Oh, stop going about how our Vampire Master likes your sun dress!
I Capture the Castle (2003) is the story of a British literary family, the Mortmains, who, years ago – it seems to be set around the gap between the Wars, based on the cars – rented and moved into a castle in an attempt to break the writer’s block afflicting the father of the family, James, who wrote one novel and came to an abrupt halt.
The tactic is a flop, a result James keeps to himself, and the family soldiers on, buoyed by a collection of literary tropes, such as the novel will be done soon and save us all, or the romantic notion of marrying money to save the family from the appalling notion of real poverty, while James struggles to piece together a single sentence. He’s married to an artist, and has two daughters and a son.
As their financial walls close in around them, their landlord changes as an American, Simon, appears, having inherited wealth and title from his English father, along with a buddy. The two Mortmain daughters do their best to attract the attention of money, err, men, and it’s off to the slightly farcical races.
Is it good? Maybe. I enjoyed it, and at its core the story is simple, but there are undercurrents that I sensed but couldn’t isolate. What of Stephen, the nephew of a former maid to the family? Is he nothing more than a throwaway, or is he symbolic of the family’s disillusionment?
Your call.
