ReviewReview

Cast & crewCast & crew

I Capture the Castle

(2002)
4 stars
PG
Although author Dodie Smith is best known for The Hundred and One Dalmatians, her book I Capture the Castle captivated many young imaginations. Faithfully adapted here, it makes a comforting drama that satisfies romantic yearnings for the past. Genteel poverty has never looked so enchanting, as the Mortmain family, headed by creatively blocked writer Bill Nighy, lead lives of bohemian chaos in a dilapidated castle. Events are recorded by the 17-year-old diarist Cassandra (Romola Garai), whose interest in the opposite sex is awakened when two American brothers (Henry Thomas and Marc Blucas) stumble across the Mortmains on their way to an inherited estate. Cassandra's rite-of-passage is a predictable affair and the 1930s period trappings are laid on a little too thickly, but this is a reassuringly solid and intelligent adaptation, beautifully photographed and expertly performed. TH

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Running time

108mins

Country of origin

UK / S Afr

Genre

Period Romantic Drama

Original language

English

Screenplay

Heidi Thomas, from the novel by Dodie Smith

Theatrical distributor

Momentum Pictures

UK cinema certificate

PG

UK cinema release date

May 2003

UK video release date

November 2003

Film certification logos reproduced by kind permission of BBFC
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Director
Tim Fywell
Starring
Henry Thomas
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Bill Nighy interview
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