''Tirant lo Blanc'' (also known as ''The Maidens' Conspiracy'') is a 2006 historical adventure film directed by

Vicente Aranda Vicente Aranda Ezquerra (; 9 November 1926 – 26 May 2015) was a Spanish film director, screenwriter and producer. Due to his refined and personal style, he was one of the most renowned Spanish filmmakers. He started as a founding member ...

and starring

Casper Zafer Caspar Zafer (born 26 October 1974) is an English actor. Career Zafer was born 26 October 1974 and spent much of his childhood and early life in the Middle East. He trained in theatre at The Oxford School of Drama. From 2001 to 2002 he perf ...

, Esther Nubiola and Victoria Abril. The script was written by Aranda based on ''

Tirant lo Blanch ''Tirant lo Blanch'' (; modern spelling: ''Tirant lo Blanc''), in English ''Tirant the White'', is a chivalric romance written by the Valencian knight Joanot Martorell, finished posthumously by his friend Martí Joan de Galba and published in ...

'', a

Catalan language Catalan () is a Western Romance languages, Western Romance language and is the official language of Andorra, and the official language of three autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous communities in eastern Spain: Catalonia, the Balearic I ...

chivalry romance dating to 1490, written by

Joanot Martorell Joanot Martorell (; c. 1410 – 1465) was a Valencian knight and writer, best known for authoring the novel '' Tirant lo Blanch'', written in Catalan/Valencian and published at Valencia in 1490. This novel is often regarded as one of the peak ...

. It presents a highly fictionalized

alternate history Alternate history (also referred to as alternative history, allohistory, althist, or simply A.H.) is a subgenre of speculative fiction in which one or more historical events have occurred but are resolved differently than in actual history. As ...

narrative of the events leading to the

Fall of Constantinople The Fall of Constantinople, also known as the Conquest of Constantinople, was the capture of Constantinople, the capital of the Byzantine Empire by the Ottoman Empire. The city was captured on 29 May 1453 as part of the culmination of a 55-da ...

Plot

In 1401,

Tirant lo Blanc ''Tirant lo Blanch'' (; modern spelling: ''Tirant lo Blanc''), in English ''Tirant the White'', is a chivalric romance written by the Valencian knight Joanot Martorell, finished posthumously by his friend Martí Joan de Galba and published in ...

, a famous knight, arrives with his small but battle-hardened troops of

Almogavars Almogavars (; ; ; ; originally ) is the name of a class of light infantry soldier originated in the Crown of Aragon used in the later phases of the Reconquista, during the 13th and 14th centuries. Almogavars were lightly clad, quick-moving fr ...

, to the port of

Constantinople Constantinople (#Names of Constantinople, see other names) was a historical city located on the Bosporus that served as the capital of the Roman Empire, Roman, Byzantine Empire, Byzantine, Latin Empire, Latin, and Ottoman Empire, Ottoman empire ...

. The emperor's only son has recently been killed by the Turks and the

Byzantine emperor The foundation of Constantinople in 330 AD marks the conventional start of the Eastern Roman Empire, which Fall of Constantinople, fell to the Ottoman Empire in 1453 AD. Only the emperors who were recognized as legitimate rulers and exercised s ...

is too old to lead his army in battle. Constantinople is under threat of an Ottoman invasion and therefore it is in desperate need of a skillful military leader. Upon arrival, Tirant is received by the emperor who makes him commander in chief of the Imperial army. After he is presented to the empress, Tirant catches a glimpse of the breasts of the emperor's only surviving child, nosebleed-prone daughter Carmesina. A fanciful teenager who has just turned nubile, the beautiful Carmesina is also quickly smitten by the brave and handsome Tirant. Carmesina confides her love for Tirant to her guardian Ines, nicknamed the 'Placid Widow', whose late husband was an ally of the anti-pope. The Placid Widow immediately puts down Carmensina's romantic dreams. As brave and skilful military leader as Tirant might be, he is neither of royal blood nor has a fortune of his own to aspire to marry the heiress of the empire. Carmesina's friends and confidantes, her maidens: Pleasure-of-My-Life and Estefania, think otherwise. Scared of a possible Ottoman invasion, Pleasure-of-My-Life, the daughter of the court's poet, encourages Carmesina interest in Tirant as she is to inherit the throne and he is going to defend it. Estefania, another lady-in-waiting, supports Tirant's affair with Carmesina because she has fallen in love with Tirant's right-hand man Diafebus. Meanwhile, the Empress contemplates that Constantinople stands no chance against Ottoman onslaught and sees her daughter's marriage to the Sultan as the sole way to accommodate him. In his first battle against the troops of Ottoman sultan

Mehmed I Mehmed I (; – 26 May 1421), also known as Mehmed Çelebi (, "the noble-born") or ''Kirişçi'' (, "lord's son"), was the sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1413 to 1421. Son of Sultan Bayezid I and his concubine Devlet Hatun, he fought with hi ...

, Tirant scores a triumph, but he returns to the Byzantine court with a wound in one shoulder and with the Ottoman threat still looming over Constantinople. Pleasure-of-My-Life tries to consolidate Tirant's romance with the princess awakening Carmesina's desire for him. She tells the princess about a sensual dream in which Carmesina was involved with Tirant while Estefania was having sex with Diafebus. Meanwhile, the Placid Widow wants Tirant for herself, but he rebuffs her sexual advances. Estefania, now engaged to Diafebus, and Pleasure-of-My-Life let Tirant secretly enter Carmesina's bedchamber. The princess is half sleep and Tirant begins to caress her. When Carmesina becomes aware of Tirant's presence, she screams awakening the court. Tirant flees through a window of the tower with the help of a rope. The rope is too short and he is forced to jump from a great height breaking one of his legs. The next day, Tirant tries to hide what had occurred, simulating a fall from a horse, but he breaks his other leg and ends up bedridden. Meanwhile, the Empress begins an affair with Hippolytus, a young member of Tirant's entourage. The couple barely escapes being found together in bed by the emperor. An Ottoman emissary arrives at the Byzantine court to ask for Carmesina's hand in marriage for Mehmed. The Emperor asks for a day before he can gives his consent, but Carmesina takes matters on her own hands. In broad daylight, she goes to Tirant's tent and has sex with the bedridden hero. When Carmesina refuses to marry Mehmed because she has been with Tirant, war breaks out. In the decisive battle, Tirant kills the sultan, but he returns from the battlefields badly wounded and dies on the way back. Carmesina dies of grief. After the death of the emperor of Byzantium, Hippolytus marries the Empress and becomes the new ruler. Diafebus and Estefania sail away from Constantinople after Tirant's death.

Production and cast

The film was shot in English. It was filmed in

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...

Palermo Palermo ( ; ; , locally also or ) is a city in southern Italy, the capital (political), capital of both the autonomous area, autonomous region of Sicily and the Metropolitan City of Palermo, the city's surrounding metropolitan province. The ...

Granada Granada ( ; ) is the capital city of the province of Granada, in the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. Granada is located at the foot of the Sierra Nevada (Spain), Sierra Nevada mountains, at the confluence ...

Huelva Huelva ( , , ) is a municipality of Spain and the capital of the Huelva (province), province of Huelva, in the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia. Located in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula, it sits betwee ...

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

and

Valencia Valencia ( , ), formally València (), is the capital of the Province of Valencia, province and Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, the same name in Spain. It is located on the banks of the Turia (r ...

. The title sequence features four paintings by

Paolo Uccello Paolo Uccello ( , ; 1397 – 10 December 1475), born Paolo di Dono, was an Italian Renaissance painter and mathematician from Florence who was notable for his pioneering work on visual Perspective (graphical), perspective in art. In his book ''Liv ...

: ''

Saint George and the Dragon In a legend, Saint Georgea soldier venerated in Christianity—defeats a dragon. The story goes that the dragon originally extorted tribute from villagers. When they ran out of livestock and trinkets for the dragon, they started giving up a huma ...

'' in

National Gallery The National Gallery is an art museum in Trafalgar Square in the City of Westminster, in Central London, England. Founded in 1824, it houses a collection of more than 2,300 paintings dating from the mid-13th century to 1900. The current di ...

, London, and three versions of ''

The Battle of San Romano ''The Battle of San Romano'' is a set of three paintings by the Florence, Florentine painter Paolo Uccello depicting events that took place at the Battle of San Romano between Florentine and Sienese forces in 1432. They are significant as reveal ...

''. *

*Esther Nubiola as Carmesina * Victoria Abril as Ines, the 'Placid Widow' * Leonor Watling as Pleasure-of-My-Life * Ingrid Rubio as Estefania * Charlie Cox as Diafebus *

Giancarlo Giannini Giancarlo Giannini (; born 1 August 1942) is an Italian actor and voice actor. He won the Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actor for his performance in '' Love and Anarchy'' (1973) and received an Academy Award nomination for '' Seven Beaut ...

as the Emperor *

Jane Asher Jane Asher (born 5 April 1946)''The International Who's Who of Women'', 3rd edition, ed. Elizabeth Sleeman, Europa Publications, 2002, p. 29 is an English actress and author. She achieved early fame as a child actress and through her associatio ...

as the Empress *Sid Mitchel as Hippolytus *Rafael Amargo as

Jay Benedict Jay Benedict (April 11, 1951 – April 4, 2020) was an American actor who spent most of his life and career in the United Kingdom. He was frequently cast as American characters in British films and television programmes. He was best known for hi ...

as the Ottoman ambassador *Rebecca Cobos as Eliseo

References

Sources

External links

* {{Vicente Aranda 2006 films 2000s historical adventure films Italian drama films British historical adventure films Spanish historical adventure films 2000s English-language films English-language Spanish films English-language Catalan films English-language Italian films Films set in the Byzantine Empire Catalan films Films directed by Vicente Aranda Films shot in Madrid Films shot in Istanbul Films shot in Barcelona Films shot in Valencia Films set in the 1400s Films set in Istanbul Films about virginity Films shot in Almería 2000s British films 2000s Spanish films Films scored by José Nieto English-language historical adventure films Films set in the 15th century

Plot

Production and cast

See also

References

Sources

External links