So much average

Brilliant and touching

A different way of telling a story

Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.

New vision of ¨Juana La Loca¨ history and it displays a good cast , such as Rodolfo Sancho , Raúl Mérida , Irene Escolar and special appearance by Michelle Jenner . The known history of the deep love transformed Juana , the nutty Queen of Spain , into Juana "The mad" . Juana (Irene Escolar) is married off by her pious parents , the two famous Catholic kings : Fernando of Aragon (Rodolfo Sancho) and Isabella of Castille (Michelle Jenner) , to ally Spain , united by their marriage , to the Burgundian and other Habsburg heritage of archduke Maximilian (José Coronado) and Maria's son Philip . As in 1496, Juana De Castilla , daughter of the Catholic Kings , travels to Flandes to marry the Archduke Felipe De Austria (Raúl Mérida), known as 'El Hermoso' or The Handsome . When they meet, it's love at first sight, for her all-consuming, for him one of many happy bed partnerships as she later figures out . Deaths in her family soon make Juana Isabella's heir , but Ferdinand suggests she inherited her grandmother's craziness and supports Philip's ambition to govern instead , which becomes the stakes of political maneuvering in the Cortes and then multiple drama is inevitable . Combined with Philip's relentless infidelity , which includes a lot of lovers as the things go awry when Juana uncovers his treason . As mental health Juana starts getting worse and Felipe makes the Burgos Court , nobility-dominated parliament , declare the incurable insanity of Juana and confines her in the monastery of Las Huelgas, proclaiming himself as the king . There , then a strong confrontation takes place , leading to open war between Felipe De Aragón with his tyrannical son-in-law , Felipe el Hermoso , lord of Flandes , who wants to be the new king of the kingdom of Castilla above all and attempting to preserve the kingdom for his descendant, Charles I . Soonafter , Fernando asks help Cardinal Cisneros (Eusebio Poncela) and his underlings as Gonzalo Chacón (Ramon Madaula) , Fuensalida (Fernando Guillén Cuervo) and Duke Alba (Ramón Barea) in order to make a deal with Felipe , but this one has his own agenda looking to expel Fernando out of the Castilla to claim the throne for him , avoiding any contact between father and daughter that it could be an obstacle for his ambitions . But happenings go wrong when Fernando marries Germana De Foix (Silvia Alonso) to make up peace with King of France , Louis , and trying to preserve his possessions from Naples and Sicily . As mental health Juana starts getting worse and Felipe makes the Burgos Court , nobility-dominated parliament , declare the incurable insanity of Juana and confines her in the monastery of Las Huelgas , proclaiming himself as the king . Finally , Juana is locked at a convent in the city of Tordesillas , Valladolid . Later on , it occurs a surprising denouement , Felipe El Hermoso dies . ¨The broken crown¨ concerns a peculiar story , set early 16th century, following the death of Isabel la Católica , it is plenty of doublé-crosses , lies and jealousy with a political confrontation behind . This interesting as well as spectacular story is a passionate retelling and a touching drama about essential and fundamental historical deeds in Spain history . Acceptable interpretations all around . Serious and sober Rodolfo Sancho playing magnificently the mean king . Irene Escolar gives a very good acting , as she shows perfectly her unstable mind state . The secondary actors were very intelligent chosen and they all did marvelous performances . As support cast is frankly excellent , such as : Silvia Alonso as Germana De Foix , Úrsula Corberó as Margarita De Austria , Pedro Mari Sánchez as Duque Nájera , Jordi Díaz as Cabrera , Antonio Gil as Contestable Castilla and brief apparition by José Coronado as Maximiliano Ausburgo . Initially meant as a TV movie to serve as a link between Spanish historical series "Isabel" (2011) and "Carlos, Rey Emperador" (2015), the project grew to become a theatrical feature . Unfortunately, this also got the project delayed and it did not premiere until after the end of "Carlos, Rey Emperador" (2015). The settings are awesome and the palaces and castles are a right manner to show the life style of those days along with the gowns , royal activities , aristocracy and way of life and mentality of those days ; including perfect clothing and costumes by Pepe Reyes . It contains a moving and evocative musical score by Federico Jusid . Spotless pictorial cinematography by Raimón Lorda , he carries out a photography with juicy atmosphere , being shot on location in Castillo Guadamur , Toledo , Iglesia Santa María, Torrelaguna, Catedral Burgos , Catedral Toledo, Cartuja Miraflores, Burgos , and Palacio Del Rincón, Madrid . The motion picture was well directed by Jordi Frades .Other retellings about this known story based on the historical events about Juana La Loca/Felipe El Hermoso are the followings : A silent version (1909) by Ricardo Baños ; the Spanish classic ¨Locura De Amor¨(1948) by Juan De Orduña with Aurora Bautista as Doña Juana , Fernando Rey as Felipe El Hermoso , Sara Montiel as Aldara , Jorge Mistral as Capitán Don Alvar and , of course, the prestigious version (2001) realized by Vicente Aranda with Pilar López De Ayala , Daniel Liotti , Susi Sánchez , Rosana Pastor , Giuliano Gemma , Roberto Álvarez , Eloy Azorín , Guillermo Toledo . And recently ¨Isabel¨ TV series with Michelle Jenner , Rodolfo Sancho and Irene Escolar as Juana .