As I have told you today, there is a Spanish film called El rey pasmado (The Dumbfounded King), set during Philip IV's reign. The film is based on the novel Crónica del rey pasmado, written by Gonzalo Torrente Ballester, and it's a satirical chronicle of religious and moral intolerance and hypocrisy in the court of the Hispanic Monarchy. The main theme of the film is King Phikip IV's desire for watching the queen's naked body, after having seen a naked prostitute. This desire creates a lot of debate bertween the members of the Church, who don't agree in deciding whether this is a sin or not. The powerful Count-Duke of Olivares also appears with personal problems that he tries to solve following the Church's advice.
Historical setting is one of the most outstanding features of this film. The Dumbfounded King was filmed in the Palace of the Marquis of Santa Cruz in El Viso del Marqués (Ciudad Real) and the Monastery of Uclés in Cuenca. And the ressemblance of some actors with the historical figures they performed is astonishing. Look at these pictures:
Gabino Diego as Philip IV
Javier Gurruchaga as the Count-Duke of Olivares:
And this is one of the key images of the film, when the king watches the naked body of a prostitute called Marfisa:
Can you guess what famous painting did the director of the film use as inspiration for this scene? If you watch the poster of the film, you will know.
Here you have more information about the film:
