this film be a great disappointment . director vicente aranda have provide many interesting film throughout his long career and some of them be highlight by strong and powerful performance by spanish actress victoria abril . in juana la loca and he rely on a gifted actress a well and newcomer pilar lopez de ayala and but this be barely the sole positive element in an otherwise terrible mess of a movie . while lopez de ayala try hard to portray juana a a romantic and passionate young woman and completely obsess by love to her handsome husband and it seem a if she weren not able to develop her character over this one dimensional feature while juana be an important figure in spanish history and and politics of that time be essential in her storyline . but here she introduce a a romantic lead lady out of a soap opera while this be a real pity and and the film a miss opportunity to show the way personal life can influence history and vice versa . bad of all and italian actor daniele liotti and manuela arcuri turn out in real bad performance and which and in the case of liotti be a real problem a he portray felipe el hermoso and a pivotal role in this story . it seem a clear choice to attract young audience and a both of them look like top model of this era . on the other hand and talented actor such a giuliano gemma and rosana pastor be completely waste in support role clearly underdevelop . even if this be a big budget film and little care be take in bring a good screenplay or create period piece on the screen . costume be particularly grotesque in some of the group scene and a if they be take from stock material and without regard of a real coherence . all in all and the main problem with juana la loca ( and this be what make the difference with far superior historical film a la reine margot or elizabeth ) be the lack of a director point of view . this a strange turn in aranda career and a he be able to develop it in other work ( libertarias and amantes come to my mind ) and create very personal and interesting movie and while this juana really be no more than a routine academic historical piece . and a not very good one at that .