The Outlaw Lope (2010) Director; Andrucha Waddington. Starring Alberto Ammann and Luis Tosar.
Felix Lope de Vega Carpio, or “Lope”, is one of the most notable figures to emerge from the flourishing literature scene of the Spanish Golden Age. He is certainly the most prolific. Lope’s life was emulative of his own writing, fraught with drama and romance, and in a marvellously self-reflexive nature it lends itself quite poetically to film adaptation.
Directed by Andrucha Waddington, a Brazilian who offered an “outsider’s view” in a predominantly Spanish production team. Alberto Ammann plays Lope, with all the passion and panache that you might expect, but is understated enough to keep the character from becoming bigger than the film. Ammann is supported by a talented cast and spectacular set and costume designs.
Special features on this DVD include two cinematic trailers and a ‘Making Of’ documentary, which offers a journey through the film’s turbulent and painstaking production. Insights are provided into the extremely dedicated and detailed levels of research and creativity that went into the designing of the sets, costumes and performances. Though parts of the featurette suffer slightly from a loss in translation as the broken English subtitles in some of the interviews and narrations make them hard to follow, interviews with cast and crew demonstrate the common denominator among them all is a deep respect for the talented star of the attraction, Lope himself.
The Outlaw is out now on DVD
words Lara Herring
