Paper Castles (Spanish: Castillos de cartón) is a 2009 Spanish romantic drama film directed by Salvador García Ruiz [es] from a screenplay by Enrique Urbizu based on the novel Castillos de cartón by Almudena Grandes. It stars Adriana Ugarte, Nilo Mur, and Biel Durán.

Paper Castles
Theatrical release poster
SpanishCastillos de cartón
Directed bySalvador García Ruiz
Screenplay byEnrique Urbizu
Based onCastillos de cartón
by Almudena Grandes
Produced by
Starring
CinematographyTeo Delgado
Edited byBerta Frías
Music byPascal Gaigne
Production
companies
  • Castafiore Films
  • Tornasol Films
Distributed byAlta Classics
Release dates
  • 25 October 2009 (2009-10-25) (Seminci)
  • 30 October 2009 (2009-10-30) (Spain)
CountrySpain
LanguageSpanish

Plot

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Set in Madrid in the 1980s, the plot concerns about the love triangle between three art students, María José, Marcos, and Jaime.[1]

Cast

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Production

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Based on the novel by Almudena Grandes, the adapted screenplay was penned by Enrique Urbizu.[2] The film was produced by Tornasol Films and Castafiore Films, and it had the participation of TVE and Canal+.[1] Filming began at Alicante's Ciudad de la Luz studio in June 2008.[4]

Release

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The film premiered at the 54th Valladolid International Film Festival (Seminci) on 25 October 2009.[5] Distributed by Alta Classics,[1] it was theatrically released in Spain on 30 October 2009.

Reception

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Oskar L. Belategui of El Correo 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".[6]

Jonathan Holland of Variety 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.[1]

Javier Cortijo of ABC considered that "a certain mechanical callousness threatens to derail" the film, "which is still estimable."[7]

Jordi Costa [es] of El País found the film to be "one of the least sexual movies with the most sex that [he] remembers watching", citing "the praiseworthy effort of swimming against inertia and commonplace".[8]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c d Holland, Jonathan (22 November 2009). "Paper Castles". Variety.
  2. ^ a b c d "Amor y sexo a tres bandas". Diario Sur. 30 October 2009.
  3. ^ a b c d Massanet, Adrián (30 October 2009). "Estrenos de cine | 30 de octubre | Un gran estreno eclipsa todo lo demás". Espinof.
  4. ^ "La Ciudad de la Luz acoge el rodaje 'Castillos de cartón' basada en un libro de Almudena Grandes". Las Provincias. 10 July 2008.
  5. ^ "Castillos de cartón, la atrevida película de García Ruiz, en la Seminci". Panorama Audiovisual. 26 October 2009.
  6. ^ "'Castillos de cartón' enfría la Seminci". El Correo. Grupo Vocento. 26 October 2009.
  7. ^ Cortijo, Javier (30 October 2009). "Trigonometría sentimental". ABC.
  8. ^ Costa, Jordi (30 October 2009). "Ruidos de fondo". El País.