I Capture the Castle | | Cast : | Rose Byrne, Romola Garai, Bill Nighy | | Director : | Tim Fywell | | Studio : | Columbia Tristar Hom | | Format : | Color, Closed-captioned, Widescreen, Dolby | | Released Date : | January 01, 2003 | | DVD Released Date : | December 23, 2003 | | Language : | English (Dubbed), English (Subtitled), English (Original Language) | | Audience Rating : | R (Restricted) | | | BUY THIS DVD FROM AMAZON |
Customer Reviews
| Rating |  | | Date | July 27, 2005 | | Summary | "I am never going to fall in love. Life is dangerous enough" | Content
 | Based on a British novel by Dodie Smith, I Capture the Castle is an absolutely marvelous exploration of teenage love and mismatched romance. Beautifully filmed, subtly acted, and charming from beginning to end, this film is touching, funny, romantic, perceptive, and full of color, verve, and character. And the film also brings 1930's England to life like no other film has managed to do in recent years.
I Capture the Castle is narrated in the first person by seventeen-year-old Cassandra (Romola Garai). Cassandra is a dreamy and wistful kind of girl who obsessively writes in her dairy and possesses a vivid romantic imagination. Cassandra is the younger sister of the flighty and more beautiful redheaded Rose (Rose Byrne). It's 1936, and they live in a crumbling, leaky, and cold rural English castle that James (Bill Nighy), their novelist dad has leased to inspire his next masterpiece.
Bad times have recently fallen on the family. Due to an accident that involved their mother, James now suffers writers block and has become a seedy, lanky, and desperate-looking man. He scored a brilliant success 20 years ago with his first novel, but now he's been artistically silent and fallow ever since, a pale shadow of what he once was. The family indulges him, hoping against hope that he'll eventually find artistic inspiration, while they try desperately to eke out a miserly and penny-pinching living.
The girls, especially Rose, despair about escaping their dank, dreary world. Only kid brother Thomas (Joe Sowerbutts) is untroubled by the family's debt and decay. Thankfully, Rose finally sees a way to escape her parsimonious existence, when two wealthy and handsome American brothers arrive at the castle to claim their inheritance.
Hardy, butch, and blustery Neil (Marc Blucas) is distrustful of the family's neediness, and views both Rose and Cassandra as gold diggers, while the earnest, bookish, and more sensitive Simon (Henry Thomas) soon falls for the money-hungry Rose. Simon also has eyes for Cassandra, as does Stephen (Henry Cavill), a handsome and sexy farmhand. Watching over the proceedings is the flamboyant Mrs. Cotton, the boys' wealthy, chic mother (played by the wonderful Sinead Cusack).
As the story unfolds, the lovely and naïve Cassandra finds herself getting caught in the middle of smoldering passions and misguided romance. She's never quite certain what or whom she wants and spends her days trying to decide within her heart what she should do. Should she admit her feelings to Simon who is still smitten with Rose, or should she commit to Stephen who has always harbored a secret desire for her?
Unlike her radiant but avaricious sister Rose - who is faced with a character-defining choice between love and money, and chooses money - Cassandra at least grasps the countless value of the former, whose heartbreak always can be tempered by hope. For Cassandra, true Love is a risky, and unpredictable endeavor and almost always illusive.
I Capture the Castle is British film making at its best. With director, Tim Fywell, gently and tenderly transporting us to the genteel era of prewar England. Even the story's very discretion is appealing. We know that sex is going on and fueling the action, but it's mostly hidden from our view and only strategically hinted at.
But what makes this film really shine are the actors. Filled with pretty people - Blucas, Cavill, and Thomas are especially attractive; it's actually the appealing young actresses who play Rose and Cassandra who really steal the film. Like delicate English roses they constantly light up the screen, one as sturdy and as robust as the earth, and the other, in love with love, unapologetically obsessed with dreams of money and wealth. Mike Leonard July 05.
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| Rating | | | Date | March 28, 2005 | | Summary | Was just okay | Content
| This movie was not the best of its genre - coming of age story. It also failed as either a good comedy or good romance film. The plot involved missed romances, but was not satisfying at the end. I think stories of A loves X, X loves Y, Y loves Z, Z does not love Y is a formula that has been used before.
The most sympathetic character for me was Stephen, who was ultimately left out in the cold. |
| Rating | | | Date | January 17, 2005 | | Summary | great performances... | Content
| quirky, coming of age film. I was glad to see such fine performances by "character" actors like Bill Nighy, Tara Fitgerald, and bravo performance by Henry Thomas! I think the gist of the film should be more about that being truthful with oneself and others, while painful, is always better than living a lie. I'd say this is definately a keeper, though I probably wouldn't buy new as I'm one of those saps who wanted a "fairytale" ending. Otherwise, 4 stars. |
| Rating | | | Date | December 28, 2004 | | Summary | Book was wonderful - movie was not | Content
| It generally goes without saying that a film adaptation is never going to be as good as the novel on which it is based, but I can't think of another novel-into-film that missed the mark so completely as this one. The book is insightful and touching but also very funny, with some really wonderful, original language. It's clever and poignant and has one of the most delightful narrators out there.
The movie, on the other hand, gets so bogged down with sentimentality that it just drags along, devoid of energy. There are some beautiful locations and the cast looks okay and seems capable enough, but the film has been directed as a heavy drama with deep dark pain at its core-- instead of a romantic coming-of-age story that mixes comedy, drama and quirky charm in equal measure. Everyone in the movie just seems so miserable, even in scenes where they're supposed to be happy.
The voice-over narration is one of the biggest problems. In the book the story is told through the journal entries of 17-year-old Cassandra Mortmain, a very bright aspiring writer, and her voice has an intensity, precociousness and excitement that just hurls the reader blissfully along; but in the movie Cassandra's voice-over narration lacks every single one of these qualities and instead has a solemn, mournful tone. This is probably more the director's fault than the actress's, although some blame should also go to the screenwriter, who has the unfortunate habit of substituting her own annoyingly mediocre narration and dialogue in place of the often brilliant language that's readily available in Dodie Smith's novel. The screenwriter also seems to have felt the need to invent more than one scene completely out of nowhere; one huge scene in particular between Cassandra and her father is not only NOT in the book, but it contradicts everything the book stands for-- and in such a maudlin, obvious, after-school-special type of way. Sadly, they really blew it with this interpretation of a thoroughly enjoyable book. |
| Rating | | | Date | December 22, 2004 | | Summary | SO charming! Wonderful Acting! 5 Stars! | Content
| Romola Garai does a wonderful job in her "breakout" role as Cassandra, a teenage girl living in the English countryside with her family. Her father, a brilliant but struggling writer tries to earn money to put food on the table.
The story follows their creativity through the eyes of Cassandra. SUCH a fun film to watch - don't miss it!! |
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