Set in a magnificent recreation of 17th Century Mexico and based on a true story, I, THE WORST OF ALL is the portrait of a brilliant and beautiful poet, Sister Juana Ines de la Cruz (Assumpta Serna), who enters the convent to pursue her love of writing and goes on to gain international renown as one of the best poets in the Golden Age of Spanish poetry. However, this is the height of the Inquisition and her intellectual prowess soon leads to clashes with the Archbishop of Mexico (Lautaro Murua).
Sister Juana is protected only by the beautiful new Vicereine (Dominique Sanda), who befriends and shelters Sister Juana, while simultaneously becoming her erotic muse. The very existence of their friendship flouts convention, but as long as the Viceroy’s tour of duty lasts, Sister Juana is safe. Based on the book “The Traps of Faith” by Nobel Prize winner Octavio Paz, I THE WORST OF ALL is considered director Maria Luisa Bemberg’s feminist masterpiece and was her last film.
Buy “I, The Worst of All “ For Only $14.52
March 5, 2010
#1
THis is not a Spanish Movie; it’s Argentine.THis is not a Spanish Movie; it’s Argentine.THis is not a Spanish Movie; it’s Argentine.THis is not a Spanish Movie; it’s Argentine.THis is not a Spanish Movie; it’s Argentine.THis is not a Spanish Movie; it’s Argentine.THis is not a Spanish Movie; it’s Argentine.THis is not a Spanish Movie; it’s Argentine.
March 5, 2010
#2
Maybe this film is as good as other reviewers say. I don’t know. What I do know is that I purchased it, hoping to give it to my wife for Christmas. She teaches Spanish, and I thought that perhaps she would enjoy showing it to her students. When it arrived, and I saw the book advertising “lesbian passion seething behind convent walls,” I was crushed. So what if that’s not what the film depicts? It’s a hell of a thing to unwrap on Christmas morning. “It’s not as bad as that, honey.” No, thank you.
The creator of this stupid advertisement undoubtedly thought that the image of nuns frolicking in the garden of eros would titillate the masses and result in a stampede of buyers. Such advertising is, and should be, offensive not only to Catholics, but to people in general.
I sent it back, unopened and unviewed.
March 5, 2010
#3
The movie is well made, although not much money seems to have been spent on sets! It sticks fairly closely to the basic historical data, but a quick read up on Sor Juana in the Encyclopedia Brittanica might help many viewers.
Now to the rating issue. There is no good reason why this movie should be restricted to those over 18. There is no overt nudity or genital sex. There is a fairly chaste kiss between women. I suppose the violent scenes of nuns whipping themsleves in a penitential exercise might be offensive to some, but self-flagellation was indeed a part of Catholic monastic life until well into the 20th century, and the scene is not presented in any prurient way. If this amounts to a need to ban the movie for young people, then the Bible also would need to be banned. It has far more sex, nudity, and violence.
Those writers who object to the “Lesbian passion” line on the box do have a point. Anyone buying this for erotic arousal would be profoundly mislead.
There is, however, a real lesbian aspect to this film. Sor Juana is clearly a “woman identified woman.” She achieves her greatest triumphs while in the nurturing and all-female world of the Convent; her relationship with the Vicereine is the most heated in the film; and the destruction of her writing comes from the intrusion of the exclusively male world of the church hierarchy and the inquistion. Most importantly, her writing reflects an explicit feminist critique of women’s oppression.
Just as one does not need to have genital sex in order to be a “heterosexual,” neither does one need genital sex in order to be part of the lesbian continuum. Sor Juana is indeed part of the that continuum.
March 5, 2010
#4
I purchased the DVD to show my advanced Spanish students who were studying the works of Sor Juana. We all enjoyed the movie and learned a great deal about this great woman’s life. I received the product in a timely manner and would be happy to do business again.
March 5, 2010
#5
Lovely movie, artfully done. Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz was a 17th century Mexican poet and scholar. The movie is based on a bio of her by Octavio Paz. It is the story of a remarkable life. The only thing not first class is the jacket of the CD which is terrible marketing.