''The Confessions of Amans'' is a 1977 American 16-mm drama film directed by Gregory Nava and written by Nava and his wife Anna Thomas. The picture was partly funded by the

American Film Institute The American Film Institute (AFI) is an American nonprofit film organization that educates filmmakers and honors the heritage of the motion picture arts in the United States. AFI is supported by private funding and public membership fees. Leade ...

Plot

In medieval Spain, an itinerant student of

philosophy Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. Some ...

is hired by an uneducated lord to tutor his wife, but the student falls in love with her.

Production

The film was produced in Spain and on an estimated budget of $24,000, according to

Roger Ebert Roger Joseph Ebert (; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American film critic, film historian, journalist, screenwriter, and author. He was a film critic for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, Ebert beca ...

. Nava used English stage performers. To conserve money, Nava and Thomas used costumes and props remaining from Samuel Bronston's ''

El Cid Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar (c. 1043 – 10 July 1099) was a Castilian knight and warlord in medieval Spain. Fighting with both Christian and Muslim armies during his lifetime, he earned the Arabic honorific ''al-sīd'', which would evolve into El ...

''. Film locations included the

castle A castle is a type of fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by military orders. Scholars debate the scope of the word ''castle'', but usually consider it to be the private fortified r ...

s of ancient Segovia, Spain.

Cast

* William Bryan as Amans * Michael St. John as Absalom * Susannah MacMillan as Anne * Leon Liberman as Arnolfo * Feliciano Ituero Bravo as Nicholas * Stephen Bateman as Landlord

Release

''The Confessions of Amans'' was first presented in 1976 at the Chicago International Film Festival. The film opened in a limited theatrical release in New York on November 17, 1977.

Reception

Critical response

'' The New York Times'' film critic Vincent Canby wrote: "''The Confessions of Amans'' was a very beautiful film, though not an especially pretty one, a chilly, tightly disciplined tale of the tragic love affair of a young philosophy tutor and the wife of the lord of the manor. Like the great Robert Bresson, Mr. Nava appeared to be less interested in the heat of the passion of the lovers than in the succession of moral choices their passion represented." An unsigned film review in ''The New York Times'' held that the film is "a beautiful, muted film of the kind that takes some getting used to. People seldom raise their voices or lose control of themselves. Passion is expressed discreetly in glances or in the holding of hands."''The New York Times''
"A Romance Of Medieval Spain," film review, November 18, 1977.

Awards

Wins * Chicago International Film Festival: Gold Hugo Award, Best First Feature Award, 1976.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Confessions Of Amans, The 1977 films 1977 drama films 1977 independent films Films directed by Gregory Nava American independent films Films set in Spain Films set in the Middle Ages 1977 directorial debut films 1970s English-language films 1970s American films English-language drama films