Rowing with the Wind

Rowing with the Wind (Spanish: Remando al viento) is a 1988 Spanish film written and directed by Gonzalo Suárez. Concerning the English writer Mary Shelley and her circle, it stars Hugh Grant, Lizzy McInnerny, Valentine Pelka, and Elizabeth Hurley. It won six Goya Awards.

Rowing with the Wind
Directed by	Gonzalo Suárez
Written by	Gonzalo Suárez
Produced by	Andrés Vicente Gómez
Starring	Hugh Grant Lizzy McInnerny Valentine Pelka Elizabeth Hurley
Cinematography	Carlos Suárez
Edited by	José Salcedo
Music by	Alejandro Massó
Production company	Ditirambo Films
Release date	19 September 1988 (1988-09-19) (Zinemaldia)
Running time	96 minutes[a]
Country	Spain
Language	English

Plot

In the summer of 1816, English poet Percy Shelley, his soon to be wife Mary Shelley (daughter of William Godwin and Mary Wollstonecraft), and Mary's stepsister and companion Claire Clairmont take a holiday with Lord Byron and his physician John William Polidori at a villa rented by Byron at Lake Leman, Switzerland.

Byron challenges each of the friends to write a horror story, and Mary begins her novel, Frankenstein. She imagines the monster becoming real, and for the next six years, as tragedy befalls those around her, she believes the creature of her imagination is the cause.

Meanwhile, Claire has Byron's baby, is estranged from him and barred from seeing her daughter. Byron and Percy continue their friendship, the one hedonistic, the other idealistic. The Shelleys move near Pisa.

Cast

• Hugh Grant as Lord Byron
• Lizzy McInnerny [es] as Mary Shelley
• Valentine Pelka as Percy Bysshe Shelley
• Elizabeth Hurley as Claire Clairmont
• José Luis Gómez as John Polidori
• Virginia Mataix [es] as Elisa
• Ronan Vibert as Fletcher
• Aitana Sánchez-Gijón^[1]
• Bibiana Fernández^[1]
• José María Pou^[1]
• José Carlos Rivas^[1]
• Kate McKenzie^[1]
• Jolyon Baker^[1]

Production

Shooting locations included the Borizu Beach [es] (Asturias), Switzerland, and Venice.^[1]

Reception

Ángel Fernández-Santos of El País declared Rowing with the Wind a "very ambitious film that almost always lives up to its ambition", falling short of being a masterpiece because of a lack of interest of a few scenes and because of the small presence of actress Lizzy McInnerny in the face of the "enormity of the tragic task that the film has in store" for her character.^[2]

Accolades

Year	Award	Category	Nominee(s)	Result	Ref.
1988	San Sebastián International Film Festival	Silver Shell for Best Director	Gonzalo Suárez	Won	[1]
1989	3rd Goya Awards	Best Film		Nominated	[3]
		Best Director	Gonzalo Suárez	Won
		Best Original Screenplay	Gonzalo Suárez	Nominated
		Best Supporting Actor	José Luis Gómez	Nominated
		Best Cinematography	Carlos Suárez	Won
		Best Editing	José Salcedo	Nominated
		Goya Award for Best Original Score	Alejandro Massó	Nominated
		Best Production Supervision	José G. Jacoste	Won
		Best Art Direction	Wolfgang Burmann	Won
		Best Costume Design	Yvonne Blake	Won
		Best Makeup and Hairstyles	Romana González, Josefa Morales	Won
		Best Sound	Daniel Goldstein, Ricardo Steinberg	Nominated
		Best Special Effects	Reyes Abades	Nominated

Notes

1. original theatrical cut

See also

• List of Spanish films of 1988