Alatriste
Author: unknown
Publication: Madrid 2012
Date: Feb '05
Translated by: Me - so you know who to complain to if it doesn't make any sense!

Viggo Mortensen is going to give life to Captain Alatriste, a curious character from the novel created by writer Arturo Pérez-Reverte - who has made him the chief character in a series of five exciting books - in the film directed by Agustin Díaz Yanes. The New York actor, born on the island of Manhattan 46 years ago, has found a certain fame for his character of Aragorn in the saga The Lord of the Rings and since his participation in the filming of this trilogy he has become a true sword-lover. To prepare for his role, Mortensen has chosen the National Fencing Centre in Madrid, where he will receive lessons with the master of the foil, Jesús Esperanza, a specialist in the techniques of ancient fencing.

The adventures of Captain Alatriste, an ambitious supper-production with Spanish, French and US participation, will be filmed entirely in our country, showing places in Seville and Toledo (among others), and in Spanish, which won't be a problem for the well-known actor, who spent his childhood in Argentina and Venezuela, and speaks Castilian fluently. Apart from Mortensen, in the film, which will have over 10,000 extras, Unax Ugalde will take the role of Iñigo de Balboa, faithful friend in Alariste's adventures; Elena Anaya will play Angélica de Alquezar, the film's baddie; Eduardo Noriega will play the Duke of Guadalmina; Javier Cámara will play the Count Duke of Olivares; Blanca Portillo (Carlota in the Telecinco series '7 vidas') will play a man, an inquisitor with a fairly important part in the film; Jean Remo will play Malatesta; Antonio Dechent, Leonor Watlig and Demián Bichir will also feature, among others.

Viggo Mortensen, from a Danish father and an American mother, is a great fan of painting, writing and poetry, as well as a lover of Madrid, and Real Madrid, his favourite football team. For now, the actor has already visited the Prado Museum to see the Velázquez paintings and dive into the Spanish Golden Age. He likes to prepare his characters and get a lot of information before putting himself in front of the camera. "Thinking of the part of Alatriste, I want to see how men of that era dressed, and the great master for illustrating this is Velázquez." said the actor. "If I have to put myself into the skin of Captain Alatriste, I will have to perfect my Castilian and avoid this Buenos Aires accent I have" he added. The actor didn't know the work of Arturo Pérez-Reverte before he was sent the script of Díaz Yanes' film. "I liked the script and then I went and read all the books about Captain Alatriste," he explains.

Film shooting will start on March 7th, although it's not likely to be released before the end of the year. However, Viggo has already received his first lessons from master Jesús Esperanza at the National Fencing Centre, where there is an area reserved for stage fencing. Not in vain was the equipment in General Aranda street built over an ancient cinema, and numerous actors before Mortensen have passed through to learn how to fight with a sword for film work. Among those were Antonio Banderas for his role in "The Mask of Zorro" and Omero Antoniutti and Assumpta Serna for "The Fencing Master" another adaptation of a Pérez-Reverte novel.

Esperanza, an ex international marksman, director of the National Fencing Centre and coach of the national men's foil team, has spent many years doing film fencing and has even collaborated in the occasional film. "They came to me because I'm an expert in ancient fencing and particularly in that of the 17th century," he says. To train Mortensen, Jesús will rely on the collaboration of the legendary Bob Anderson - the man who taught Errol Flynn to hold a foil - who will bring his experience in filming fencing for the cinema. Anderson who, at 88, is still in the thick of things, was the supervisor of the fighting scenes in the trilogy of "The Lord of the Rings", so he knows the Danish actor inside out.

For Agustín Díaz Yanes, the author of the acclaimed "No one will speak of us when we're dead" and "No News from God", Mortensen will be a huge Alatriste. "I am thrilled that he will play the part. He has age, professionalism, looks, body and is one of the few action heroes left in the film industry." As for Arturo Pérez-Reverte, he says that this is a "very Spanish film, cruel and dark at the same time, with a lot of action." To achieve this, 20 million Euros will be invested, which makes it one of the most spectacular and most expensive productions of the Spanish cinema, with the added risk of translating into pictures one of the most well-known and fabulous sagas of recent years.