Alatriste

Alatriste is a 2006 Spanish epic historical fiction war film directed by Agustín Díaz Yanes, based on the main character of a series of novels written by Arturo Pérez-Reverte, The Adventures of Captain Alatriste (Las aventuras del Capitán Alatriste).

This article is about the film. For the novels, see Captain Alatriste.
Alatriste
Theatrical release poster
Directed byAgustín Díaz Yanes
Written byAgustín Díaz Yanes
Arturo Pérez-Reverte
Produced byÁlvaro Augustín
Antonio Cardenal
StarringViggo Mortensen
Elena Anaya
CinematographyPaco Femenia
Edited byJosé Salcedo
Music byRoque Baños
Distributed by20th Century Fox
Release date
  • 1 September 2006 (2006-09-01)
Running time
145 minutes
CountrySpain
LanguagesSpanish
Dutch
Box office$23 million

The film, which stars Viggo Mortensen, is the second most expensive Spanish language film ever made in Spain (about €24 million – US$30 million); only preceded by Agora. It portrays Spain of the 17th century using both fictional and real characters. Twentieth Century Fox has bought the rights to the film.[1][2]

The film was released on 1 September 2006.

Plot

The story takes place during the 17th century in the Spanish Empire. Diego Alatriste is a soldier in the service of King Philip IV of Spain during the Eighty Years' War. The story begins in the Spanish Netherlands, where his tercio fights in the Dutch Revolt. His friend Lope Balboa is killed during the fighting, and Alatriste returns to Madrid where he takes Lope's young son Íñigo into his care.

Alatriste is hired along with a Sicilian assassin named Gualterio Malatesta to kill the Prince of Wales (the future King Charles I of England) and his companion, the Duke of Buckingham. The job is contracted by Emilio Bocanegra and Luis de Alquézar (uncle of Íñigo's love interest, Angélica de Alquézar). Alatriste finally returns to the Netherlands in 1624 (although the movie states 1625) and participates in the final battles leading to Breda's surrender. After returning to Spain, Íñigo wants to elope with Angélica, but she gets cold feet at the last moment. Alatriste has a romance with actress María de Castro. Because she was disappointed that she failed to marry him, she became the lover of Philip IV. Alatriste ends up crossing swords with Guadalmedina, a friend of the king. In the end, the object of their attention falls ill with syphilis. The duel with his friend Martín Saldaña and the punishment of Íñigo in the galleys are part of the film's spectacular ending.

The last scenes are at the Battle of Rocroi (May 1643), described in the last book of The Adventures of Captain Alatriste saga. During the battle, Abel Moreno Gómez's "La Madrugá" is playing as the defeated army's march and this is where it is assumed that Alatriste dies.

The plot of the film has elements from each of the five books published up to the premiere, and it maintains the same storyline for the main characters. It includes excerpts from the future books of the saga.

Cast

Antonio Resines, originally slated to appear as Saldaña, almost retired from the entire movie due to a traffic accident; however, he makes a cameo appearance in the Battle of Rocroi as a musketeer officer.

Reception

Critical response

Alatriste has an approval rating of 17% on review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, based on 6 reviews, and an average rating of 4.1/10.[4]

Awards and nominations
Alatriste filming in La Caleta beach, Cádiz, Spain
Year Award CategoryNominee(s) ResultRef.
200712th Forqué AwardBest FilmNominated[5]
21st Goya AwardsBest FilmNominated[6]
Best ActorViggo MortensenNominated
Best DirectorAgustín Díaz YanesNominated
Best Adapted ScreenplayAgustín Díaz YanesNominated
Best Supporting ActorJuan EchanoveNominated
Best Supporting ActressAriadna GilNominated
Best Production SupervisionCristina ZumárragaWon
Best Original ScoreRoque BañosNominated
Best Art DirectionBenjamín FernándezWon
Best Costume DesignFrancesca SartoriWon
Best CinematographyPaco FemeníaNominated
Best EditingJosé SalcedoNominated
Best Makeup and HairstylesJosé Luis PérezNominated
Best SoundDominique Hennequin, Patrice Grisolet, Pierre GametNominated
Best Special EffectsReyes Abades, Rafael SolorzanoNominated
16th Actors and Actresses Union AwardsBest Film Actor in a Minor RoleJavier CámaraNominated[7][8]

References
  1. "Alatriste (2006)". rottentomatoes.com. Retrieved 2 December 2013.
  2. "Summer readings: Captain Alatriste by Arturo Pérez-Reverte". theguardian.com. Retrieved 2 December 2013.
  3. López López, Yolanda (2017). El Siglo de Oro en el cine y la ficción televisiva: dirección artística, referentes culturales y reconstrucción histórica. Madrid: Asociación Cultural y Científica Iberoamericana. p. 399. ISBN 978-84-16549-70-2.
  4. https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/alatriste
  5. "'El Laberinto del Fauno', ganadora del Premio Cinematográfico José María Forqué". La Vanguardia. 9 May 2007.
  6. "Alatriste". Premios Goya. Retrieved 19 December 2021.
  7. "'Volver' y 'Así es (si así os parece)', las favoritas a los premios Unión de Actores". El Mundo. 5 January 2007.
  8. "La Unión de Actores premia `Volver´, `El método Grönholm´ y `Mujeres´". La Opinión de La Coruña. 13 February 2007.
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