearing and antilibidinous presence of their omnipresent escorts and attendants. It is this entertaining and intriguing "foreplay" that is the backbone of the film.

This movie is about a Spanish king in the middle ages who decides one day that he'd like to see his wife naked. Gasp! The courtiers are appalled; his wife says ... "Why not?"; and the church begins an investigation. Out of all the hoohah over what today seems an ordinary request, only one man stands up for the king -- a Jesuit priest. The movie's depiction of the various reactions to the king's request is always interesting, and sometimes fascinating. It's a stylish, colorful production, and never lacks for beauty. The only problem I had with it was that I saw it in Paris, in Spanish with French subtitles, and so I probably missed half the jokes. Not all of them -- there are some wonderful visual jokes, like the man whose wife wants the church's permission to have sex with him, so the couple goes to a convent and has sex surrounded by a circle of nuns (all of them discreetly facing away, of course).

A very good movie based on an amazing novel. Great performance by Portuguese Actor Joaquim de Almeida. The movie tells the story of a king's discovery of sensuality: when he sees the naked back of a prostitute, the king feels the need to see his queen naked, something the Inquisition finds to be an abomination...