Ironically, we know so little about Miguel de Cervantes, the author of one of the most famous tales of all time, Don Quixote de la Mancha, published in the early years of the 17th century. But Alejandro Amenábar's new film, The Captive [+leggi anche:
trailer
intervista: Alejandro Amenábar
scheda film], is predicated upon this very fact. Gleefully taking the one-line, unknown story of Cervantes’ five years in captivity in Algiers with all the strength of a La Croix flavour, Amenábar imbues the mythos with a sparkling shot of a gay enemies-to-maybe-lovers tale, complete with the production and costumed resplendence of a historical epic. The film has just enjoyed its world premiere in the Special Presentations section of the 50th Toronto International Film Festival and has also just been released in cinemas in Spain, courtesy of Buena Vista International.

With Julio Peña Fernández as a casually handsome Cervantes – with a historically accurate injured left arm tucked into his shirt – we are privy to his years in captivity in just over two hours, an event that occurred after he was captured by Muslim raiders engaged in religious crusading, the seizing of goods and the slave trade. Charming and quick-witted, he is aided by several allies, including the resident priest (Miguel Rellán), who immediately recognises Cervantes’ literary talent, but is also brought down by others, especially Friar Blanco (Fernando Tejero), who believes him to be hiding his identity as a gay man yearning for homosexual acts.

This is where The Captive becomes a binarised reverie of sorts, where conservative, do-gooding Spanish Catholicism is placed opposite the film’s depiction of religious Islamic fanaticism, a realm in which contradictions seem to run wild. Alcohol flows through the streets of Algiers, where young, beautiful men from all backgrounds find their livelihood as escorts for wealthy gents, with lensing by Álex Catalán that carefully captures each spicy corner of the city. As those around Cervantes refuse to abjure Catholicism (which would grant them their freedom) and keep their head down, the young man instead invents his way out of his condition through storytelling, capturing the attention of Hasan, the Bajá of Algiers (a heavily eyelinered Alessandro Borghi) – himself a migrant who converted to Islam to gain social status.

In a One Thousand and One Nights-esque manner, Cervantes is granted a day outside the compound when Hasan is satisfied by the story the captive tells. The relationship that forms between the two might first be made out as Stockholm syndrome, but the mutual manipulation quickly turns fraternal and more; however, Amenábar stops short of going full Wattpad. Just as the captives tell stories of the Bajá turning men into sex slaves, homophobic jokes are thrown around willy-nilly, if only for the tongue-in-cheek purpose of calling out how silly their state seems to be: after all, all those young men under Hasan’s care seem to be having the time of their lives.

The Captive never makes Cervantes out to be some sort of fantasy queer icon; rather, the idea is simply teased as a plausible (alternative) reality, never moving in earnest beyond a certain boundary. Nevertheless, there is still something delightfully subversive about it all, even if it’s simply a metaphorical middle finger to so-called tradition.

The Captive is a production by Spain’s MOD Producciones, Himenóptero, Misent Producciones and MOD Pictures as well as Italy’s Propaganda Italia. Film Constellation holds the rights to its world sales.