Alatriste (2006)

User Rating:

6.0/10   

Director:

Agustín Díaz Yanes

Writers:

Arturo Pérez-Reverte (novels)
Agustín Díaz Yanes (written by)

Release Date:

1 September 2006 (Spain)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Biography | History | Thriller | War

Plot:

Viggo Mortensen plays the Spanish soldier-turned-mercenary Captain Alatriste, a heroic figure from the country's 17th century imperial wars.

Plot Keywords:

Army | Spain | Madrid | 17th Century | King

Awards:

4 wins & 20 nominations

Cast

Viggo Mortensen	...	Diego Alatriste
Elena Anaya	...	Angélica de Alquézar
Unax Ugalde	...	Íñigo Balboa
Eduard Fernández	...	Sebastián Copons
Eduardo Noriega	...	Conde de Guadalmedina
Ariadna Gil	...	María de Castro
Juan Echanove	...	Francisco de Quevedo
Javier Cámara	...	Conde Duque de Olivares
Antonio Dechent	...	Curro Garrote
Blanca Portillo	...	Fray Emilio Bocanegra
Francesc Garrido	...	Martín Saldaña
Pilar López de Ayala	...	Mujer de Malatesta
Jesús Castejón	...	Luis de Alquézar
Cristina Marcos	...	Joyera
Luis Zahera	...	Pereira

Also Known As:

Alatriste de Arturo Pérez-Reverte (Spain) (closing credits title)

Runtime:

145 min

Country:

Spain

Language:

Spanish | Flemish | Latin | Portuguese

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital

Certification:

Spain:7 | Finland:K-15 | Netherlands:16 | Argentina:13 | Germany:16 | Portugal:M/12 | Australia:MA (2008) | Japan:R-15 | Brazil:16

Filming Locations:

Baeza, Jaén, Andalucía, Spain

Company:

Estudios Picasso

Trivia:

The role of Inquisitor Emilio Bocanegra is played by a woman, veteran actress Blanca Portillo. This caused controversy, not so much because it might look disrespectful towards the Church, but because many fans could not see the point in doing something like this. Díaz Yanes said that he had had the idea of using a female actress from the beginning, because he saw 'that Great Inquisitor role' as something too cartoonish and black-and-white and wanted to introduce a fresh, less recognizable element to it, and still make viewers suitably uneasy about so powerful and fearful a character. He cited the Oscar-winning supporting role of Linda Hunt in The Year of Living Dangerously (1982), where she played a man, as an example of what he wanted to achieve. Incidentally, Blanca Portillo wears her hair very short in her next film, Volver (2006/I), as a result of having had it cut for this role.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: When Iñigo arrives at the beach after being freed from the galleys, a really tall modern building can be seen at the left part of the screen.

Quotes:

Conde Duque de Olivares: Without Flandes, there's nothing... Captain.

Movie Connections:

Spoofed in Spanish Movie (2009)

Beautifully filmed and solid period movie

I enjoyed Alatriste; it's not your typical fast-paced Hollywood action flick (if you go see it expecting something of the sort, you'll probably be disappointed and bored) and the plot is not too clearly defined, but it has an excellent cinematography and costume design that recreate Velazquez's Spain, and most of the actors are very good. Mortensen is an awesome Capitán Alatriste despite his slight accent. You can see he took this role very seriously. He fits perfectly into the roguish, ruthless but noble character's skin. The sword fights are nicely choreographed. The atmosphere of seventeen-century Spain and the historical context are superbly recreated. Actually, I find there are interesting parallels between the decay of the Spanish Empire and present day United States, between the "tercios" and the US Marines.

I recommend this film highly to anybody who's interested in period films, or who likes Mortensen as an actor.