As side note 12:45, the spanish equivalent of "between a rock and a hard place" is "entre la espada y la pared", literally 'between the sword and the wall'.
There is a fantastic battle scene later in the movie that kinda suffers from the limited budget (so not a lot of extras and effects) but probably the best pike and shot representation in cinema like ever. I think it would be a good thing to review too.
Yes, that scene was awesome and kind of terrible at the same time. But only because the tercio only had like 73 dudes in it. I forgive that, because the battle was very well done!
There is something that non Spanish speakers may not notice inmediately, he is not dubbed. He is actually speaking Spanish the whole movie. It is well known that Vigo grew up in Argentina, and so he has a strong Agentinian accent when he does interviews in Spanish but as a dedicated method actor he took a coach to soften his Argentinian accent and express with the manerisms and the old Castillian accent... such a great work!
As spanish speaker originally from Spain I can say he had a very odd and weird accent that had nothing to do with castillian accent. Anyway we apreciated he tried his best but it was not the best casting for the rol
As a non-Spanish speaker, I noticed about halfway through the video that it sounded suspiciously like the voice I recognised, and came to the comments hoping to see someone who knew if that was him or not! Thanks for answering me before I knew to ask the question!
@@swordofcrom6023 As a Spaniard from Spain and a Manchego, I assure you we don’t speak like that. In fact, there is a great diversity of accents throughout Spain, from the south to the north, each with its own unique characteristics and nuances. In the north, you’ll find accents such as Galician, Astur-Leonese, Cantabrian, or Basque; in the center, the Manchego (my accent), Castilian, and Madrilenian stand out; in the east, Valencian, Murcian, and Catalan; and in the south, the Andalusian and Canary Island accents.
Weep for me as when I started to learn the language, I was not taught pure Spanish. I was instead taught spanglish. I've tried to clean it up, but I still have far too bad habits.
I actually watched it because I was interested in everything spanish from language to history so watching while also learning spanish made it both fun and educational.
As a bit of additional info from the novels: The sheriff, Martin Saldaña, has had to cope with everyone calling him a cuckold behind his back his entire adult life, since he got the job thanks to his wife's influence, and hearing it from a lifelong friend would most definitely send him into a blind rage. Also, Gualterio Malatesta, his second opponent, is quite haughty and has a feud and rivalry spanning years as to who among them is the better swordsman, so any chance he gets, he tries to show off and "play with his food", so to speak, rather than go for the kill straight away, so whenever he wounds Alatriste tries to do so as to incapacitate.
I seem to remember that Malatesta was also supposed to be Italian, or from Spanish occupied Sicily. Matt must not have finished the movie, because our boy Alatriste definitely doesn't die here. The offense to his honor causes his protege to take revenge though, which is another great duel in this movie. So dramatic.
And as later shown in this same film, it was indeed a ploy to goad the man into reckless behavior. Calling him a cuckold was entirely insincere and Alitriste actually quite liked him.
@@zedlav6975 The Malatesta are indeed an italian noble family from that time. But if i'm not mistaken they were from Lombardy, wich at that time was also occupied by the Spanish. Sicily on the other hand wasn't technically part of Spain, it was a kingdom ruled by the same royal house as Spain.
@@arx3516 Technically.... ALL Spain was like that XDD I mean; while the Spanish Empire was a thing; the reallitty was that it was a Crown with multiple kingdoms on it. The Hasburg Familly (Phillip the IVth if I don't recallit wrong) had inherited the kigdoms of Castille, Navarre, Aragon, the Principate of Catalonia, the former emirate of Granada, the Virreinate of New Spain (Latin America, with their own inner divissions), the Netherlands (witch in this time where in open rebellion) and some principates and citty states of Itally... and some other colonies as the Phillipines and other territories I'm probably letting out... What I mean is that from a modern perspective, we tend to see compare theese countries with their modern counterparts... but reallitty was quite more 'federal' in nature than what we consider... they where not really countries; but kingdoms; and some royal famillies had begun to acumulate a bunch of them under their belt; and therefore form empires... In the case of the Spanish Empire; the most powerfull kingdom was Castille; witch was rougthlly the north-western half of modern Spain; including Castille itself, the Pricipate of Asurias, the former kingdom of Galicia and the basque provinces... it was the biggest and most poppulated kingdom; so their soldiers and resources where used for 100 years for the expansion of the empire... no wonder castillian (what today we know 'spanish') was the most common language on the empire... but at the time,the other kigdoms that formed the empire still had mutch to say in pollitics. In fact, some time around the events of the movie; the prime minister the count-duque of Olivares passed a law so the other kingdoms of Spain; would put more effort in the upcoming war aggainst France; and sent castillian troops to Catalonia to start the invasion from there... (they wanted to open a land route to suport the war in Flanders and pacify the zone) ...the unrest forthat moovement of castillian troops on Catalonian soil was so big that Catalonia revolted (The revolt of the Reavers) and declared king Phillip (the IIIrd at the timeif not mistaken) not to be king of Catalonia and expelled the castillian troops... ...the plea went wrong; Catalonia was independednt for a very little time, cause France came and occupied Barcelona with haste (Catalonia had been France in the earlly days of the Middle Ages so they had some vague claim) and for ten years Catalonia was part of France (quite unhapilly, cause french soldiers where even less respectfull than the castillians)... But Spain had no time to attend this invasion, as the Portuguese who had their own empire but where also technically part of this super-empire (a generatiion before, last portuguesse king died without an heir and Phillip II of Spain, who was granson of a portuguesse queen had declared himself also king of Portugal uniting both Empires in his Crown); took the opportnity and also revolted... after thoose 10 years; Spain deffinetivelly lost all claim to the Portugesse crown so Spain diverted the attention back to Catalonia and expelled the French; but even then, the Spanish King Phillip the IVth had to pledge as Count of Barcelona to regain the loyallty of the Catalans as his subjects... So as you see, even inside the Peninsula; Spain functioned as 'federation of kingdoms' (or territories if you wish, as Catalonia was a County, sometimes refered as a principate, not technically a kingdom) rather than a 'uniffied nation' as we understand them now...the real unification came later in the XVIIIth and XIXth centuries when the central goverment of Madrid took more and more compentencies imitating the totallitarian example of the France of Phillip the XVth... The transittion of the Medieval Europe to the 'modern national' sistem was way more slow and full of steps than we must think... in the end, every region was loyal to their local governor and everything looked more like to Games of Thrones with locall nobillitty limitating the power of centralized kings and emperors... long story short; it was not only Itally; practically all Spanish territories had quite local autonomy from their king
Highly unknown film, last but not least due to (to my knowledge) sadly no English dub existing. There are German and French dubs though, and the books (at least some of them) are available in English.
Oh, wow! _Alatriste._ Finally! Such a great film, and a rare instance of accurate XVII century warfare on film, from commando raids, to dueling, to siege mining, to the end of the Spanish _tercio_ as the unspoppable military formation at Rocroi.
Spanish Tercios oficially endend in start 18 century no in middle 17 Rocroi is the first great defeat of Tercios in close 150 years after Rocroi exits others victories of Tercios Boulonnais ; Tutlingen; Valenciennes and only defeat in Thionville many historians say the defeat of Tercios in Rocroi is for deficient armament no for soldiers .
¡Hola! In spanish there are no silent letters, (with the exception of the letter "h"), so his name does not sound like "Alatrist" but "AlatristE". The final "e" has to be pronounced. By the way, his surname, Alatriste, is a made up word, composed by two real words: "Ala" which means "Wing", and "triste" which is "sad", so the literal translation would be "Sadwing", although, it's just his name, and don't really has any more meaning than that. His final opponent is not spanish, but italian, and is clearly noticiable in the way he speaks (spanish, but with a strong foreign accent and some italian words here and there, if I recall correctly).
"His final opponent is not spanish, but italian, and is clearly noticiable in the way he speaks" > Gualtiero Malatesta, portrayed by the (modestly famous) Italian actor Enrico Lo Verso.
I know nothing about the story so I don't know if there's a reason for it, but seeing the name, I thought it was "a la triste", so "of the sad" or "from the sad" - presumably "comes from the sad people" as if his parents were notably unfortunate people, perhaps?
@@SirLionel13that’s an interesting guess, but “a la triste” is not the right way to say that in Spanish. In any case should have been “a lo triste”. That sounds a bit weird. Probably Sad Wing (Ala Triste) was the author’s, Arturo Pérez Reverte, intention when creating that last name.
I join the choir about the final moves by Malatesta: he is not meaning to really kill him. He is toying with his victim, and the last moments, when he was just walking around him, and the last stab were to humiliate and prove superiority. Any of them, being (in the story) as skilled, they would know where to stab an almost immobile, downed foe, and not outright kill him. The later duel, between Iñigo and Malatesta, that is a different matter altogether. Before, Malatesta view it as a bloody contest, so he didn't want to just kill him, but to defeat and humiliate. With Iñigo, given he wants to avenge Alatriste, the duel is to the death. Iñigo has zero intentions of drawing it out, zero intentions of toying with the foe, and zero intentions of letting him go alive. It is swift, brutal, and even then, you can see Iñigo's formation as a swordsman: skilled like Alatriste, but with bigger exposure to noble and hidalgo fighters, and he moves with more grace and elegance. I hope you can review that fight, it is a great one. Thanks for all!
Important things about the movie: 1. It is a great piece of cinematography. Scenes shot inside buildings look like 17th paintings that come alive... because apparently same kind of light was used whike making them. 2. It's based of a book cycle created by Arthuro Perez-Reverte. He's also author of "Club Dumas", very crudely made into movie titled "Nine gates", and authir of "The Flanders Panel ", very nicely made into movie titled "Uncovered" with quite young Kate Beckinsale, John Wood and one and only Peter Wingfield (yes, the guy who played Methos). Really, hit your nearest library and ask for Perez-Reverte.
Yeah, those interiors were amazing. Velazquez on film pretty much. I think they tried to put a bit too much into the film though: should probably have based it on slightly fewer of the books.
I actually quite enjoyed the Ninth Gate, but then again I have never read Club Dumas. The acting was definitely great with Frank Langella and Johnny Depp playing off each other very well, although Depp played his protagonist a little TOO well as a very unlikeable person. I really lied something I knew nothing about, the depiction of rare book collecting, and the central mystery. How is the book different? (Generally speaking.)
@squamish4244 There are 2 plots that are connected by the character of Corso (in movie - Johny Deep) and that makes the biggest and most important difference. The reader learns much more about Corso, "the Girl", Corso's friends and associates, the titular Club Dumas, old books and how to forge them. "The Ninth Gate" isn't a bad movie but it falls far from being a good adaptation of the book. On the other hand "Uncovered" manages to keep both of the "Flanders Panel" plots relevant. The change of age of one of the characters and his relations with the main, female, character in a way brings more depth to her relation with a character serving as her father figure.
There are scenes in this movie that make me feel like I’m looking at an oil painting. That scene where he wakes up on the floor of that room, with the sunlight coming through the window. What a film.
Alatriste, is my favorite failed movie (they tried to fit a whole series of books into one film making everything too episodic). This is my favorite scene, because its a small pot of tragedy and has a lot of nuances. Martin used to serve in the same unit with Alatriste. After some campaigning in Flanders he managed to get the job of the constable, due to the influence of his wife's lover. The result was to be called ''cuckold'' by everyone, but NOT Alatriste who always defended him. Alatriste got into a relation with a famous actress (also married). He was ordered to back off after the King took a fancy of her. He ignored the order and its implied that Martin the Constable, along with his former officer and frequent employer/''friend'' count Guadalmedina were sent to deal with him. So in this scene, Alatriste is forced to fight two friends. He just kicked Guadalmedina like a dog for two reasons imo. First and foremost he was a very important noble and friend of the king. Secondly they had a personal relation. Guadalmedina has a green officer barely managing on the field and Alatriste took him under his wing and also saved his life once. The difference of class status was always between them with Guadalmedina pretending that he commanded and Alatriste pretending to obey, but there was some kind of friendship. So in the CONTEXT (lol) of the movie, Alatriste is quite angry with their betrayal but he is not after their blood. My favorite part is after your cut. Alatriste lying there, asking Martin if he is still alive. Martin says not for long, and Alatriste sighs ''shitty life....'' meaning the whole tragedy of their lives as common men.
It's a pity. And the tv series was a failure too. I have the director thought this would be his only chance to make a movie about Alatriste and that's why he didn't such a duma thing.
"He wasn't the most honest, nor the most pious man, but he was brave. His name was Diego Alatriste y Tenorio, and he had fought in the Tercios in the wars of Flanders" Pronounced alah - Trís - teh. stressed in the second syllable.
@@1983pety well, that’s the way I learnt English; Reading. Of course, a few trips to the States helped a lot as well. Ours is a beautiful language, it’s totally worth it.
@@1983pety I have read all of Perez-Reverte's work, he is a fantastic storyteller with scrupulous historical research of his characters. Very engaging books but not just pastimes.
Comfortable with horses, with swords, with Spanish, although the Latin American version, but still, at least sounds natural. Lord of the Rings, Hidalgo, Alatriste.
I have to assume that since he is in Hollywood and a celebrity, that Mortensen is a pervert and elitist and pedophile or a pedophile sympathizer. As a group, they’re a bunch of lowlives
Hello Matt, some info to add. You mention 2 reasons to not to kill the second man, the one who is kicked two times. Here he do not kill him because is a "Grande" from Spain, he is a "high" nobleman. On the other hand, with the fight with Malatesta (que last fight), even that on the plot he is hired to kill Alatriste, both have a relationship of respect and admiration for each other's fencing. So because of respect and honor, Malatesta only wants to deadly wound Alatriste and not to kill him directly. That is why he cuts with the dagger and only stabs the torso, not aiming to the heart or lungs. Also on some "behind scenes" of the film, the fencing master (the same one than in Lord of the Rings, as it was proposed by Viggo. Sorry now I don't remember the name) said that the choreographies will be as most realistic as possible but being artistic. 😅 I hope this explains something😉
You should have added as well that not only it is truly high ranking nobleman but they know each other, fought side-by-side in war, Alatriste even saving his life - in return this Grande was neither in mood to kill Alatriste (later on in the film I guess he even openly stop ideas about taking action against Alatriste). But Alatriste managed to get himself into some important political affairs and into King's affair with his own lover (most likely not exclusively his one ...)
A note about his hat and coat: In Spain, till XVIII century, these was the tipical clothes. in 1766 the minister of Carlos III, Esquilache marquis, prohibited these clothes because he tougth they "allowed anonymity and the ease of hiding weapons". The result was the "motin de Esquilache" (Esquilache Riots) that had very important political consecuences
In Spanish, when you face a dilemma or a very difficult situation, there's a saying: "Estoy entre la espada y la pared", which means, "I'm between a sword and a wall".
La película no salió mal. La presencia de Vigo Mortensen la potencia, sin duda. Pero lo que mas se agradece es que es un película para adultos. Un film raro que con el tiempo ganará en aprecio. Hollywood, debido a su odio a la hispanidad, desaprovecha un mundo impresionante, con una estética muy cinematográfica, como podemos ver, pero sin caer en folclorismos. El imperio español da para toda una franquicia, que los propios españoles no aprovechan debido a la subordinación cultural que padecen desde hace demasiado tiempo.
14:00 As spaniard I can ensure you that the "Capa Castellana" (that cloack) is heavy, and wet... it would be too heavy to manipulate one handed. Just use it when needed. And remember that is very long, sometimes from your neck to your toes.
Good point about it being fatiguing to swing for an extended period of time. Also considering his opponent is quite skilled, it would be risky, they might just sidestep it and stab him. The cloak also obscures your view a lot, so it's harder to parry or dodge any attacks that bypass the cloak.
@GamelessOne I might be massively wrong so sorry in advance if I am, but I think Matt was thinking of the cloak being wrapped around the left hand by a few swings. Making it partially a padded shield as well as a shorter distraction to wave around in defense.
@@bobedwards7632 True, but Matt also mentioned throwing it over the opponent or catching his blade and sort of implied using it more in general to obstruct while his offhand was free. Just pointing out some possible disadvantages about the tactic, could be risky against such a skilled opponent. It's not as reliable as "conventional" defense in this case imo. While it would make more sense against a group of less skilled opponents for example.
@@GamelessOne Considering how common the cloak is mentioned as an offhand for a rapier, I have to assume that even when wet and heavy it could still be an effective defensive tool against even a very skilled opponent.
The advisory for sword fighting in "Alatriste" was provided by the mythical Bob Anderson. He was the responsible for fighting choreografy in the trilogy of "Lord of the rings" , "Star Wars" , "the Princess Bride" and a lot of other films since " The Master of Ballantrae" with Errol Flynn in 1953. Viggo Mortensen, commented in an interview that Bob Anderson was delighted with this film, moren than "The Lord of the rings" . I copy his words: "Bob Anderson left feeling emotional. He told me that he enjoyed this film more than The Lord of the Rings, because Tano (the film's director) let him fight the way he wanted. In sword fights, there is killing, but it is dirty, it is fast: the duels are not endless and unbelievable, but rather dirty and to the death."
Uhhh, we would love it if you could examine EVERY sword fight in this incredible movie?? This is a wildly unappreciated, great film, with great fights.
Hi from Spain. I heard someone fron the direction of the movie in an interview saying that they decided they didn't want hiper fancy fight choreography, just as realistic as they could get it. Viggo mortensen was magnificent, he nailed the Spanish accent and the Spanish marine attitude.
He DIDN'T nail the Spanish accent. At all. You can clearly see him in the movie focusing more on putting the accent than acting, that is not even close to being Spanish. It's impossible to get immersed in the story because of this. He's a great actor but not particularly in this movie, big casting mistake.
It's funny that "the wh*re that bore you" sounds almost formal in English, while the Spanish equivalent is one of the rudest, most vulgar things you can say 😄
@@ArkadiBolschek well, Filipino here. The Spanish colonized us for more than 3 centuries. Guess what name we gave to our most common rice cake? Puto! I'd like to see the look on their faces when they come here as tourists and hear a food hawker yell the word.
Matt, probably should've watched this because it's a good movie and there's a lot of little touches here. (Like the man he kicks on the floor instead of killing him is his friend and a high ranking noble, so extra reasons not to kill him.) Also there's a lot of prior fights between Alatriste and Malatesta, and character notes about both and the situation that add a lot of context.
In regards to opening the fight with a cut, below is a quote from “ Método de Enseñanza de Maestros ” (1639) discussing using a cut (tajo) as an invitation. “ IT has been custom (not only among vulgar masters, but among most men) when one goes to fight, he will invite [llamar] him by throwing a ripped tajo [rompido] with the body remaining uncovered, saying that this will cause me to be wounded, thinking to bring me running, and in the time that it is thrown, he will withdraw the sword, putting it to me, giving a blow with it.”
Ever since childhood, I had always heard the expression, to "pummel" your opponent, but it never occurred to me until you mentioned it that this actually refers to hitting them with the "pommel" of a knife or sword! Thanks, Matt!
That took a while for any of these channels to even touch the movie Capitan Alatriste. You are I believe the first of the serious sword channels to do so.
A number of years ago on a german show of historical weapons, i saw a three person group , showing rapier fencing of 17th century. The leader explained, that in case of lifedanger all kinds of moves, wrestling , boxing, kicking , daggers, throwing hat... was used.
I immediately thought that. Great that you suggested it. The first two movies seem to have pretty good fight arrangement as well as capturing the spirit of the books. All the best.
Finally!, Although it would be great if you also made a commentary on the other "duel" (more like small battle or skirmish) Alatriste and Malatesta had on the ship, I always found that one more "crude" but also very interesting. About the movie: this movie came in 2006, when Alatriste novels were a hit in Spain but it could no be said necessary the same on the rest of the spanish speaking world (that will come later), so when they made the movie it was kind of a "shot in the dark". Since the producers saw the production as a big risk, instead of making many movies for 6 or 7 novels, they made a pastiche of all of them in a single movie (the "put all the eggs in a single basket"), that's why is kinda "clunky" on it's storytelling. Nevertheless, Alatriste has become a sort of "cult film" for anyone who is into the military history of the pike & shot/tercios era (probably the best depiction of that type of fighting in cinema so far), the history of the Spanish Empire ("hispanistas"), and into the spanish school of fencing (Verdadera and Vulgar Destreza)... so naturally I love it lol.
In the Spain of the XVI-XVII century it was common among Spanish and Italian swordsmen above all, to have a rapier and a dagger or Vizcaina (it was not known as a dagger, but by Vizcaina). In the fencing manuals and schools (remember that fencing was born in Spain) hand-to-hand combat was taught and seeking proximity to the opponent so that while you used the rapier to attack and deceive the opponent you ended up using the Vizcaina to cut or stab the opponent. The English had a saying not to fight against the Spanish with a sword. "I want to see the Spanish by sea, if it is by land may Saint George protect us." For example, in the Court of Paris a French nobleman wanted to humiliate the Spanish Ambassador before the King laughing at his size (for being small) to which the Ambassador replied "Where a Spaniard does not reach with his hand, he reaches with his sword." Therefore, in the combat scene between Alatriste and Gualterio Malatesta, in my opinion, the Vizcaina is well used.
Arturo Perez-Reverte, the writer of the Alatriste novels, has another novel with fencing playing a role in the plot and there is a movie based on the novel: El Maestro de Esgrima / The Fencing Master (1992). There are clips of the movie on YT.
Another of his novels, El húsar portraits the brutal reality of what was essentially a guerrilla war against the occupying Napoleonic forces in Spain. Napoleonic warfare was absolutely brutal
The way I see the fight, the reason they engaged so close (min 13:05) was because Alatriste's parrying opened a gap that Malatesta used to attack with the dagger. Hence the need to short the distance.
Very good commentaries on the fight and its movements in a historical context. One suggestion - play the fight in its totality first then again with commentaries. This allows those of us who have not seen the movie to see the entire fight and then listen to your comments and see how each part of the fight leads to another.
Speaking of training to fight from a disadvantaged position; when I was studying and teaching in a Kung Fu temple (what other arts might call a dojo or gym), we built a mock-up of a public restroom; stalls with doors, toilets, ADA grab-bars, the works; and simulated defending ourselves while in one the most compromising positions one could be in. It was a lot of fun, and very educational. Statistically speaking, public restrooms are one of the most, if not _the most,_ likely locations to find oneself attacked in. I highly recommend it!
Alatriste es un apellido y en la novela es el apellido de el personaje . Es un apellido que en España ya no existe solo en México y es el apellido del editor que Reverte tenía o tiene en México .
I loved this movie, all the sword fights in it were relatively good, Its awesome you mentioned the "protect the wall" drill, I've used it with my students with longsword for years and its lots of fun
Funny thing: I made a comment about watching out for Left Handed Fencers quite a while ago and I was excoriated, attacked, ridiculed and basically called stupid. Now Matt has said the same thing and even pointed it out in the treatises .... Whatever ... As usu, great content. Thank you.
@@vadimflaks7795 I made a general comment just like this one and several people ganged up on me. Disorienting is a very good word to describe the feeling. Thanks for the reply. Cheers!
@@kaoskronostyche9939 but seriously. Since I faced my first lefie in competetive Viking Fighting Reenactment in 1993, I have known that. And it was well known already then.
I whacked my coach with wide swing with military saber onto unarmored calf bone because I didn't know he didn't have armor there, it did visible red mark from blade, and he was limping for the end of a day, but I didn't feel like it affected fight itself in a moment
I was watching/listening to a video of the organ music of the Spanish composer Francisco Arauxo (1584-1654) played by a classmate of mine. It goes so beautifully with these scenes, both chronologically, and stylistically!
Well, it's a movie, that's theatrical fencing. I practice HEMA and I know some things about the Spanish school of fencing from the XVII c. The fencing treatises from Jerónimo Sánchez de Carranza and Luis Pacheco de Narváez should have been read for making the coreographies of this movie.
Hello Matt. First of all I love your content. I wanted to provide some insight in regards to colours used for outfits in the film. 17th Century was really colourful but not in the Hispanic Monarchy, Felipe IV out of his worship to his Grandfather Felipe II recovered the etiquette and morals from the latest. That dressing etiquette was called "vestir a la española" (dressing in the spanish way) which esentially consisted in dressing black. The black was a symbol of both commitment to the containment and severity of catholics morals (and rulers should be public example of that) and the colonial power. Until the discovery of the wood "Palo campeche" in America dying clothes in black was a very difficult process with very poor results in terms colour quality. The appeareance of this material allowed to create strong blacks, and soon this colour became fashion in the late 16th and the ingredient one of the most succesful export goods for the hispanic merchants. By stepping back to the black clothes, Felipe IV and his assesors wanted to resemble back the power of the previous century during a complex time when the Reformist countries were actually winning the Religion Wars and also Stablish a differetiation with the other Catholic power of the continent France and its exhuberant proto-rococo. Would the common folk follow this fashion? People like Alatriste or the bailiff? Of course but within the limits of their economies. The good black clothes would be still expensive, so they would wear black clothes using the old dying method (which would easily turn into dark grey) or very dark brown clothes specially in the form of curated leather vests useful as protection in swordfights. You can read more details in these two articles (translator will do good since it is quite academic vocabulary) difundirelarte.com/vestir-a-la-espanola-el-color-negro-en-la-corte-de-los-austrias-parte-i/ difundirelarte.com/vestir-a-la-espanola-el-color-negro-en-la-corte-de-los-austrias-parte-ii/
Very good point. And the black in Spanish Empire and in the Catholic Christians in those epochs meant a symbol of "purity", "humility", "austerity", etc. In the English American Protestant colonies in the 17th and 18th centuries meant the same for example, for that reason the people carried black dresses too. It was common in these times in many places of all Europe, because Spain was the hegemonic in the world and it had much influence in mode, language, economy, fight, batle, etc, as nowadays the American of the US in the world in general and maybe the Chineese or another nation one day too. It´s a natural fact in the humankind history. Regards.
Something I want to mention here regarding the use of the cloak in sword fighting: a variation of using cloak and sword actually lasted longer than the 17th century! In parts of Mexico, a type of knife known as a “Scorpion Knife” or “Mexican Bowie Knife” (similar to a typical bowie knife but with a longer clipped point and more narrow overall), was popular from the mid-1800s all the way up until the 1940s that was often paired with the use of a civilian coat or jacket wrapped around or clutched in the off-hand for use in obscuring movements and grabbing opponents’ knives. It’s got a bit of buckler-y flavor to it imo, but it was descended from 17th century cloak use and occasionally got referenced in old Mexican art from that time period.
There really aren't enough Pike and Shot films, its one of the most fascinating historical eras, both for cultural and social reasons as well as military history.
"It's not about fencing, It's about fighting". Totally agree. Nowadays, when we practice historical fencing, boxing, muay thai, MMA or whatever, we are not fighting, we are playing a game with rules; we play fight. We don't fight for our lives. There is a big difference.
I can confirm that grappling is very common in all kinds of real sword fights (except maybe those with something in the offhand, like a buckler or dagger) having seen and experienced it with every weapon I practice with, even with longswords.
It is based on the novels of Arturo Perez Reverte (The Adventures of Captain Alatriste), in which the novels accurately portray how ordinary people lived in the Spain of Philip III, the protagonist being a veteran of the Tercios who is forced to accept unethical mercenary assignments in order to survive. I recommend reading it, it is very well documented with historical records.
I hope we all appreciate that Matt is always holding a nice representation of the item in question into the camera. And especially with Matt moving it around a little bit you can get a much better picture and a sense of appreciation. Me like something nice to look at. 👍
At about 13:04, when they get into a close grapple... it seems to me that the reason for the grappling was that Alatriste had blocked the attackers sword and was keeping the sword engaged. The attacker then moved in close in order to try and make an attack with his dagger. At which point Alatriste does exactly what one should do in such a situation, and grabbed the attackers left arm, thus bringing them into a close grapple.
GREAT ANALYSIS. I STRONGLY RECOMMEND YOU TOP READ THE MEMOIRS OF THE SPANISH SOLDIER MIGUEL DE CASTRO, IM WHICH HE DESCRIBED IN DETAIL THE RAPIER FIGHTS HE WAS INVOLVED IN . I ALSO RECOMMEND YOU THE MOVIE " JUAN MOREIRA " OF LEONARDO FAVIO, IN WHICH YOU SEE VERY WELL THE WAY GAUCHOS DUELLED USING PONCHO ( HEIR OF THE CLOAK) AND FACON ( HEIR OF THE DAGGER )
Long time follower of the channel and I never thought this would come up. It is such a fantastic film based in a period we hear very little about in the UK (we were too busy with our own nonsense 😂).
Greetings from Florida Matt! Since you’ve now covered this fight from Alatriste, you could cover the revenge duel between Inigo and Malatesta which takes place later in the film. You’ll have a field day with that one, I’m certain of it.
Back when, a friend and I spent quite some time fencing in an absence of any formal rules, and had a go at sword-and-cloak (denim jacket, actually). We found that using the cloak (jacket) was a substantial advantage in deflecting the foe's blade aside for a quick attack, and disentangling the blade from the cloak (jacket) was not so easy.
Great analysis, thank you! I would add - the soundtrack is great! The scene begins with spanish guitar, and then we hear just the rain and the sounds of the fight. Common strategy of modern moviemakers would be to use movie music, often quite modern music, to enhance the athmosphere and emotions of the scene. But the decision not to do it made the scene more naturalistic, more real, and enabled me to empathise with the participants more. It felt like watching real fight from 17th century, where real people's lives are at stake. (And it reminded me of final duel from Rob Roy, that is also without music, just clash of steel and heavy breathing.)
Great movie and great atmosphere on the various locations. The scene after this with the sun shining into the room should be a painting. I've seen it several times, unfortunately not in the cinema on a big screen. One of the things that makes it authentic is actually that they speak Spanish in the movie.
Gualtiero Malatesta, the Italian killer, with an I T A L I A N stance ( :D ), speaks Spanish with a strong Italian accent, which I found quite interesting. At the end of the encounter, he pierces Alatriste and says in Latin, "sic transit gloria mundi." However, Alatriste survives, as we later see him at the magnificent Battle of Rocroi..
One thing missed: Alatriste's opponent had a leverage advantage in grappling with his back against the wall but squandered it by moving a step forwards. You can see him struggle, almost tip backwards. It's natural to want to get away from the wall but could have moved that back foot back against the wall to push and had a stronger base at that moment. Great scene and commentary
In the books Alatriste is infamous for not drawing his dagger until the enemy is very close. He waits until the opponent's face is close to his own and draws his dagger and slashes his opponent in the gut. The idea is that the opponent cannot see him draw and attack and is taken by surprise. Not the most honorable move, but in the novels it is stated that it is a tactic that is not unique to Alatriste. In fact Alatriste's dagger and scabbard are specially designed to be used in this way.
The Three Musketeers (1973) has a couple fights with interesting side arms. I rewatched it recently, and forgot they had a rapier and lantern fight. Christopher Lee plays Rochefort.
Nice review. The actors were coached by Jesús Esperanza for the fencing scenes, he is the best theatrical fencing master in Spain and also proficient sport fencing master.
You've mentioned the film I'd like to see analysed. The Princess Bride. Particularly, the fight between Wesley and Inigo. Also, more obscurely, the film "By the Sword", starring Eric Roberts and F Murray Abraham.
I'd love you to take a look at some of the war scenes in this film, like the camp raid at the beginning ("encamisada"), the siege scene with the mines and countermines, or the pike and shot scenes from the final battle. In general, I'd like to see more battle scene reviews in addition to the usual small fights.
It's interesting that he mentions a swing is more instinctive than a thrust. The rear straight punch (or rear cross in boxing) is the most powerful punch there is, but has to be trained into someone. Otherwise people will instinctively throw wild haymakers that are easily dodged.
I really enjoy Viggo Mortensen (Sorry if I spelled his name wrong) as an actor but especially as a swordsman in choreography because when he was trained for The Lord of the Rings movies, the sword master who taught him (whose name is legendary in the film industry and among swordsmen in general, but I sadly forget it at the moment) stated that Viggo was the most talented student he had ever had. I'm paraphrasing of course, but that was the general point of the statement, although not the exact wording.
Cuts to the head in an actual sharps fight are extremely good moves provided you can pull them off on account of blood blinding. The forehead is packed with capillaries to feed your facial muscles and even a shallow cut will release a gushing amount of blood which will likely blind your foe, or at least inconvenience them greatly.
Interesting when talking about Italian style is the fact that in that time a huge part of Italy was controlled by Spain (see Treaty of Cateau-Cambrésis that ended the wars that started in the Borgias series *laughs)...
Bit of a longshot, Matt, but do you have photos of that Spanish rapier anywhere online? I know you mentioned it was mass-produced for soldiers, so I'm hoping I could find a gallery somewhere. I think it's beautiful and would love to get a HEMA trainer made to look like it 😄
Matt had some really juicy phrases this video, including the obvious advice on psychological manipulation, and left handed being "kinda squashed a bit" *motions gently* 😂😂😂 Great video as always sir
The was also a variant of the secrete which also had folding drop down bars to help shield the face and a full iron helmet styled to resemble the hats of the period and were often blackened or lined with felt or cloth to help disguise them as regular civilian headwear
I had the DVD but it was called Captian Alatriste in small letters and the heading was The Spanish Musketeer . A great movie but found out i needed new glasses when the subtitles came up .
As side note 12:45, the spanish equivalent of "between a rock and a hard place" is "entre la espada y la pared", literally 'between the sword and the wall'.
thats awesome
Nice.
Way cooler than Finnish equivalent "puun ja kuoren välissä", "between the tree and the bark". :D
@vesasilander4292 Or the Hollywood version " between Diddy and the couch".
@@raimundotorres44 between Justin and Diddy.😅
After bugging Matt in comments for 10 years, he finally does it
Thank you for your service.
Same thought here, our labour paid off finally
Good job holding the course, been waiting for this one for a long time as well.
The man is a trained archaeologist. So it needed a decade or more before he can take interest
Bullying works!
There is a fantastic battle scene later in the movie that kinda suffers from the limited budget (so not a lot of extras and effects) but probably the best pike and shot representation in cinema like ever. I think it would be a good thing to review too.
Love you man!
Yes, that scene was awesome and kind of terrible at the same time. But only because the tercio only had like 73 dudes in it. I forgive that, because the battle was very well done!
Nastiest (and best) impression of a "push of pike" I've ever seen.
the worst bit of that scene was the french suddenly talking in English which kind of seemed really odd.
Definitely. Best push-of-pike I've seen.
There is something that non Spanish speakers may not notice inmediately, he is not dubbed. He is actually speaking Spanish the whole movie. It is well known that Vigo grew up in Argentina, and so he has a strong Agentinian accent when he does interviews in Spanish but as a dedicated method actor he took a coach to soften his Argentinian accent and express with the manerisms and the old Castillian accent... such a great work!
As spanish speaker originally from Spain I can say he had a very odd and weird accent that had nothing to do with castillian accent. Anyway we apreciated he tried his best but it was not the best casting for the rol
No,not a great work.....Any Spanish from Spain talks like that,it seems a parody.
@@yisusferro603 Likely cast due to being so well known along with being able to speak Spanish.
As a non-Spanish speaker, I noticed about halfway through the video that it sounded suspiciously like the voice I recognised, and came to the comments hoping to see someone who knew if that was him or not! Thanks for answering me before I knew to ask the question!
@@swordofcrom6023 As a Spaniard from Spain and a Manchego, I assure you we don’t speak like that. In fact, there is a great diversity of accents throughout Spain, from the south to the north, each with its own unique characteristics and nuances. In the north, you’ll find accents such as Galician, Astur-Leonese, Cantabrian, or Basque; in the center, the Manchego (my accent), Castilian, and Madrilenian stand out; in the east, Valencian, Murcian, and Catalan; and in the south, the Andalusian and Canary Island accents.
Alatriste is one of those novels that makes me glad I am a native Spanish speaker. And thus appreciate in its fullness that sweet sweet old Spanish.
Everything Perez-Reverte has written is exquisite
Weep for me as when I started to learn the language, I was not taught pure Spanish. I was instead taught spanglish. I've tried to clean it up, but I still have far too bad habits.
I actually watched it because I was interested in everything spanish from language to history so watching while also learning spanish made it both fun and educational.
As a bit of additional info from the novels: The sheriff, Martin Saldaña, has had to cope with everyone calling him a cuckold behind his back his entire adult life, since he got the job thanks to his wife's influence, and hearing it from a lifelong friend would most definitely send him into a blind rage. Also, Gualterio Malatesta, his second opponent, is quite haughty and has a feud and rivalry spanning years as to who among them is the better swordsman, so any chance he gets, he tries to show off and "play with his food", so to speak, rather than go for the kill straight away, so whenever he wounds Alatriste tries to do so as to incapacitate.
I seem to remember that Malatesta was also supposed to be Italian, or from Spanish occupied Sicily. Matt must not have finished the movie, because our boy Alatriste definitely doesn't die here. The offense to his honor causes his protege to take revenge though, which is another great duel in this movie. So dramatic.
And as later shown in this same film, it was indeed a ploy to goad the man into reckless behavior. Calling him a cuckold was entirely insincere and Alitriste actually quite liked him.
@@zedlav6975 The Malatesta are indeed an italian noble family from that time. But if i'm not mistaken they were from Lombardy, wich at that time was also occupied by the Spanish. Sicily on the other hand wasn't technically part of Spain, it was a kingdom ruled by the same royal house as Spain.
Was Alatriste drunk in this scene? Haven't seen the film, but sort of looks like he is.
@@arx3516 Technically.... ALL Spain was like that XDD I mean; while the Spanish Empire was a thing; the reallitty was that it was a Crown with multiple kingdoms on it. The Hasburg Familly (Phillip the IVth if I don't recallit wrong) had inherited the kigdoms of Castille, Navarre, Aragon, the Principate of Catalonia, the former emirate of Granada, the Virreinate of New Spain (Latin America, with their own inner divissions), the Netherlands (witch in this time where in open rebellion) and some principates and citty states of Itally... and some other colonies as the Phillipines and other territories I'm probably letting out...
What I mean is that from a modern perspective, we tend to see compare theese countries with their modern counterparts... but reallitty was quite more 'federal' in nature than what we consider... they where not really countries; but kingdoms; and some royal famillies had begun to acumulate a bunch of them under their belt; and therefore form empires...
In the case of the Spanish Empire; the most powerfull kingdom was Castille; witch was rougthlly the north-western half of modern Spain; including Castille itself, the Pricipate of Asurias, the former kingdom of Galicia and the basque provinces... it was the biggest and most poppulated kingdom; so their soldiers and resources where used for 100 years for the expansion of the empire... no wonder castillian (what today we know 'spanish') was the most common language on the empire... but at the time,the other kigdoms that formed the empire still had mutch to say in pollitics.
In fact, some time around the events of the movie; the prime minister the count-duque of Olivares passed a law so the other kingdoms of Spain; would put more effort in the upcoming war aggainst France; and sent castillian troops to Catalonia to start the invasion from there... (they wanted to open a land route to suport the war in Flanders and pacify the zone)
...the unrest forthat moovement of castillian troops on Catalonian soil was so big that Catalonia revolted (The revolt of the Reavers) and declared king Phillip (the IIIrd at the timeif not mistaken) not to be king of Catalonia and expelled the castillian troops...
...the plea went wrong; Catalonia was independednt for a very little time, cause France came and occupied Barcelona with haste (Catalonia had been France in the earlly days of the Middle Ages so they had some vague claim) and for ten years Catalonia was part of France (quite unhapilly, cause french soldiers where even less respectfull than the castillians)...
But Spain had no time to attend this invasion, as the Portuguese who had their own empire but where also technically part of this super-empire (a generatiion before, last portuguesse king died without an heir and Phillip II of Spain, who was granson of a portuguesse queen had declared himself also king of Portugal uniting both Empires in his Crown); took the opportnity and also revolted... after thoose 10 years; Spain deffinetivelly lost all claim to the Portugesse crown so Spain diverted the attention back to Catalonia and expelled the French; but even then, the Spanish King Phillip the IVth had to pledge as Count of Barcelona to regain the loyallty of the Catalans as his subjects...
So as you see, even inside the Peninsula; Spain functioned as 'federation of kingdoms' (or territories if you wish, as Catalonia was a County, sometimes refered as a principate, not technically a kingdom) rather than a 'uniffied nation' as we understand them now...the real unification came later in the XVIIIth and XIXth centuries when the central goverment of Madrid took more and more compentencies imitating the totallitarian example of the France of Phillip the XVth...
The transittion of the Medieval Europe to the 'modern national' sistem was way more slow and full of steps than we must think... in the end, every region was loyal to their local governor and everything looked more like to Games of Thrones with locall nobillitty limitating the power of centralized kings and emperors... long story short; it was not only Itally; practically all Spanish territories had quite local autonomy from their king
Highly underrated film !!!!!
It's amazing isn't it!
One of the most historically accurate and a true embodiment of the decline of the Spanish Empire, a masterpiece
I wish it was in English
I wish I could get a copy. The distributors of the movie are 💩.
Highly unknown film, last but not least due to (to my knowledge) sadly no English dub existing. There are German and French dubs though, and the books (at least some of them) are available in English.
Oh, wow!
_Alatriste._ Finally!
Such a great film, and a rare instance of accurate XVII century warfare on film, from commando raids, to dueling, to siege mining, to the end of the Spanish _tercio_ as the unspoppable military formation at Rocroi.
Spanish Tercios oficially endend in start 18 century no in middle 17 Rocroi is the first great defeat of Tercios in close 150 years after Rocroi exits others victories of Tercios Boulonnais ; Tutlingen; Valenciennes and only defeat in Thionville many historians say the defeat of Tercios in Rocroi is for deficient armament no for soldiers .
¡Hola! In spanish there are no silent letters, (with the exception of the letter "h"), so his name does not sound like "Alatrist" but "AlatristE". The final "e" has to be pronounced.
By the way, his surname, Alatriste, is a made up word, composed by two real words: "Ala" which means "Wing", and "triste" which is "sad", so the literal translation would be "Sadwing", although, it's just his name, and don't really has any more meaning than that.
His final opponent is not spanish, but italian, and is clearly noticiable in the way he speaks (spanish, but with a strong foreign accent and some italian words here and there, if I recall correctly).
Cause it's SPANISH, not French ¿qué no?
Yeah I kept thinking about that last "e"
And I don't even speak much Spanish...
"His final opponent is not spanish, but italian, and is clearly noticiable in the way he speaks" > Gualtiero Malatesta, portrayed by the (modestly famous) Italian actor Enrico Lo Verso.
I know nothing about the story so I don't know if there's a reason for it, but seeing the name, I thought it was "a la triste", so "of the sad" or "from the sad" - presumably "comes from the sad people" as if his parents were notably unfortunate people, perhaps?
@@SirLionel13that’s an interesting guess, but “a la triste” is not the right way to say that in Spanish. In any case should have been “a lo triste”. That sounds a bit weird. Probably Sad Wing (Ala Triste) was the author’s, Arturo Pérez Reverte, intention when creating that last name.
I join the choir about the final moves by Malatesta: he is not meaning to really kill him. He is toying with his victim, and the last moments, when he was just walking around him, and the last stab were to humiliate and prove superiority. Any of them, being (in the story) as skilled, they would know where to stab an almost immobile, downed foe, and not outright kill him.
The later duel, between Iñigo and Malatesta, that is a different matter altogether. Before, Malatesta view it as a bloody contest, so he didn't want to just kill him, but to defeat and humiliate. With Iñigo, given he wants to avenge Alatriste, the duel is to the death. Iñigo has zero intentions of drawing it out, zero intentions of toying with the foe, and zero intentions of letting him go alive. It is swift, brutal, and even then, you can see Iñigo's formation as a swordsman: skilled like Alatriste, but with bigger exposure to noble and hidalgo fighters, and he moves with more grace and elegance.
I hope you can review that fight, it is a great one. Thanks for all!
Important things about the movie:
1. It is a great piece of cinematography. Scenes shot inside buildings look like 17th paintings that come alive... because apparently same kind of light was used whike making them.
2. It's based of a book cycle created by Arthuro Perez-Reverte. He's also author of "Club Dumas", very crudely made into movie titled "Nine gates", and authir of "The Flanders Panel ", very nicely made into movie titled "Uncovered" with quite young Kate Beckinsale, John Wood and one and only Peter Wingfield (yes, the guy who played Methos). Really, hit your nearest library and ask for Perez-Reverte.
Yeah, those interiors were amazing. Velazquez on film pretty much. I think they tried to put a bit too much into the film though: should probably have based it on slightly fewer of the books.
The problem is the Alatriste books were too short for making a movie from each one, but too long to put them in one movie and it shows
I actually quite enjoyed the Ninth Gate, but then again I have never read Club Dumas. The acting was definitely great with Frank Langella and Johnny Depp playing off each other very well, although Depp played his protagonist a little TOO well as a very unlikeable person. I really lied something I knew nothing about, the depiction of rare book collecting, and the central mystery. How is the book different? (Generally speaking.)
@squamish4244 There are 2 plots that are connected by the character of Corso (in movie - Johny Deep) and that makes the biggest and most important difference.
The reader learns much more about Corso, "the Girl", Corso's friends and associates, the titular Club Dumas, old books and how to forge them. "The Ninth Gate" isn't a bad movie but it falls far from being a good adaptation of the book.
On the other hand "Uncovered" manages to keep both of the "Flanders Panel" plots relevant. The change of age of one of the characters and his relations with the main, female, character in a way brings more depth to her relation with a character serving as her father figure.
the Battle scene in Alatriste with the clash of pikes is awesome and would be well worth a review :)
Battle of Rocroi 1643 i think
This scene needs about 2000 extras more,looks like a street gang fight.
@@swordofcrom6023 haha of course
The clash of pikes and the scrambling underneath them to shank the opposition is still second to none tho mate 🙏
There are scenes in this movie that make me feel like I’m looking at an oil painting. That scene where he wakes up on the floor of that room, with the sunlight coming through the window. What a film.
Alatriste, is my favorite failed movie (they tried to fit a whole series of books into one film making everything too episodic). This is my favorite scene, because its a small pot of tragedy and has a lot of nuances. Martin used to serve in the same unit with Alatriste. After some campaigning in Flanders he managed to get the job of the constable, due to the influence of his wife's lover. The result was to be called ''cuckold'' by everyone, but NOT Alatriste who always defended him. Alatriste got into a relation with a famous actress (also married). He was ordered to back off after the King took a fancy of her. He ignored the order and its implied that Martin the Constable, along with his former officer and frequent employer/''friend'' count Guadalmedina were sent to deal with him.
So in this scene, Alatriste is forced to fight two friends. He just kicked Guadalmedina like a dog for two reasons imo. First and foremost he was a very important noble and friend of the king. Secondly they had a personal relation. Guadalmedina has a green officer barely managing on the field and Alatriste took him under his wing and also saved his life once. The difference of class status was always between them with Guadalmedina pretending that he commanded and Alatriste pretending to obey, but there was some kind of friendship. So in the CONTEXT (lol) of the movie, Alatriste is quite angry with their betrayal but he is not after their blood.
My favorite part is after your cut. Alatriste lying there, asking Martin if he is still alive. Martin says not for long, and Alatriste sighs ''shitty life....'' meaning the whole tragedy of their lives as common men.
It's a pity. And the tv series was a failure too. I have the director thought this would be his only chance to make a movie about Alatriste and that's why he didn't such a duma thing.
"He wasn't the most honest, nor the most pious man, but he was brave. His name was Diego Alatriste y Tenorio, and he had fought in the Tercios in the wars of Flanders"
Pronounced alah - Trís - teh. stressed in the second syllable.
Thanks, that was hard to hear.
I've read the books as well, except el puente de los assassinos, couldn't find it in English and my Spanish is a little rusty.
@@1983pety well, that’s the way I learnt English; Reading. Of course, a few trips to the States helped a lot as well.
Ours is a beautiful language, it’s totally worth it.
@@1983pety I have read all of Perez-Reverte's work, he is a fantastic storyteller with scrupulous historical research of his characters. Very engaging books but not just pastimes.
Viggo Mortensen. From everything I've seen and heard, is quite a fantastic gentleman.
And he has a fantastic mustache in the movie.
@MontanaRodes-u2n it's not easy to do. I've been trying for decades.
Comfortable with horses, with swords, with Spanish, although the Latin American version, but still, at least sounds natural. Lord of the Rings, Hidalgo, Alatriste.
I have to assume that since he is in Hollywood and a celebrity, that Mortensen is a pervert and elitist and pedophile or a pedophile sympathizer. As a group, they’re a bunch of lowlives
Speak Spanish excellent for living in Argentina 11 years in Madrid lives since many years ago.
Suggestion: Richard Lester's Three Musketeers and Four Musketeers.
And I agree, Alatriste is an underrated film.
Hello Matt, some info to add. You mention 2 reasons to not to kill the second man, the one who is kicked two times. Here he do not kill him because is a "Grande" from Spain, he is a "high" nobleman. On the other hand, with the fight with Malatesta (que last fight), even that on the plot he is hired to kill Alatriste, both have a relationship of respect and admiration for each other's fencing. So because of respect and honor, Malatesta only wants to deadly wound Alatriste and not to kill him directly. That is why he cuts with the dagger and only stabs the torso, not aiming to the heart or lungs. Also on some "behind scenes" of the film, the fencing master (the same one than in Lord of the Rings, as it was proposed by Viggo. Sorry now I don't remember the name) said that the choreographies will be as most realistic as possible but being artistic. 😅 I hope this explains something😉
El gran Bob Anderson fue el maestro de esgrima aquí y en ‘El Señor …. ‘
@@nobodyexpectssi4654
You're correct, Bob Anderson, the fencing coach from Erroll Flynn to Viggo Mortenson, and almost everyone in between.
@@eldorados_lost_searcher ⚔
You should have added as well that not only it is truly high ranking nobleman but they know each other, fought side-by-side in war, Alatriste even saving his life - in return this Grande was neither in mood to kill Alatriste (later on in the film I guess he even openly stop ideas about taking action against Alatriste).
But Alatriste managed to get himself into some important political affairs and into King's affair with his own lover (most likely not exclusively his one ...)
A note about his hat and coat: In Spain, till XVIII century, these was the tipical clothes. in 1766 the minister of Carlos III, Esquilache marquis, prohibited these clothes because he tougth they "allowed anonymity and the ease of hiding weapons". The result was the "motin de Esquilache" (Esquilache Riots) that had very important political consecuences
In Spanish, when you face a dilemma or a very difficult situation, there's a saying: "Estoy entre la espada y la pared", which means, "I'm between a sword and a wall".
Yes, here you go. Great movie, thank you for taking care of our suggestions. Great work.
La película no salió mal. La presencia de Vigo Mortensen la potencia, sin duda. Pero lo que mas se agradece es que es un película para adultos. Un film raro que con el tiempo ganará en aprecio.
Hollywood, debido a su odio a la hispanidad, desaprovecha un mundo impresionante, con una estética muy cinematográfica, como podemos ver, pero sin caer en folclorismos. El imperio español da para toda una franquicia, que los propios españoles no aprovechan debido a la subordinación cultural que padecen desde hace demasiado tiempo.
14:00 As spaniard I can ensure you that the "Capa Castellana" (that cloack) is heavy, and wet... it would be too heavy to manipulate one handed. Just use it when needed. And remember that is very long, sometimes from your neck to your toes.
Interesante
Good point about it being fatiguing to swing for an extended period of time. Also considering his opponent is quite skilled, it would be risky, they might just sidestep it and stab him. The cloak also obscures your view a lot, so it's harder to parry or dodge any attacks that bypass the cloak.
@GamelessOne I might be massively wrong so sorry in advance if I am, but I think Matt was thinking of the cloak being wrapped around the left hand by a few swings. Making it partially a padded shield as well as a shorter distraction to wave around in defense.
@@bobedwards7632 True, but Matt also mentioned throwing it over the opponent or catching his blade and sort of implied using it more in general to obstruct while his offhand was free. Just pointing out some possible disadvantages about the tactic, could be risky against such a skilled opponent. It's not as reliable as "conventional" defense in this case imo. While it would make more sense against a group of less skilled opponents for example.
@@GamelessOne Considering how common the cloak is mentioned as an offhand for a rapier, I have to assume that even when wet and heavy it could still be an effective defensive tool against even a very skilled opponent.
The advisory for sword fighting in "Alatriste" was provided by the mythical Bob Anderson. He was the responsible for fighting choreografy in the trilogy of "Lord of the rings" , "Star Wars" , "the Princess Bride" and a lot of other films since " The Master of Ballantrae" with Errol Flynn in 1953.
Viggo Mortensen, commented in an interview that Bob Anderson was delighted with this film, moren than "The Lord of the rings" . I copy his words:
"Bob Anderson left feeling emotional. He told me that he enjoyed this film more than The Lord of the Rings, because Tano (the film's director) let him fight the way he wanted. In sword fights, there is killing, but it is dirty, it is fast: the duels are not endless and unbelievable, but rather dirty and to the death."
Uhhh, we would love it if you could examine EVERY sword fight in this incredible movie??
This is a wildly unappreciated, great film, with great fights.
Hi from Spain. I heard someone fron the direction of the movie in an interview saying that they decided they didn't want hiper fancy fight choreography, just as realistic as they could get it. Viggo mortensen was magnificent, he nailed the Spanish accent and the Spanish marine attitude.
The movie sword fighting is very realistic portrayal of fighting between people who do not know rapier technique.
He DIDN'T nail the Spanish accent. At all. You can clearly see him in the movie focusing more on putting the accent than acting, that is not even close to being Spanish. It's impossible to get immersed in the story because of this. He's a great actor but not particularly in this movie, big casting mistake.
@@Vmvmvmvmvmvmv no concuerdo...
Thank you for covering this one, it is one of my favorite movies.
It's funny that "the wh*re that bore you" sounds almost formal in English, while the Spanish equivalent is one of the rudest, most vulgar things you can say 😄
@@ArkadiBolschek well, Filipino here. The Spanish colonized us for more than 3 centuries. Guess what name we gave to our most common rice cake? Puto! I'd like to see the look on their faces when they come here as tourists and hear a food hawker yell the word.
That fight was at a cloister, in a church, just a minute far walking from my house in Spain.....
Matt, probably should've watched this because it's a good movie and there's a lot of little touches here. (Like the man he kicks on the floor instead of killing him is his friend and a high ranking noble, so extra reasons not to kill him.)
Also there's a lot of prior fights between Alatriste and Malatesta, and character notes about both and the situation that add a lot of context.
Alatriste is Alatriste, not Alatrist. The e of the end it´s not silent in Spanish.
Hearing that kept bugging the fuck outta me. No entiendo lo difícil de pronunciar la "e" al final...
Alatriste means something like SadWing.
It would like we pronounce it like "SandWin" without the G at the end. Sounds weird.
@@antoniolopezlopez4236 Yes but is a personal pronom. It haven´t translation.
“To the sad”
For those who are not Spanish speakers, the final “e” in Alatriste is not silent, we are not french.
Fantastic movie. I strongly reccomend it. As a Swede I was delighted to see Swedish cavalry and infantry also fighting in the movie. Very nicely done.
In regards to opening the fight with a cut, below is a quote from “ Método de Enseñanza de Maestros ” (1639) discussing using a cut (tajo) as an invitation.
“ IT has been custom (not only among vulgar masters, but among
most men) when one goes to fight, he will invite [llamar] him by
throwing a ripped tajo [rompido] with the body remaining
uncovered, saying that this will cause me to be wounded, thinking
to bring me running, and in the time that it is thrown, he will
withdraw the sword, putting it to me, giving a blow with it.”
Ever since childhood, I had always heard the expression, to "pummel" your opponent, but it never occurred to me until you mentioned it that this actually refers to hitting them with the "pommel" of a knife or sword! Thanks, Matt!
That took a while for any of these channels to even touch the movie Capitan Alatriste. You are I believe the first of the serious sword channels to do so.
Great review. We need more Spanish historical movies.
A number of years ago on a german show of historical weapons, i saw a three person group , showing rapier fencing of 17th century. The leader explained, that in case of lifedanger all kinds of moves, wrestling , boxing, kicking , daggers, throwing hat... was used.
Please can you review the 1973 Three Musketeers, court yard fight! It's more of a brawl with swords!
The final duel with Michael York vs Christopher Lee in the Church in The Four Musketeers.
Eso se rodó en Toledo. Richard Lester, estupendo
Concretamente es el patio del Hospital Tavera. Maravilloso lugar. Otras escenas se rodaron en Toledo y en palacios de Madrid y alrededores
I immediately thought that. Great that you suggested it. The first two movies seem to have pretty good fight arrangement as well as capturing the spirit of the books.
All the best.
Finally!, Although it would be great if you also made a commentary on the other "duel" (more like small battle or skirmish) Alatriste and Malatesta had on the ship, I always found that one more "crude" but also very interesting.
About the movie: this movie came in 2006, when Alatriste novels were a hit in Spain but it could no be said necessary the same on the rest of the spanish speaking world (that will come later), so when they made the movie it was kind of a "shot in the dark". Since the producers saw the production as a big risk, instead of making many movies for 6 or 7 novels, they made a pastiche of all of them in a single movie (the "put all the eggs in a single basket"), that's why is kinda "clunky" on it's storytelling. Nevertheless, Alatriste has become a sort of "cult film" for anyone who is into the military history of the pike & shot/tercios era (probably the best depiction of that type of fighting in cinema so far), the history of the Spanish Empire ("hispanistas"), and into the spanish school of fencing (Verdadera and Vulgar Destreza)... so naturally I love it lol.
PLEASE do more scenes of Alatriste!!! Such a great picture!
In the Spain of the XVI-XVII century it was common among Spanish and Italian swordsmen above all, to have a rapier and a dagger or Vizcaina (it was not known as a dagger, but by Vizcaina). In the fencing manuals and schools (remember that fencing was born in Spain) hand-to-hand combat was taught and seeking proximity to the opponent so that while you used the rapier to attack and deceive the opponent you ended up using the Vizcaina to cut or stab the opponent. The English had a saying not to fight against the Spanish with a sword. "I want to see the Spanish by sea, if it is by land may Saint George protect us." For example, in the Court of Paris a French nobleman wanted to humiliate the Spanish Ambassador before the King laughing at his size (for being small) to which the Ambassador replied "Where a Spaniard does not reach with his hand, he reaches with his sword." Therefore, in the combat scene between Alatriste and Gualterio Malatesta, in my opinion, the Vizcaina is well used.
Arturo Perez-Reverte, the writer of the Alatriste novels, has another novel with fencing playing a role in the plot and there is a movie based on the novel: El Maestro de Esgrima / The Fencing Master (1992). There are clips of the movie on YT.
Very good novel and a very good movie adaptation too. Highly recommend it.
Regards.
Another of his novels, El húsar portraits the brutal reality of what was essentially a guerrilla war against the occupying Napoleonic forces in Spain. Napoleonic warfare was absolutely brutal
Fantastic and underrated movie. Really beautiful. Everyone interested in HEMA should watch it.
The way I see the fight, the reason they engaged so close (min 13:05) was because Alatriste's parrying opened a gap that Malatesta used to attack with the dagger. Hence the need to short the distance.
*Love this film*
Highly recommended, it has intrigue, romance, duels, muskets and explosives :)
Very good commentaries on the fight and its movements in a historical context. One suggestion - play the fight in its totality first then again with commentaries. This allows those of us who have not seen the movie to see the entire fight and then listen to your comments and see how each part of the fight leads to another.
He might be concerned about having it blocked, if he does it that way.
@@JustGrowingUp84 Yes I believe fair use laws only allow you so much time without commentary. I have no idea how long that time may be though.
Copyright says otherwise, but quoting the film definitely helps as there are clips from less reputable channels that will show the whole clip.
You have about 8 seconds of original video before it stops being transparative
Speaking of training to fight from a disadvantaged position; when I was studying and teaching in a Kung Fu temple (what other arts might call a dojo or gym), we built a mock-up of a public restroom; stalls with doors, toilets, ADA grab-bars, the works; and simulated defending ourselves while in one the most compromising positions one could be in. It was a lot of fun, and very educational. Statistically speaking, public restrooms are one of the most, if not _the most,_ likely locations to find oneself attacked in. I highly recommend it!
I'm spanish.
I think you'll like to know "Alatriste" means "Sadwing"...it's a reference to the style of his hat....sombrero de ala triste.
Alatriste es un apellido y en la novela es el apellido de el personaje . Es un apellido que en España ya no existe solo en México y es el apellido del editor que Reverte tenía o tiene en México .
I loved this movie, all the sword fights in it were relatively good, Its awesome you mentioned the "protect the wall" drill, I've used it with my students with longsword for years and its lots of fun
Funny thing: I made a comment about watching out for Left Handed Fencers quite a while ago and I was excoriated, attacked, ridiculed and basically called stupid. Now Matt has said the same thing and even pointed it out in the treatises .... Whatever ...
As usu, great content. Thank you.
The trolls are active in these kinds of comment sections
Everyone knows that.
Whoever you made that comment to clearly never fought a leftie rapierist. There are a few in my club and fighting them can get be... disorienting.
@@vadimflaks7795 I made a general comment just like this one and several people ganged up on me. Disorienting is a very good word to describe the feeling.
Thanks for the reply. Cheers!
@@kaoskronostyche9939 but seriously. Since I faced my first lefie in competetive Viking Fighting Reenactment in 1993, I have known that. And it was well known already then.
Many conversation about inefficient cuts seems to ignore that you are still hitting your opponent with a metal bar.
I whacked my coach with wide swing with military saber onto unarmored calf bone because I didn't know he didn't have armor there, it did visible red mark from blade, and he was limping for the end of a day, but I didn't feel like it affected fight itself in a moment
You gotta do a follow up video on the battle scene or maybe a video on the movie as a whole
I was watching/listening to a video of the organ music of the Spanish composer Francisco Arauxo (1584-1654) played by a classmate of mine. It goes so beautifully with these scenes, both chronologically, and stylistically!
Well, it's a movie, that's theatrical fencing. I practice HEMA and I know some things about the Spanish school of fencing from the XVII c.
The fencing treatises from Jerónimo Sánchez de Carranza and Luis Pacheco de Narváez should have been read for making the coreographies of this movie.
Hello Matt. First of all I love your content. I wanted to provide some insight in regards to colours used for outfits in the film. 17th Century was really colourful but not in the Hispanic Monarchy, Felipe IV out of his worship to his Grandfather Felipe II recovered the etiquette and morals from the latest.
That dressing etiquette was called "vestir a la española" (dressing in the spanish way) which esentially consisted in dressing black. The black was a symbol of both commitment to the containment and severity of catholics morals (and rulers should be public example of that) and the colonial power.
Until the discovery of the wood "Palo campeche" in America dying clothes in black was a very difficult process with very poor results in terms colour quality. The appeareance of this material allowed to create strong blacks, and soon this colour became fashion in the late 16th and the ingredient one of the most succesful export goods for the hispanic merchants.
By stepping back to the black clothes, Felipe IV and his assesors wanted to resemble back the power of the previous century during a complex time when the Reformist countries were actually winning the Religion Wars and also Stablish a differetiation with the other Catholic power of the continent France and its exhuberant proto-rococo.
Would the common folk follow this fashion? People like Alatriste or the bailiff? Of course but within the limits of their economies. The good black clothes would be still expensive, so they would wear black clothes using the old dying method (which would easily turn into dark grey) or very dark brown clothes specially in the form of curated leather vests useful as protection in swordfights.
You can read more details in these two articles (translator will do good since it is quite academic vocabulary)
difundirelarte.com/vestir-a-la-espanola-el-color-negro-en-la-corte-de-los-austrias-parte-i/
difundirelarte.com/vestir-a-la-espanola-el-color-negro-en-la-corte-de-los-austrias-parte-ii/
Very good point. And the black in Spanish Empire and in the Catholic Christians in those epochs meant a symbol of "purity", "humility", "austerity", etc.
In the English American Protestant colonies in the 17th and 18th centuries meant the same for example, for that reason the people carried black dresses too. It was common in these times in many places of all Europe, because Spain was the hegemonic in the world and it had much influence in mode, language, economy, fight, batle, etc, as nowadays the American of the US in the world in general and maybe the Chineese or another nation one day too. It´s a natural fact in the humankind history.
Regards.
Something I want to mention here regarding the use of the cloak in sword fighting: a variation of using cloak and sword actually lasted longer than the 17th century! In parts of Mexico, a type of knife known as a “Scorpion Knife” or “Mexican Bowie Knife” (similar to a typical bowie knife but with a longer clipped point and more narrow overall), was popular from the mid-1800s all the way up until the 1940s that was often paired with the use of a civilian coat or jacket wrapped around or clutched in the off-hand for use in obscuring movements and grabbing opponents’ knives. It’s got a bit of buckler-y flavor to it imo, but it was descended from 17th century cloak use and occasionally got referenced in old Mexican art from that time period.
There really aren't enough Pike and Shot films, its one of the most fascinating historical eras, both for cultural and social reasons as well as military history.
"It's not about fencing, It's about fighting". Totally agree. Nowadays, when we practice historical fencing, boxing, muay thai, MMA or whatever, we are not fighting, we are playing a game with rules; we play fight. We don't fight for our lives. There is a big difference.
I can confirm that grappling is very common in all kinds of real sword fights (except maybe those with something in the offhand, like a buckler or dagger) having seen and experienced it with every weapon I practice with, even with longswords.
Thanks for this one - its been years (ok, decades) since Ive fenced rapier & dagger, and watching this it all came flooding back...good times!
It is based on the novels of Arturo Perez Reverte (The Adventures of Captain Alatriste), in which the novels accurately portray how ordinary people lived in the Spain of Philip III, the protagonist being a veteran of the Tercios who is forced to accept unethical mercenary assignments in order to survive.
I recommend reading it, it is very well documented with historical records.
I hope we all appreciate that Matt is always holding a nice representation of the item in question into the camera. And especially with Matt moving it around a little bit you can get a much better picture and a sense of appreciation.
Me like something nice to look at. 👍
In spanish, the dagger used with the rapier is called vizcaína
And the rapier, toledana. Best swords were made in Toledo.
At about 13:04, when they get into a close grapple... it seems to me that the reason for the grappling was that Alatriste had blocked the attackers sword and was keeping the sword engaged. The attacker then moved in close in order to try and make an attack with his dagger. At which point Alatriste does exactly what one should do in such a situation, and grabbed the attackers left arm, thus bringing them into a close grapple.
GREAT ANALYSIS. I STRONGLY RECOMMEND YOU TOP READ THE MEMOIRS OF THE SPANISH SOLDIER MIGUEL DE CASTRO, IM WHICH HE DESCRIBED IN DETAIL THE RAPIER FIGHTS HE WAS INVOLVED IN . I ALSO RECOMMEND YOU THE MOVIE " JUAN MOREIRA " OF LEONARDO FAVIO, IN WHICH YOU SEE VERY WELL THE WAY GAUCHOS DUELLED USING PONCHO ( HEIR OF THE CLOAK) AND FACON ( HEIR OF THE DAGGER )
finally matt after all these years
Long time follower of the channel and I never thought this would come up. It is such a fantastic film based in a period we hear very little about in the UK (we were too busy with our own nonsense 😂).
Greetings from Florida Matt!
Since you’ve now covered this fight from Alatriste, you could cover the revenge duel between Inigo and Malatesta which takes place later in the film. You’ll have a field day with that one, I’m certain of it.
Back when, a friend and I spent quite some time fencing in an absence of any formal rules, and had a go at sword-and-cloak (denim jacket, actually). We found that using the cloak (jacket) was a substantial advantage in deflecting the foe's blade aside for a quick attack, and disentangling the blade from the cloak (jacket) was not so easy.
Pro tip: You can use your space button to pause and un-pause videoes. No need to fiddle with the mouse every time. Thanks for a great video!
Pro-tip 2, you can use the keys "," and "." to advance and go back a single frame, if you want to pinpoint a single movement in a scene.
a scene for you to review is Oliver Reed in the Three Musketeers love the energy of the fight with the cardinals guards at the convent
Great analysis, thank you!
I would add - the soundtrack is great! The scene begins with spanish guitar, and then we hear just the rain and the sounds of the fight. Common strategy of modern moviemakers would be to use movie music, often quite modern music, to enhance the athmosphere and emotions of the scene. But the decision not to do it made the scene more naturalistic, more real, and enabled me to empathise with the participants more. It felt like watching real fight from 17th century, where real people's lives are at stake. (And it reminded me of final duel from Rob Roy, that is also without music, just clash of steel and heavy breathing.)
Alatriste!! Viggo Mortensen!! ScholaGladiatora!! 🎉 Spanish Rapier!! ⚔️🗡
Great movie and great atmosphere on the various locations. The scene after this with the sun shining into the room should be a painting. I've seen it several times, unfortunately not in the cinema on a big screen. One of the things that makes it authentic is actually that they speak Spanish in the movie.
Gualtiero Malatesta, the Italian killer, with an I T A L I A N stance ( :D ), speaks Spanish with a strong Italian accent, which I found quite interesting. At the end of the encounter, he pierces Alatriste and says in Latin, "sic transit gloria mundi." However, Alatriste survives, as we later see him at the magnificent Battle of Rocroi..
One thing missed: Alatriste's opponent had a leverage advantage in grappling with his back against the wall but squandered it by moving a step forwards. You can see him struggle, almost tip backwards. It's natural to want to get away from the wall but could have moved that back foot back against the wall to push and had a stronger base at that moment. Great scene and commentary
In the books Alatriste is infamous for not drawing his dagger until the enemy is very close. He waits until the opponent's face is close to his own and draws his dagger and slashes his opponent in the gut. The idea is that the opponent cannot see him draw and attack and is taken by surprise. Not the most honorable move, but in the novels it is stated that it is a tactic that is not unique to Alatriste. In fact Alatriste's dagger and scabbard are specially designed to be used in this way.
The new El Cid on Amazon Prime has great 11 century fights. I do hope they finish it.
The Three Musketeers (1973) has a couple fights with interesting side arms. I rewatched it recently, and forgot they had a rapier and lantern fight. Christopher Lee plays Rochefort.
Nice review. The actors were coached by Jesús Esperanza for the fencing scenes, he is the best theatrical fencing master in Spain and also proficient sport fencing master.
Yes. The leading fight coreographer was Bob Anderson, but the Spanish fencing master Jesús Esperanza was the coach working directly with the actors.
You've mentioned the film I'd like to see analysed. The Princess Bride. Particularly, the fight between Wesley and Inigo. Also, more obscurely, the film "By the Sword", starring Eric Roberts and F Murray Abraham.
So happy you did this Matt - love this series
The Duelists. Written by Joseph Conrad and adapted by a young Ridley Scott. 1977. Amazing book. Great movie.
I'd love you to take a look at some of the war scenes in this film, like the camp raid at the beginning ("encamisada"), the siege scene with the mines and countermines, or the pike and shot scenes from the final battle. In general, I'd like to see more battle scene reviews in addition to the usual small fights.
The Battle of Rocroi at the end of Alatriste is great
It's interesting that he mentions a swing is more instinctive than a thrust. The rear straight punch (or rear cross in boxing) is the most powerful punch there is, but has to be trained into someone. Otherwise people will instinctively throw wild haymakers that are easily dodged.
I really enjoy Viggo Mortensen (Sorry if I spelled his name wrong) as an actor but especially as a swordsman in choreography because when he was trained for The Lord of the Rings movies, the sword master who taught him (whose name is legendary in the film industry and among swordsmen in general, but I sadly forget it at the moment) stated that Viggo was the most talented student he had ever had. I'm paraphrasing of course, but that was the general point of the statement, although not the exact wording.
Cuts to the head in an actual sharps fight are extremely good moves provided you can pull them off on account of blood blinding. The forehead is packed with capillaries to feed your facial muscles and even a shallow cut will release a gushing amount of blood which will likely blind your foe, or at least inconvenience them greatly.
I’ve been waiting for someone to talk about this film! It’s one of my favorites!!!
Net talk about Richard Lester’s Three & Four Musketeers!!!
Esgrima: the Olympic Sport from Spain🇪🇸👏
Interesting when talking about Italian style is the fact that in that time a huge part of Italy was controlled by Spain (see Treaty of Cateau-Cambrésis that ended the wars that started in the Borgias series *laughs)...
Algunos dicen que a Cervantes por herir a un noble en un duelo se le condenó a que le fuera cortada una mano. Se salvó porque escapó a Italia.
Bit of a longshot, Matt, but do you have photos of that Spanish rapier anywhere online? I know you mentioned it was mass-produced for soldiers, so I'm hoping I could find a gallery somewhere. I think it's beautiful and would love to get a HEMA trainer made to look like it 😄
The 1973 Three Musketeers movie with Oliver Reed, MIchael York, Richard Chamberlain et al. I remember there were some pretty good rapier fights.
Matt had some really juicy phrases this video, including the obvious advice on psychological manipulation, and left handed being "kinda squashed a bit" *motions gently*
😂😂😂 Great video as always sir
The was also a variant of the secrete which also had folding drop down bars to help shield the face and a full iron helmet styled to resemble the hats of the period and were often blackened or lined with felt or cloth to help disguise them as regular civilian headwear
I love the book series. No era el hombre más honesto, ni el más piadoso...
I had the DVD but it was called Captian Alatriste in small letters and the heading was The Spanish Musketeer . A great movie but found out i needed new glasses when the subtitles came up .
Hooray! Princess Bride reference!! ❤