''Paper Castles'' ( es, Castillos de cartón, links=no) is a 2009 Spanish romantic drama film directed by from a screenplay by

Enrique Urbizu Enrique Urbizu (born 1962) is a Spanish film director and screenwriter. A native of Bilbao, he was one of the few Spanish film directors who brought the film noir into the late Spanish film industry. Urbizu graduated from Universidad del País V ...

based on the novel ''Castillos de cartón'' by

Almudena Grandes María de la Almudena Grandes Hernández (7 May 1960 – 27 November 2021) was a Spanish writer. Author of 13 novels and three short-story collections, her work has been translated into twenty languages and frequently adapted to film. She won t ...

. It stars

Adriana Ugarte Adriana Sofía Ugarte Pardal (born 17 January 1985) is a Spanish actress. She is known for her leading roles on television series ''La Señora'' and ''El tiempo entre costuras''. Ugarte landed a starring role in the 2016 Pedro Almodóvar film ' ...

, Nilo Mur, and Biel Durán.

Plot

Set in

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 ...

in the 1980s, the plot concerns about the

love triangle A love triangle or eternal triangle is a scenario or circumstance, usually depicted as a rivalry, in which two people are pursuing or involved in a romantic relationship with one person, or in which one person in a romantic relationship with so ...

between three art students, María José, Marcos, and Jaime.

Cast

Production

Based on the novel by

, the adapted screenplay was penned by

. The film was produced by Tornasol Films and Castafiore Films, and it had the participation of TVE and

Canal+ Canal+ (Canal Plus, , meaning 'Channel Plus'; sometimes abbreviated C+ or Canal) is a French premium television channel launched in 1984. It is 100% owned by the Groupe Canal+, which in turn is owned by Vivendi. The channel broadcasts several ki ...

. Filming began at Alicante's

Ciudad de la Luz Ciudad de la Luz ("City of Light") is a film studio in Alicante, Spain. About 60 films were shot on the studio's premises between opening in 2005 and closing in 2012. In May 2012, the European Commission The European Commission (EC) is the e ...

studio in June 2008.

Release

The film premiered at the 54th

Valladolid International Film Festival The Valladolid International Film Festival, popularly known as Seminci (short for ; ), is a film festival held annually in Valladolid, Spain. First held in 1956 as ('Valladolid Religious Film Week'), the Seminci is one of the longest-standing fi ...

(Seminci) on 25 October 2009. Distributed by Alta Classics, it was theatrically released in Spain on 30 October 2009.

Reception

Oskar L. Belategui of ''

El Correo ''El Correo'' (; ) is a leading daily newspaper in Bilbao and the Basque Country of northern Spain. It is among best-selling general interest newspapers in Spain. History and profile The brothers Ybarra y de la Revilla – Fernando, Gabriel and ...

'' considered that "afflicted with a languid rhythm and a lacerating visual poverty", the film fails both as "a moral tale and as a story of initiation". Jonathan Holland of ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' assessed that the film feels as "flimsy as its title" and cannot be saved from Urbizu's "uncharacteristically overwrought" script, best efforts from the three leads notwithstanding. Javier Cortijo of ''

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

'' considered that "a certain mechanical callousness threatens to derail" the film, "which is still estimable." of ''

El País ''El País'' (; ) is a Spanish-language daily newspaper in Spain. ''El País'' is based in the capital city of Madrid and it is owned by the Spanish media conglomerate PRISA. It is the second most circulated daily newspaper in Spain . ''El Pa ...

'' found the film to be "one of the least sexual movies with the most sex that eremembers watching", citing "the praiseworthy effort of swimming against inertia and commonplace".

References