I’ve been reading, on my own, since I was two years old. Nothing terribly complicated at first, of course, but ever since then, the written word has been coming to life in my head. It’s a rare feat for a film adaptation to live up to the vision in my mind’s eye. I adore all 1,100 pages of The Count of Monte Cristo, and there are some fun movie versions, but none really captures all the ins and outs of the complicated narrative with dozens of side plots. I loved both the book and movie of The Prestige, but the screen story only follows about one-fifth of the print edition.
A film that hit the right tone in casting, setting, music, voice, style, and story is I Capture The Castle (2003). Based on the novel by Dodie Smith (best known for writing 101 Dalmatians) much of the dialogue comes directly from the novel, which is written in the style of a diary kept by Cassandra. With straight-forward insight and wry humor, she shares the troubled yet strangely charming lives of the Mortmain family.
Her father (Bill Nighy), a tortured genius writer, has no money. Thinking he needs solitude to write a follow-up to his bestselling book, he moves his children and second wife to a crumbling castle in the English countryside. Cassandra (Romola Garai) and her older sister Rose (Rose Byrne) imagine the only way they will raise themselves from impecunity is to marry well.
Soon the girls are courting, and courted by, a pair of brothers who own the estate (Henry Thomas and Marc Blucas) as well as the farm boy who helps around the house (a dreamy Henry Cavill). Romantic comedy and heartbreak ensues.
What’s brilliant about both Smith’s book and this faithful adaptation is how it never sinks into sentimentality. It has sweet moments, but it’s never saccharine. It’s funny, but it’s not a comedy.
It’s a beautifully shot coming-of-age story, that doesn’t ever feel forced or trite. Set against the backdrop of the 1930s in England, with a lovely score by Dario Marianelli, it’s a timeless comfort watch and a wonderful tribute to the book.