I Capture the Castle

I Capture the Castle
by Tim Fywell

I Capture the Castle
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DVD Cover Information

Actor: Bill Nighy, Marc Blucas, Romola Garai, Rose Byrne, Sin?ad Cusack
Director: Tim Fywell
Producer: Anant Singh
Producer: Cleone Clarke
Producer: David M. Thompson
Producer: David Parfitt
Producer: Keith Evans
Writer: Dodie Smith
Writer: Heidi Thomas
DVD: Region Code 99
Audio: English (Subtitled); English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 5.1
Format: AC-3, Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD-Video, Full Screen, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: 2.35:1
Running Time: 113 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2003-12-23
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Studio: Sony Pictures

Movie Reviews of I Capture the Castle

Movie Review: Beguiling period piece and a poignant coming-of-age drama
Summary: 4 Stars

I have yet to read the novel upon which this movie is based, so I can only comment on the movie itself. I enjoyed it and thought that both the female leads, Romola Garai and Rose Byrne delivered commendable and credible performances.

The story itself is a coming-of-age story set in 1930s England - the movie begins via flashback as a once successful writer [Bill Nighy] moves his family [2 young daughters and a wife] from London to the countryside, taking up residence in an old castle which they lease from the owner. A decade passes and the writer is still struggling to overcome his writer's block - the movie progresses with narration by his younger daughter Cassandra [Romola Garai who also shone in "Daniel Deronda"], a 17-year-old with a talent for writing. It is Cassandra who makes candid observations about her family, now almost destitute with no income to live on. The family has lost the mother [died], and her place is taken by bohemian stepmother Topaz [Tara Fitzgerald,], an artist and free spirit who likes dancing nude in the rain. Rose [Rose Byrne] is the older sister, beautiful yet troubled, and there is also a much younger sibling, a boy who seems unperturbed by the deprived circumstances the family lives in.

Things change when a pair of brothers come to visit the estate - the older Simon [Henry Thomas] is the heir to the estate and Rose, much aware of the opportunity at hand is determined to become his bride. The younger brother Neil [Marc Blucas, most famous as Riley in "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" series] thinks both sisters are nothing better than gold diggers. Their mother is portrayed by Sinead Cusack, who is marvellous in her brief role, spouting wry observations in each scene she appears in.

The rest of the drama follows the girls as they get more deeply embroiled in matters of the heart with some predictable outcomes. Both Romola Garai and Rose Byrne share credible chemistry as a pair of siblings who are as different as night and day, yet very much connected to each other. Their performances carry the movie for the most part - though the romantic element is also a major part of the movie, it is the struggles of the sisters that drew me in the most. Though the movie starts off on a light footing, it gets darker as the movie progresses, exploring the characters in depth and adding more substance to an otherwise tepid plot.Various themes get explored, some more convincingly than others, but it kept my interest.

The cinematography perfectly captures the lush beauty of the English countryside and on the whole, I'd recommend this to fans of British period dramas.

Summary of I Capture the Castle

When her family moves into a glamorous castle in the English countryside, Cassandra (Romola Garai) imagines great things will happen. But the decaying castle loses its appeal as her novelist father (Bill Nighy, Love Actually) develops writer's block and her mother dies of cancer. From this sad beginning, I Capture the Castle turns into an utterly engaging coming-of-age story as 17-year-old Cassandra and her older sister Rose (Rose Byrne) struggle to win the attentions of their new American landlord (Henry Thomas, E.T. The Extraterrestrial)--but when everything goes the way Cassandra hopes, her hopes fall apart. Garai's wonderful performance carries the audience through bittersweet discoveries about life and adulthood with hope and yearning. The entire cast---also featuring Tara Fitzgerald (Brassed Off) and Marc Blucas--is superb. I Capture the Castle is an absolutely lovely movie, delightful and surprisingly wise. --Bret Fetzer

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