''Alatriste'' is a 2006 Spanish epic

historical fiction Historical fiction is a literary genre in which the plot takes place in a setting related to the past events, but is fictional. Although the term is commonly used as a synonym for historical fiction literature, it can also be applied to other ty ...

war film War film is a film genre concerned with warfare, typically about naval, air, or land battles, with combat scenes central to the drama. It has been strongly associated with the 20th century. The fateful nature of battle scenes means that war fi ...

directed by

Agustín Díaz Yanes Agustín Díaz Yanes (born 1950, in Madrid) is a Spanish Goya Award-winning screenwriter and film director. Filmography Screenwriter * ''Al límite'' (1997) * ''Belmonte (film), Belmonte'' (1995) * ''Demasiado corazón'' (1992) * ''Alone Tog ...

, based on the main character of a series of novels written by

Arturo Pérez-Reverte Arturo Pérez-Reverte Gutiérrez (born 25 November 1951 in Cartagena) is a Spanish novelist and journalist. He worked as a war correspondent for RTVE for 21 years (1973–1994). His first novel, ''El húsar'', set in the Napoleonic Wars, was ...

, '' The Adventures of Captain Alatriste'' (). The film, which stars

Viggo Mortensen Viggo Peter Mortensen Jr. R (; born October 20, 1958) is an American actor, writer, director, producer, musician, and multimedia artist. Born and raised in the State of New York to a Danish father and American mother, he also lived in Argentin ...

, is the second most expensive

Spanish language Spanish ( or , Castilian) is a Romance languages, Romance language of the Indo-European language family that evolved from colloquial Latin spoken on the Iberian peninsula. Today, it is a world language, global language with more than 500 millio ...

film ever made in Spain (about €24 million – US$30 million); only preceded by ''

Agora The agora (; grc, ἀγορά, romanized: ', meaning "market" in Modern Greek) was a central public space in ancient Greek city-states. It is the best representation of a city-state's response to accommodate the social and political order of t ...

''. It portrays Spain of the 17th century using both fictional and real characters.

Twentieth Century Fox 20th Century Studios, Inc. (previously known as 20th Century Fox) is an American film studio, film production company headquartered at the Fox Studio Lot in the Century City area of Los Angeles. As of 2019, it serves as a film production arm o ...

has bought the rights to the film. The film was released on 1 September 2006.

Plot

The story takes place during the 17th century in the

Spanish Empire The Spanish Empire ( es, link=no, Imperio español), also known as the Hispanic Monarchy ( es, link=no, Monarquía Hispánica) or the Catholic Monarchy ( es, link=no, Monarquía Católica) was a colonial empire governed by Spain and its prede ...

. Diego Alatriste is a soldier in the service of

King Philip IV of Spain Philip IV ( es, Felipe, pt, Filipe; 8 April 160517 September 1665), also called the Planet King (Spanish: ''Rey Planeta''), was King of Spain from 1621 to his death and (as Philip III) King of Portugal from 1621 to 1640. Philip is remembered f ...

during the

Eighty Years' War The Eighty Years' War or Dutch Revolt ( nl, Nederlandse Opstand) ( c.1566/1568–1648) was an armed conflict in the Habsburg Netherlands between disparate groups of rebels and the Spanish government. The causes of the war included the Refo ...

. The story begins in the

Spanish Netherlands Spanish Netherlands (Spanish: Países Bajos Españoles; Dutch: Spaanse Nederlanden; French: Pays-Bas espagnols; German: Spanische Niederlande.) (historically in Spanish: ''Flandes'', the name "Flanders" was used as a ''pars pro toto'') was the Ha ...

, where his ''

tercio A ''tercio'' (; Spanish for " third") was a military unit of the Spanish Army during the reign of the Spanish Habsburgs in the early modern period. The tercios were renowned for the effectiveness of their battlefield formations, forming the el ...

'' fights in the

Dutch Revolt The Eighty Years' War or Dutch Revolt ( nl, Nederlandse Opstand) (Historiography of the Eighty Years' War#Name and periodisation, c.1566/1568–1648) was an armed conflict in the Habsburg Netherlands between disparate groups of rebels and t ...

. His friend Lope Balboa is killed during the fighting, and Alatriste returns to

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...

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 Prince of Wales ( cy, Tywysog Cymru, ; la, Princeps Cambriae/Walliae) is a title traditionally given to the heir apparent to the English and later British throne. Prior to the conquest by Edward I in the 13th century, it was used by the rulers ...

(the future

King Charles I of England Charles I (19 November 1600 – 30 January 1649) was King of England, Scotland, and Ireland from 27 March 1625 until his execution in 1649. He was born into the House of Stuart as the second son of King James VI of Scotland, but after hi ...

) and his companion, the

Duke of Buckingham Duke of Buckingham held with Duke of Chandos, referring to Buckingham, is a title that has been created several times in the peerages of England, Great Britain, and the United Kingdom. There have also been earls and marquesses 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 Syphilis () is a sexually transmitted infection caused by the bacterium ''Treponema pallidum'' subspecies ''pallidum''. The signs and symptoms of syphilis vary depending in which of the four stages it presents (primary, secondary, latent, an ...

. 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 The Battle of Rocroi, fought on 19 May 1643, was a major engagement of the Thirty Years' War between a French army, led by the 21-year-old Duke of Enghien (later known as the Great Condé) and Spanish forces under General Francisco de Melo on ...

(May 1643), described in the last book of '' The Adventures of Captain Alatriste'' saga. During the battle, Abel Moreno Gómez's "

La Madrugá LA most frequently refers to Los Angeles, the second largest city in the United States. La, LA, or L.A. may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * La (musical note), or A, the sixth note * "L.A.", a song by Elliott Smith on ''Figur ...

" 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 Antonio Fernández Resines (born 7 August 1954) professionally known as Antonio Resines, is a Spanish film and television actor known for his performance in comedy films and series. Biography He was born 'by accident' on 7 August 1954 in Torr ...

, originally slated to appear as Saldaña, almost retired from the entire movie due to a traffic accident; however, he makes a

cameo appearance A cameo role, also called a cameo appearance and often shortened to just cameo (), is a brief appearance of a well-known person in a work of the performing arts. These roles are generally small, many of them non-speaking ones, and are commonly eit ...

in the

as a

musketeer A musketeer (french: mousquetaire) was a type of soldier equipped with a musket. Musketeers were an important part of early modern warfare particularly in Europe as they normally comprised the majority of their infantry. The musketeer was a pre ...

officer.

Awards and nominations

, - , align = "center" rowspan = "17" , 2007 , , 12th Forqué Award , , colspan = "2" ,

Best Film This is a list of categories of awards commonly awarded through organizations that bestow film awards, including those presented by various film, festivals, and people's awards. Best Actor/Best Actress *See Best Actor#Film awards, Best Actress#F ...

, , , , , - , rowspan = "15" ,

21st Goya Awards The 21st Annual Goya Awards took place at the Palacio Municipal de Congresos in Madrid, Spain on 28 January 2007. ''Volver ''Volver'' (, meaning "to go back") is a 2006 Spanish comedy-drama film written and directed by Pedro Almodóvar. The ...

, , colspan = "2" ,

, , , , rowspan = "15" , , - , Best Actor , , Viggo Mortensen , , , - ,

Best Director Best Director is the name of an award which is presented by various film, television and theatre organizations, festivals, and people's awards. It may refer to: Film awards * AACTA Award for Best Direction * Academy Award for Best Director * BA ...

, , Agustín Díaz Yanes , , , - , Best Adapted Screenplay , , Agustín Díaz Yanes , , , - , Best Supporting Actor , , Juan Echanove , , , - , Best Supporting Actress , , Ariadna Gil , , , - , Best Production Supervision , , Cristina Zumárraga , , , - , Best Original Score , , Roque Baños , , , - , Best Art Direction , , Benjamín Fernández , , , - , Best Costume Design , , Francesca Sartori , , , - , Best Cinematography , , , , , - , Best Editing , , José Salcedo , , , - , Best Makeup and Hairstyles , , José Luis Pérez , , , - ,

Best Sound This is a list of categories of awards commonly awarded through organizations that bestow List of film awards, film awards, including those presented by various film, festivals, and people's awards. Best Actor/Best Actress *See Best Actor#Film awa ...

, , Dominique Hennequin, Patrice Grisolet, Pierre Gamet , , , - , Best Special Effects , ,

Reyes Abades Reyes Abades (25 July 1949 – 1 February 2018) was a Spanish specialist in special effects. He won nine Goya Awards. Abades worked on more than 300 productions. He contributed to the opening and closing ceremonies for the 1992 Summer Olympics in ...

, Rafael Solorzano , , , - ,

16th Actors and Actresses Union Awards The 16th Actors and Actresses Union Awards ceremony was held on 12 February 2007 in Madrid's Palacio Municipal de Congresos. Directed by Mariano de Paco and written by Mariano de Paco, Ignacio García May and Ainhoa Amestoy, the gala was hosted ...

, , Best Film Actor in a Minor Role , , Javier Cámara , , , ,

References

External links

* *
Official Arturo Pérez-Reverte's website
{{Authority control 2006 films 2000s historical drama films 2000s war drama films 2000s action drama films Films based on historical novels Films based on military novels Films based on romance novels Films based on Spanish novels Films based on works by Arturo Pérez-Reverte Films set in the 17th century Films set in Spain Films set in the Netherlands Films shot in Madrid Spanish action drama films Historical action films Spanish epic films Spanish historical drama films Spanish war drama films 2000s Spanish-language films Spanish swashbuckler films Films scored by Roque Baños Films directed by Agustín Díaz Yanes 2006 drama films Films produced by Álvaro Augustin Works based on Spanish novels 2000s Spanish films