Product Details

• Actors: Pilar López de Ayala, Daniele Liotti, Rosana Pastor, Giuliano Gemma, Roberto Álvarez
• Format: NTSC
• Rated: R (Restricted)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (22 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B00005JLTH
• For more information about "Madness of Love" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

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

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Walking The Fine Line Between Love And Obsession, December 10, 2005

By 

Brian E. Erland "Rainbow Sphinx" (Brea, CA - USA) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Mad Love (2001) (DVD)

Note: Castillian Spanish with English and French subtitles.

Based on historical accounts, director Vincent Aranda has created a lavish, sumptuous film set in 16th century Flandes, Spain. Princess Juana de Castilla (Pilar Lopez de Ayala) as come to fulfill her aristocratic obligation in an arranged marriage with Archduke Felipe of Austria (Daniele Liotti).

What begins as a great romance quickly degenerates into a very sad and depressing tale of infidelity on the part of Felipe and obsessive compulsive paranoia displayed by the frantic Juana. Juana's obsession with her husbands affairs escalate behaviors that are soon the main subject of gossip for the aristocracy and the labeling of the desperate Juana as "Joan the Mad."

When Juana's Mother and older brothers' die unexpectedly she now becomes heir to the throne of Spain. Will she reign as Queen, or will Felipe succeed in having her proclaimed mad by the Spanish court and put away?

Fine performances all around by this all Spanish cast, especially by the two main characters; Pilar Lopez de Ayala and Daniele Liotti. Also in a small but memorable role is the seductive beauty Manuela Arcuri as the Moorish princess Aixa-Beatriz.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant Drama, March 10, 2004

By 

"haberboy" (Topeka, KS United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Mad Love (2001) (DVD)

RECOMMENDED for anyone who enjoys a well-directed, historical film. Aranda fills this film with accurate details and with an interesting contemporary and feminist twist. His interest in forlorn love is at its best here, utilizing one of the lesser-known, but significant personages (among those in the U.S.,) as a tour-de-force vehicle into the narrow-minded, fickle, and antiquated Spanish 15-th century concept of women.
Though Aranda is notorious for explicit sexual portrayals, the ones in this film are not excessive nor senseless. Everything seems to have its place, and is quite believeable. FIVE STARS!!!

13 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An Incrediable Gem, February 19, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Mad Love (2001) (DVD)

I rented this film with two friends on a whim, for lack of anything better looking at Blockbuster. As soon as the opening shot panned out we were hooked. The plot was stunning, the costumes rich and beautiful. The cinematography was excellent and the cast could not be beat. This was not a movie where sex was thrown in to hook some otherwise uninterested viewers, it was necessary to the plot and was handled appropriatly. Enough steam was in the sex to display the passion but it was tasteful and honest and the characteres remained themselves in the sack. Overall this movie was gorgeous and stunning, and it isn't often I tell all my friends about how great a film was. I've told everyone about Mad Love since I saw it a week ago.