Alejandro Amenábar returns to the cinema with El Cautivo, the film about Cervantes shot in Seville , which already has a release date. The filmmaker, whose career includes such acclaimed films as Tesis ( 1996), Mar adentro ( 2004), Agora (2009) or Mientras dure la guerra (2019) bets on this occasion for a feature film that tells the story of Miguel de Cervantes when he was captured in 1575 by cosarios and taken as a prisoner in Algiers.
There, his enthusiasm for storytelling, which he shared with his fellow prisoners, including the mysterious Bajá of Algiers, will be awakened. It is then that he devises a risky escape plan.
The film, distributed by Buena Vista International (The Walt Disney Company) will be released in Spain on September 12.
Trailer for Amenábar’s ‘El cautivo’ (The Captive)
The cast includes such stars as Julio Peña(Berlin, A través de mi ventana) and Alessandro Borghi(Las Ocho Montanas). Completing the cast are Miguel Rellán, Fernando Tejero, Luis Callejo, José Manuel Poga, Roberto Álamo, Albert Salazar, Juanma Muniagurria, César Sarachu, Jorge Asín, Mohamed Said, Walid Charaf and newcomer Luna Berroa.
For the shooting, the cast went to locations such as the Real Alcázar of Seville, the Castle of Santa Bárbara in Alicante, Santa Pola and the studios of the Ciudad de la Luz, the neighborhood of Bocairent and the palace of the Counts of Cervellón in Anna.
In the words of the filmmaker:
In 1575 the doors of freedom closed for Miguel de Cervantes, but in exchange the doors of his imagination and his humanity opened. […] And there, among his fellow captives, he found his true vocation as a peerless storyteller.