I, the Worst of All (1990)

A viceroy and an archbishop take their posts in Mexico. A local nun, Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz (1651-1695), intrigues them. The viceroy and his wife find her brilliant and fascinating. The ... See full summary »

Director:

María Luisa Bemberg

Writers:

María Luisa Bemberg, Antonio Larreta

Stars:

Assumpta Serna, Dominique Sanda, Héctor Alterio

4 wins & 1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Assumpta Serna	...	Juana Inés de la Cruz
Dominique Sanda	...	La Virreina
Héctor Alterio	...	The Viceroy
Lautaro Murúa	...	Archbishop
Graciela Araujo	...	Sister Ursula
Alberto Segado	...	Father Miranda
Gerardo Romano	...	Siguenza
Franklin Caicedo	...	Santa Cruz
Hugo Soto
Margara Alonso
Lidia Catalano
Margarita Padín
Alejandra Colunga	...	(as Alejandro Colunga)
Rosario Bléfari	...	(as Rosario Blefari)
Felisa Rocha

Storyline

A viceroy and an archbishop take their posts in Mexico. A local nun, Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz (1651-1695), intrigues them. The viceroy and his wife find her brilliant and fascinating. The prelate finds her a symbol of European laxity. He engineers the election of a new abbess, severe and ascetic. The virreina visits Sor Juana often and inspires her to write passionate poetry that the archbishop finds scandalous. The viceroy protects her. After he is replaced and returns to Spain with his wife, Sor Juana faces envy and retribution. A bishop betrays her, her confessor humbles her. Plague, a tribunal, and her confession as "the worst of all" end the great poet's life.

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Plot Keywords:

feminist film | viceroy | archbishop | bishop | intrigue | 

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Genres:

Drama

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

Argentina

Language:

Spanish

Release Date:

24 November 1995 (USA)

Also Known As:

I, the Worst of All

Filming Locations:

Buenos Aires, Federal District, Argentina

Box Office

Gross USA:

$52,148

Company Credits

Production Co:

GEA Cinematográfica

Technical Specs

Runtime:

105 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Official submission of Argentina for the 'Best Foreign Language Film' category of the 63rd Academy Awards in 1991.

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Connections

Referenced in Rooms for Tourists (2004)

User Reviews

A Great Historical Movie - Addresses the Lesbian Continuum

The movie is well made, although not much money seems to have been spent on sets! It sticks fairly closely to the basic historical data, but a quick read up on Sor Juana in the Encyclopedia Brittanica might help many viewers.

Now to the rating issue. There is no good reason why this movie should be restricted to those over 18 by Amazon and other online merchants. There is no overt nudity or genital sex. There is a fairly chaste kiss between women. I suppose the violent scenes of nuns whipping themsleves in a penitential exercise might be offensive to some, but self-flagellation was indeed a part of Catholic monastic life until well into the 20th century, and the scene is not presented in any prurient way. If this amounts to a need to ban the movie for young people, then the Bible also would need to be banned. It has far more sex, nudity, and violence.

The writers who object to the "Lesbian passion" line on the box do have a point. Anyone buying this for erotic arousal would be profoundly mislead.

There is, however, a real lesbian aspect to this film. Sor Juana is clearly a "woman identified woman." She achieves her greatest triumphs while in the nurturing and all-female world of the Convent; her relationship with the Vicereine is the most heated in the film; and the destruction of her writing comes from the intrusion of the exclusively male world of the church hierarchy and the inquistion. Most importantly, her writing reflects an explicit feminist critique of women's oppression.

Just as one does not need to have genital sex in order to be a "heterosexual," neither does one need genital sex in order to be part of the lesbian continuum. Sor Juana is indeed part of the that continuum.