Mad Love movie storyline. Juana is married off by her pious parents, the Catholic kings Ferndinand of Aragon and Isabella of Castille, to ally Spain, united by their marriage, to the Burgundian and other Habsburg heritage of archduke Maximilian’s son Philip. When they meet, it’s love at first sight, for her all-consuming, for him one of many happy bed partnerships as she later discovers.
Deaths in her family soon make Juana Isabella’s heir, but Ferdinand suggests she inherited her grandmother’s madness and supports Philip’s ambition to rule instead, which becomes the stakes of political maneuvering in the Cortes (nobility-dominated parliament). Combined with Philip’s incurable infidelity, which includes a Moorish whore-princess, multiple drama is inevitable, and worse follows.
Mad Love (Spanish: Juana la Loca, literally Juana the Madwoman) is a 2001 period drama film written and directed by Vicente Aranda starring Pilar López de Ayala and Daniele Liotti. The plot follows the tragic fate of Queen Joanna of Castile madly in love to an unfaithful husband, Philip the Handsome, Archduke of Austria. The film received 3 Goya awards, in the categories of Best Actress, Best Wardrobe, and Best Makeup and Hair.
About the Story
Tordesillas, 1554. Seventy four years old, Queen Joanna of Castile, called Juana La Loca (Joanna the Madwoman), is still mourning the loss of her husband who died a half century before. Joanna remembers with emotion the man she loved passionately, but who brought her ruin. She does not fear death, she says, because death would allow her to be reunited with her husband. Their story goes back almost 60 years.
In 1496, Joanna, the third child of the Catholic Monarchs Ferdinand II of Aragon and Isabella I of Castile, is leaving Spain through the port of Laredo. She is headed to Flanders to marry the Archduke of Austria, Philip, nicknamed the Handsome, a man she has never laid eyes on. The marriage has been arranged for political purposes. Joanna’s siblings and her mother, Queen Isabella, bid her farewell.
Once in Flanders, Joanna, young and inexperienced, is immediately smitten by her handsome fiancé. He is equally pleased with his beautiful bride and orders the marriage to take place at that very moment so they can consummate their marriage without any delay. Their union is initially a great success. The political alliance between their two countries has been consolidated and Joanna and Philip are very attracted to each other. With his good looks and bed manners, Philip completely captivates his wife. Their passionate love making soon produces results. Joanna has a daughter, followed shortly after by a son. She gives birth to her son in an emergency bathroom delivery without any assistance, cutting the umbilical cord afterwards with her teeth.
A combination of love, lust and emotional dependency make the passionate Joanna deeply attached to her husband. Her love becomes consuming, but the intensity of her passion turns Philip away. He is a restless man who finds entertainment in going hunting and in the arms of other women. The deaths of Joanna’s brother, the stillbirth of her brother’s daughter, her older sister’s death and her sister’s son’s death unexpectedly make her heir of the Castilian and Aragones crowns.
However, she is not interested in government. Obsessed with her husband, Joanna surprises him in bed with a lover, who Joanna later successfully identifies as Ines de Brabante, one of the court ladies. In a fit of jealousy, Joanna cuts the long red hair of her rival. While Joanna despairs at her husband’s unfaithfulness, she receives further bad news. Her mother has died. Joanna thus becomes Queen of Castile and has to return to her kingdom. Her tantrums over her husband’s infidelities have made her start to become known as Joanna the Mad.
Mad Love (2002)
Juana La Loca
Directed by: Vicente Aranda
Starring: Pilar López de Ayala, Daniele Liotti, Giuliano Gemma, Eloy Azorín, Rosana Pastor, Manuela Arcuri, Roberto Alvarez, Carolina Bona, Manuela Arcuri
Screenplay by: Vicente Aranda
Production Design by: Josep Rosell
Cinematography by: Paco Femenia
Film Editing by: Teresa Font
Costume Design by: Javier Artiñano
Makeup Department: Mercedes Guillot
Music by: José Nieto
MPAA Rating: R for sexuality / nudity.
Distributed by: Sony Pictures Classics
Release Date: August 30, 2002
Views: 58
