Captain Alatriste: The Spanish Musketeer (2006)
"Alatriste" (original title)

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

Director:

Agustín Díaz Yanes

Writers:

Arturo Pérez-Reverte (novels), Agustín Díaz Yanes,

Stars:

Viggo Mortensen, Elena Anaya, Unax Ugalde

4 wins & 20 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
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

Storyline

Spain 17th century.Diego Alatriste, brave and heroic soldier, is fighting under his King's army in the Flandes region. His best mate, Balboa, falls in a trap and near to die ask to Diego, as his last desire, to looking after his son Inigo and grow him as a soldier. Alatriste has to come back to Madrid.

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Plot Keywords:

army | spain | 17th century | desire | trap | 

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Genres:

Adventure | Biography | Drama | History | Romance | Thriller | War

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Details

Official Sites:

20th Century Fox [es]

Country:

Spain

Language:

Spanish Flemish Latin Portuguese

Release Date:

1 September 2006 (Spain)

Also Known As:

Captain Alatriste

Filming Locations:

Baeza, Jaén, Andalucía, Spain

Box Office

Budget:

€24,000,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Estudios Picasso, Origen Producciones Cinematograficas S.A., NBC Universal Global Networks

Technical Specs

Runtime:

145 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Spanish composer Roque Baños is the author of the music soundtrack for the film, but the piece that sounds during the climactic last scene was substituted with a march called 'La madrugá' used in many Easter week processions in Spain, giving it an undercurrent of suffering, inevitability of defeat and and end-of-the-road feeling. Baños has never been happy that the music he composed for the scene was not used, although it is included in the soundtrack cd.

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Goofs

When the group walks back from their white flag meeting with the French commander at the battle of Rocroi, the movie focuses on how few Spanish soldiers are left. In the foreground a few casualties can be seen. On the left a man in brown clothes lying on his back, his spear in his right hand. A little to the right in this same shot exactly the same casualty in exactly the same pose can be seen, except for a few details regarding the shadows on the ground.

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Quotes

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

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Connections

References The Searchers (1956)

User Reviews

A lost opportunity

I went to see this movie without reading the books first and with only a vague knowledge of the historical events the novels are based upon. Apparently, the director thought that it would be a good idea to condensate the five Alatriste novels in a single film, in order to give depth to the characters. A big mistake. The pace is for the most part too fast and anecdotic, and the action jumps from here to there without ever giving a clear reason why everyone behaves the way they do, from the romantic plots scattered along the movie to the great political conspiracies. It is never very clear either why Alatriste, who is little more than a soldier and hired assassin, is so important to so many people of high rank.

In spite of all this, I cannot give the film a bad rating because it is certainly a pleasure to watch. The technical aspects, the general "look" of the film, the music, and the acting are splendid. The casting can be a controversial point, but the chosen actors do wonders.