Movie  2003
I Capture the Castle      Back      Home
Rose: Well, I shall not forthcome again.
Cassandra: But dreams are like a drug: the magic doesn't last and then the pain is worse than knives.
Cassandra: Still, better all that hurt than to have known no pain; learnt nothing.
Thomas: It's good you're feeling so angry - harness the rage!
Cassandra: I have put my own father back in prison.
Cassandra: Father. 'Jacob Wrestling' was a wonderful, groundbreaking book. There was never going to be a sequel overnight!
James Mortmain: Meaning?
Cassandra: Meaning, it will come!
James Mortmain: How old are you?
Cassandra: Seventeen.
James Mortmain: And you still believe in fairy tales.
Cassandra: Is that all you think you're worth?
Topaz Mortmain: It's what I have to make my mark.
Cassandra: You've made your mark with us! Thomas. And Rose. And me.
Topaz Mortmain: But I'm not your mother.
Thomas: Don't worry. Rose is dabbling in the occult.
Topaz Mortmain: Oh. Well, full marks for enterprise.

Cassandra: This is a crisis Simon, not a treat.
Simon: You always were wise beyond your years.
Cassandra: No I wasn't. I used to be consciously naive.
Cassandra: No towel in the world is worth marrying a bearded man you hate.
Cassandra: I don't want to go through life like my mother, afraid that I'm not really loved, even if it meant I could go through life with you.
Neil Cotton: Why are you all dressed in green?
Cassandra: I said I would never fall in love; I said love was a murderous thing; And it is, and I'm floating on air.
Cassandra: There is only one page left to write on. I will fill it with words of only one syllable. I love. I have loved. I will love.
Thomas: Don't worry, Topaz. Rose is dabbling in the occult.
Topaz Mortmain: Oh. Well, full marks for enterprise.
Cassandra: I look a lot prettier when I'm not standing next to Rose.
Amazon.com
When her family moves into a glamorous castle in the English countryside, Cassandra (Romola Garai) imagines great things will happen. But the decaying castle loses its appeal as her novelist father (Bill Nighy, Love Actually) develops writer's block and her mother dies of cancer. From this sad beginning, I Capture the Castle turns into an utterly engaging coming-of-age story as 17-year-old Cassandra and her older sister Rose (Rose Byrne) struggle to win the attentions of their new American landlord (Henry Thomas, E.T. The Extraterrestrial)--but when everything goes the way Cassandra hopes, her hopes fall apart. Garai's wonderful performance carries the audience through bittersweet discoveries about life and adulthood with hope and yearning. The entire cast---also featuring Tara Fitzgerald (Brassed Off) and Marc Blucas--is superb. I Capture the Castle is an absolutely lovely movie, delightful and surprisingly wise. --Bret Fetzer