Tirante el Blanco (2006)

Director:

Vicente Aranda

Writers:

Vicente Aranda (screenplay)
Joanot Martorell (novel)

Release Date:

7 April 2006 (Spain)

Genre:

Adventure

Plot:

Tirante the knight is as committed to fighting the Turks in Constantinople as he is to relieving Carmesina, the heiress to the Byzantine Empire, of her virginity. |

Plot Keywords:

Female Frontal Nudity | Chivalry | Epic | Medieval | Lesbian Scene

Awards:

2 nominations

Cast

Casper Zafer	...	Tirante
Esther Nubiola	...	Carmesina
Leonor Watling	...	Placer De Mi Vida (Pleasure-of-my-life)
Ingrid Rubio	...	Estefanía
Jane Asher	...	Emperatriz
Charlie Cox	...	Diafebus
Sid Mitchell	...	Hipólito
Rafael Amargo	...	Gran Turco
Jay Benedict	...	Embajador Turco (Turkish Ambassador)
Victoria Abril	...	Viuda Reposada
Giancarlo Giannini	...	Emperador
Rebecca Cobos	...	Eliseo
Valentina Burgueño	...	Dama Carmesina (Carmesina's Maiden)
Julio Vélez	...	Sinópolis, Capitán 1
Ismael Martínez	...	Piramus, Capitán 2
Víctor Rivas	...	Capitán 3
Eugenio Jiménez	...	Capitán 4
Ramón Del Pomar	...	Artesano del Espejo
Sabrina Praga	...	Dama del Espejo
Rocco Salata	...	Juanon
Francesco Giordano	...	Físico 1
F. Paolo Matera	...	Fisico 2

Directed by
Vicente Aranda

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Vicente Aranda		screenplay
Joanot Martorell		novel

Produced by
Carola Ash	....	associate producer
Pietro Lama	....	line producer: Italy
Massimiliano La Pegna	....	line producer: Italy
Albert Martinez Martin	....	executive producer
Enrique Viciano	....	producer

Original Music by
José Nieto

Cinematography by
José Luis Alcaine

Film Editing by
Teresa Font

Casting by
Gillian Hawser

Art Direction by
David Murcia
Roger Subirachs

Costume Design by
Yvonne Blake

Makeup Department
Mercedes Guillot	....	hair stylist
Tracey Wells	....	makeup designer

Production Management
Pablo Barinaga	....	assistant production manager
Carla Bernardin	....	production manager
Stefano Bolzoni	....	unit production manager
Patrick Carrarin	....	unit production manager
José Ripoll Sánchez	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
José Ángel Cabañas	....	second assistant director
Cinzia Castania	....	first italian assistant director
Juan José López Angosse	....	second assistant director
Ricardo Walker	....	first assistant director (as Richard Walker)

Art Department
Daniel Izar de la Fuente	....	props

Sound Department
Paco Alonso	....	sound assistant
Andrew Caller	....	sound re-recording mixer
Nacho Cobos	....	supervising sound editor
Steve Cook	....	sound supervisor: UK
James Doyle	....	sound mixing technician
Nick Foley	....	adr recordist
Dave Humphries	....	foley editor
Nicolas Le Messurier	....	sound re-recording mixer
Peter Maxwell	....	sound re-recording mixer
Paco Alonso Perdiguero	....	sound assistant
Kath Pollard	....	sound re-recording mixer
Ted Swanscott	....	adr mixer
Keith Tunney	....	adr editor
Alastair Widgery	....	sound

Special Effects by
José Ramón Molina Jr.	....	special effects technician
Juan Ramón Molina	....	special effects

Visual Effects by
Pilar Cienfuegos	....	digital effects artist
Simon Frame	....	visual effects producer
Iñaki Gil	....	digital effects artist
Ezequiel Larru	....	digital effects artist
Jesus Lavin	....	digital compositor
Laura Maynadé	....	scanning coordinator

Stunts
Hernan Ortiz	....	assistant stunt coordinator
Miguel Pedregosa	....	stunt coordinator
José Antonio Ona Sánchez	....	stunt double: Caspar Zafer

Camera and Electrical Department
Ximo Ferrández	....	second video assist
Joaquín Manchado	....	camera operator
José Luis Rodríguez	....	gaffer
Laura Sipán	....	second assistant camera

Casting Department
Ana Fibla	....	extras casting assistant

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Gordon Harmer	....	wardrobe supervisor
Linda O'Reilly	....	costume assistant
Cristina Sopeña	....	set costume supervisor
José Vico	....	assistant costume designer
Joanna Weaving	....	costume breakdown artist

Editorial Department
Laura Sanchez	....	film scanner
Renato Sanjuán	....	assistant editor

Music Department
Isobel Griffiths	....	orchestra contractor
José Vinader	....	music mixer

Other crew
Nick Astaire	....	finance executive
Mel Churcher	....	dialogue and acting coach
Erasmo Colucci	....	accountant
Angel de la Serna	....	production assistant
María Guerra	....	script supervisor
Jessica Junyent	....	translator
Mary Kay McCoy	....	dialogue coach: Ingrid Rubio, prep
Alessandra Moresco	....	production executive
Ana Palacios	....	production coordinator
Maria Palazon	....	production assistant
Jaime Roda	....	interpreter
Jaime Roda	....	translator

Production Companies

• DeA Planeta Home Entertainment
• Feelmax
• Future Film Group
• Future Film Production
• Future Films
• Mikado Films

Distributors

• Arclight Films (2005) (worldwide) (theatrical)

Other Companies

• Sonart Audio  sound post-production

Also Known As:

The White Knight (USA) (DVD title)

Runtime:

Spain:122 min

Country:

Italy | Spain | UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Certification:

South Korea:18

Filming Locations:

Istanbul, Turkey

Company:

DeA Planeta Home Entertainment

Trivia:

Tirant Lo Blanc, by Joanot Martorell, is the most famous chivalric romance in the Catalan language. It was written in the 15th century. Miguel de Cervantes y Saavedra, author of the great Spanish classic "Don Quixote", thought very highly of "Tirant", in contrast to his unfavorable opinion of many other books of chivalry.

Of course it's not the book, but...

Of course it's not the book, but what screen adaptation ever is? There's no way a work of over 800 pages and full of digressions can be adequately condensed into a two-hour film. As some people have said in the Message Boards section, we should be grateful that the film will make this neglected masterpiece known to a wider audience.

So Aranda does what so many other screenwriters have done in the circumstances: chooses one incident or aspect out of a multitude, elaborates on that and tries to remain faithful to the spirit of the book. But does he remain faithful? That's the trouble. Certainly there's a love story with sensuality in the Tirant and not the platonic stuff of other mediaeval romances, but Aranda piles on the sex until it becomes a bawdy romp. It's a pity that people will get the impression the whole book is like that.

That said, the acting is good, the hero is handsome, the heroine is delicious dressed and undressed, Yvonne Blake's costume designs are truly gorgeous, and the film has humour - in fact it could be classed as a romantic comedy. I especially liked the ending, but no spoilers! You can also learn a bit of romanticised history about the Turks and the end of the Byzantine Empire. (Tirant goes to Constantinople to defend it, but truth is that Constantinople had already fallen before the book was written.)

A special tribute to the dubbers is in order. I saw the version in Valencian, and the dubbing was so perfect that it could well have been the original.