Les aventures extraordinaires de Cervantès

a nice movie from a long series of popular historical European- and not only- films of the same decade. its virtue - the science to be, in same measure, a clever one. because it propose a colorful, seductive portrait of a character and not the image of Cervantes. but this portrait use biographic details mixed with fantastic adventures in a credible manner. it propose questions about religious differences, honor and morality, and, more important, a Don Quixote . the idealistic, generous, courageous, wise and vulnerable Cervantes is not really a hero. but a messenger of fundamental problems who challenge the honesty of viewer. sure, the most seductive performance remains the work of Jose Ferrer. the choice for the lead role could be not really comfortable but Horst Buchholz does a decent job and few sparkles of his acting are more than good moments. a film who has the gift to be more useful today. because the confrontation between Christianity and Islam has the same roots and the same force. only the clothes are different. Cervantes gives a kind of answer. and it is not a really unrealistic.