"Captain Alatriste"

If you have an interest in 17th century history I would like to recommend this film to you. Made in Spain in 2005/6, it is based on the Captain Alatriste novels of Arturo Perez-Reverte.

The story follows the twenty years period of 1622 (fighting in the Low Countries) to the Battle of Rocroi, May 1643. This period is a little before my chosen period of study but it looks authentic to me. It is beautifully filmed with great visual flair, full of atmospheric internals and externals. The combat sequences look very realistic, confused and bloody. The sword play is realistic and some of the best I've seen..

The film is long at 140 minutes. It is in Spanish so I needed the subtitles. It flags a little in places but the last twenty minutes, at Rocroi, are really well done.