This is arguably one of the best "Inquisition movies" ever made. Not because it can directly compete with bigger budget productions, but, on the contrary, despite being a low-budget film, it nicely exploits the movie-making art at its best to really convey the idea of what the Inquisition was. We know that most of these movies, more often than not, were made mostly as an excuse to show naked beautiful ladies under distress. More like a kind of BDSM movie sub-genre. As such, they don't really delve too much into the specifics of *why* such things happened, and often times, *how* these inquisitions were actually conducted. Lame plots are often the norm. What I found most remarkable about this movie is that it portrays the violence within a well-documented and researched historical context, thus in a way justifying the torture scenes. The audience has a unique opportunity to grasp the unimaginable degree of power, ignorance, and savagery from the ever-present Church, under which the people in those times spent their lives.
Amy's acting is really remarkable. I got really moved by the scenes where Mariana suffers for seeing what her love Francisca is enduring. These seem to be actual tears, and I felt it in my throat, no kidding. When they touch their hands, when Francisca lovingly strokes a broken Mariana on her lap, I really felt shaken by the love and suffering there. Amy also conveys the sense of actual pain under torture, which becomes unsettling after a while. I wish Mila could deliver the same degree of drama, but she falls a bit short on the task, especially when delivering a line. I also found Amy's accent a bit out of place, given the perfect (to me, a Portuguese speaker..) accent of the other actors. Of course, it is too much to ask that she should, besides all that she has done already, still speak perfectly non-accented Spanish, being born and raised in the US. Please, Amy and Mila, don't take this badly, I can only imagine what it is to perform that kind of role for an audience. Or just for the film crew. You both are brave beautiful actresses and deserve praise.
Also worth mentioning is Roberto Lopez's portrayal of the inquisitor. I was impressed by his delivery, especially in the initial scenes, of an apparently well-mannered, soft-spoken, and well-intended priest, which was as much interested in the heiress' wealth as in actually "saving" the accused. Along the interrogations, he seems dispassionate and not impressed by the suffering he is imposing on the victims. It dawned on me that it probably was the case indeed, for those church men, as everybody else in those times, lived in a magical world with very, very different values and world views than we live in today. We just cannot grasp, much less judge, what went inside their minds. Life and death were ranked very differently in those days than they are today for us. Inquisition movies usually portray the interrogators as plain evil creatures, but, after watching this movie, it seems to me that, as usual, things might not be so clear-cut (please don't take these remarks as a justification for anything!). Roberto's performance was probably much more on the mark than many.
Having seen the interviews and reviews, it really stand out to me some aspects of the production and direction: the care with the costume and prop design and making (Amy's work!), the quasi-documentary style that lends action to a plot line that would be otherwise too dry, the editing that makes up for the lack of camera movement. No doubt due to the cramped space in the dungeon, and lack of expensive camera gear such as dolly and crane for exterior scenes..
I was delighted to find that this is a Bolivian production. Being born and raised in South America myself, I know well how difficult it is to work under very limited budgets and oftentimes an uncooperative environment. I can only praise the film's entire crew for achieving such good quality in this movie.
