Film Details

Conceived by the late Raül Ruiz but realized by his widow and fellow filmmaker Valeria Sarmiento, this epic historical pageant (condensed from a three-part TV miniseries) is set in Portugal during 1810, as British forces commanded by Wellington help the Portuguese defend themselves against Napoleon's invading army. The movie shows how Wellington’s scorched-earth strategy uprooted and impacted people from all walks of life, and the picture’s assorted subplots are populated by an all-star cast of art-film veterans: John Malkovich, Catherine Deneuve, Isabelle Huppert, Michel Piccoli, Mathieu Amalric, and Chiara Mastroianni, among others. A 2013 New York Film Festival selection.