I actually think he played the perfect foil to Don Juan, and that is a factor of what I think makes this movie so great. Part of what I thought made DeLorca as interesting as hew was is that he came off as genuine in his motivations for the glory of Spain even at the expense of its peoples' happiness and only directly taking power from the king when his hand was forced rather than for his own power/glory like say Prince John in Adventures of Robin Hood. (I love that movie to, don't get me wrong) Whilst on the other hand Don Juan largely lived a carefree life with everyone expecting him to shape up into a dedicated patriot. He learns discipline and comes to fight for Spain, but in the form of its people rather than as a kingdom. The irony being that in trying to expand his country's power, DeLorca wound up becoming a traitor. In essence DeLorca is looking superficially at Spain. In his own way, Don Juan learns to look deeper than the superficial on some level as he was motivated by his genuine admiration/love of Margaret and desire to protect the people. (Though we see his adventurous/romantic spark is still burning at the very end) Or at least that's how I read the movie.
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