"Jealously is vinegar in the soul. It withers the human spirit," spiritual writer Joan Chittister has observed. This truth is made explicitly clear in Vicente Aranda's fiery Spanish film. It was Spain's entry for Best Foreign Language Film at the 2002 Academy Awards.

In the year 1496, Queen Isabella (Susy Sanchez) of Castile bids farewell to her daughter Princess Joan (Pilar Lopez de Ayala) who is to be wed to Philip (Daniele Liotti), the Archduke of Austria in the court of Flanders. He is heir to the Holy Roman Empire. Her mother thanks her for undergoing this mission which has great political significance for both counties. It is an undertaking cloaked in the high morality of duty.

In their first meeting, there is such a potent erotic attraction between Philip and Joan that he has them married on the spot and during the week before the official ceremonies they give themselves over to sexual passion. Joan, the Catholic, is completely overwhelmed by this erotic connection and soon she can think of nothing else. Even when pregnancy overtakes her, she wants to spend all her time with Philip.

At first, he is gratified by the consuming love Joan evidences for him. But it soon becomes obvious to him that it is an excessive attachment that limits his freedom. He begins calling her mad. When Joan discovers that he is carrying on an affair with one of her ladies in waiting, she explodes in rage against his infidelity. This all happens on the same day, she learns of her mother's death. Joan loses it in the courtyard while it is pouring rain; she crumples to the ground screaming: "My husband is unfaithful! My mother is dead!"

Called back to assume her rule as Queen of Castile, Joan grows more obsessed with monitoring Philip's every move. He finds a passionate lover in Aixa (Manuela Arcuri), a Moor who is as gifted in the black arts as she is in bed. Instead of taking any interest at all in her new responsibilities as Queen, Joan alternates between her compulsive attachment to Philip and her hostility towards him for betraying her. Meanwhile, Aixa draws closer to her lover by having herself installed as one of Joan's ladies in waiting. And various members of the nobility who want to hang on to their privileges and power advise Philip to have Joan declared mad and put away.

Vicente Aranda does a fine job orchestrating this drama about the shadow side of yearning. Joan's passion for Philip is a compulsion that takes over her life and sends it careening into chaos and loss. The difference between her personality when she first arrives in Flanders and and her wild rantings after discovering Philip's affair with Aixa in Castile is amazing. We watch her spirit wither under the influence of jealousy. It is not a pretty thing to behold.