I Capture the Castle
|
List Price: Our Price: $14.89 You Save: $10.07 (40%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $7.08 (click here) Category: DVD See more DVD releases |
|---|
Buy this DVD movie at online store in your country
Canada
Canada
Movie Reviews of I Capture the Castle
Movie Review: A Good Try At Filming A Great Novel
Summary: 4 Stars
Like everyone who's read the book, I didn't care for the movie as much, but it still has its merits.
Unfortunately the music was bombastic, overbearing, this Vangelis heavy beat as though the girls were racing down the beach in CHARIOTS OF FIRE, totally anachronistic.
Sinead Cusack was ghastly as the Cotton boys' mother, and what kind of American accent was she supposed to be using? It was like nothing on earth and didn't seem to be synched up to her lip movements.
The little boy who played Thomas, the stud who played Stephen, and Tara Fitzgerald as Topax were all excellent. What happened to Tara Fitzgerald, only a few years ago she would have been playing Rose, she was the ingenue in every British movie imported into US theaters. Sad the way time flutters by and today's hot young thing is now playing tomorrow's stepmother! And her hair looked like the hair of an old hag in a Walter Scott novel-one who lives in a cave.
I thoroughly approve of Romola Garai as Cassandra Mortmain. I thought she was perfect for the part. Rose Byrne was not as gorgeous as I had hoped, as Rose, with her huge cheeks and beady little eyes. She looked ghastly and gained 20 years when Mrs. Cotton cut off her And makeup artists should have painted over that distracting blemish on her face that grew worse throughout the movie. However she was perfectly piquant in the exotic pink crinoline dress with black shoes and the red feather in her hair that she wote when bringing her family to dinner with the Cottons. Cassandra's blue dress she wore in the nightclub was also lovely.
Henry Thomas and Marc Blucas were also underwhelming. Blucas used to be so good looking as Riley Finn on the TV version of BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER. Here he looked pasty and unfit. Henry Thomas was doing all his acting with his eyes. He seemed to be leading Cassandra on during their dance to "You and The Night and The Music." It was mesmerizing, but I for once thought he was in love with her, afterwards he said he kissed her just because she was so funny and amusing and sweet. Right.
Finally I'm of two minds about Bill Nighy. He's always the same in every picture, but I think his manic, worn-out quietude was fitting for James Mortmain. You could believe he was a writer, even though not the James Joyce-style writer he get from Dodie Smith's book.
Movie Review: Of less value then the book but holding some of its magic
Summary: 4 Stars
The book by Dodie Smith is such a superb read, with such a different air of time and place and a sincere inner growing up account, that any movie aspiring to rise up to its magic is sure to fail. The book manages to captivate the reader from its first pages in its detailed account of the eccentric weird family. Having said that I have to admit that my viewing was largely affected by the fact I read the book beforehand and thus necessarily damaged my objective judgement of this film as a stand-alone work of art. Yes, compared to the book this is a much inferior work of art. I am not sure the viewers are able to grasp the depth of the inner turmoil both sisters are undergoing, the nature of the father's work or the whole family involvement in this work. The large impact the father's writing (or lack of writing) has on their lives and not just money wise. The film, I admit, is nice to watch and the characters portrayal is very close to what I imagined while reading. The castle itself is amazing and lends its atmosphere to the whole movie - you can almost feel how damp and cold it is. In this case only I fell that seeing is better then reading. However, I remained feeling that if I had only seen the movie I would not have truly understood the story. This is not just a love story. Romantic love is just a vehicle to grow up, or so I understood it, and bonds of love and caring between family members are also one of the main themes of this work.
All actors have fresh, very fitting faces, close to the way I perceived them upon reading. Romola Garai especially is great as Cassandra, a girl in an "in between" stage, turning from a young adolescent to a clever woman whose personal aches and pains bring on a better understanding of other people. Tara Fitzgerald is captivating as the stepmother Topaz.
In spite of my criticism I give this movie 4 points, as it is quite a different unique movie that holds some of the book's magic.
Movie Review: Hidden Gem
Summary: 4 Stars
What a wonderfully hidden gem. "I capture the castle" is a film of unrequited love. Not my normal cup of tea but the production values and acting here makes it a very fine film.
The film concerns Rose and Cassandra.. two sisters in 1934 England. They live in a castle due to their father's eccentric wishes to write there. He has however, never written anything in the time they have been there. They are poor and desperate. Into this comes new landlords to the castle, Simon, Henry Thomas, and Neil, Marc Blucas, who are each interested in Rose. At first Cassandra is happy for Rose that she gets the rich Simon to fall for her, making the family rich, but when Cassandra falls for him too she finds herself wishing that she could marry Simon.
The acting is what makes this movie wonderful. The girl who plays Cassandra is perfect for the role and makes the movie. Thankfully the sisters relationship never falls into soap territory. Upon learning that Cassie is in love with Simon, Rose doesn't have a fit, but rather opines she would perfer Cassie to have him to if she could only get Simon to feel that way.
The only performance I found lacking was Henry Thomas who was so stiff and mannered that I couldn't quite figure out what Cassandra sees in him. I admit I never read the book so if you haven't I think you will like the movie. On its own it is a well made and well rounded movie.
Movie Review: Jane Austen Meets Henry James
Summary: 4 Stars
An English family moves into a castle, a setting in which the writer/father believes he can write masterpieces. He doesn't. Instead he buries his wife and develops writer's block. His second wife does what she can to nurture the writer's children--a bright, clever young man (cf. the youngest sister, Margaret, in Sense and Sensibility) and two older sisters, both marriageable, one pretty but initially superficial, the other deeper but slightly less attractive.
Enter the inheritor of the castle (the writer's new landlord) and his brother, each of whom might (or might not) be a match for one of the writer's daughters. The brothers, however, are American, which is to say rich, slightly intimidated by all things British and a bit thick. When Henry James does the Americans-in-Europe bit it often turns nasty. When Jane Austen does the marriageable sisters bit it often turns out well. In I Capture the Castle the two different plot models come together somewhat uneasily. I should say also that the British actors outshine the American actors to a noticeable degree.
The story is engaging and the younger of the two daughters (whose story this is, ultimately) is sweet, charming and worthy of either Jane Austen or Henry James.
The location shots in Wales and the Isle of Man are very nice. Recommended for all devotees of British period drama.
Movie Review: "There is only one page left to write on..."
Summary: 4 Stars
As this coming-of-age drama opens, best-selling author James (Bill Nighy) sees a crumbling old castle and immediately falls in love with it. Thinking it the perfect place to write his sequel, he moves his family into it. Twelve years later, he hasn't been able to write a word and the family is penniless. Daughters Rose (Rose Byrne) and Cassandra (Romola Garai) hate living in the isolated ruin and are desperately tired of being poor. The new landlords come to visit; Simon Cotton (Henry Thomas) and his brother are rich, young, and single. Rose sets her sights on Simon and vows to marry him for his money, even if she doesn't love him. And younger sister Cassandra wants very much to be in love, too.
The story is narrated by Cassandra as she writes in her diary. Romola Garai is perfect as the plain, thoughtful younger sister, the lovely Byrne is convincing as the flirty big sister, and Henry Thomas is a sincere suitor. Bill Nighy steals the show with his larger-than-life personality and manic behavior. The year 1936 is reproduced in fine detail, and the English countryside is beautifully photographed. It's a sweet little movie about growing up and learning to accept one's family that would most appeal to teens, I think.