Rédemption

Based loosely on Thomas Hardy's novel "Mayor of Casterbridge" this is a valiant recreation transposed from England to the cold mountains of early California. A man sells his wife and daughter for a gold-mining claim. Years later, when he is the local sheriff, his wife and daughter return. A sub-plot documents the arrival of the railroad construction. This has all the makings of a truly great movie but unfortunately is good without being great. The first half is particularly disappointing - the camera fails to linger where there are wonderful scenic shots of breathtaking beauty or dialogue that could have emotional impact. It lingers over boring, inconsequential scenes. The movie also veers stomach-churningly between episodes of gripping realism to episodes where it simply looks all too obviously like actors on a set reciting their lines. Verging on pretentiousness at times, The Claim still manages to pull through as a worthwhile film, largely because it is worth seeing for the bits that work well.

The movie was shot in sub-zero Calgary, Canada, and considering the lengths to which the film makers went to in order to achieve authenticity, it is sad that the finished result was rather less than finished.

Saw at a screening at Cannes- and as trite as "Oscar-worthy" may sound, this film is IT. A sweeping, magestic epic which astounds the soul as well as the mind, one wonders how it could be looked over when it comes around to Oscar-time. Wes Bentley is awesome in his second-round role after American Beauty, Milla Jovovich finally silences those who may have questioned her acting ability in The Messenger, and Sarah Polley gives a real, blistering, reminds-me-of-Emma-Thomson-esc truthful performance. Natasha Kinski is heart-wrenching. Go see this movie.

My fave film of 2001 yet. In another week I may not have gone to see this, so I'm glad there were no other releases that appealed to me, because I wouldn't want to have missed this - I enjoyed it more than I was expecting to. Yes, it is reminiscent of 'Heaven's Gate', but this is probably better, if only for the fact that you won't have to devote half a day to see it. It has its flaws certainly - for instance, Wes Bentley's character doesn't really convince - but its positives far outweigh those: it looks great, the performances are excellent, and it's moving without being sentimental. Although her character was maybe just a little too sweet and humble for me (but that's not really her fault) Sarah Polley steals the show. Peter Mullan was class too, but (again, not the actor's fault) I did find it hard to reconcile how old he looked given the timescale and his character as depicted in flashback - though I guess the hard life of a prospector in 1860's America would have taken it's toll. This movie does give you a feel for how life would have been at that time and place, and for the importance the railways played in the country's development. The moral of the story is the old one about selling your soul for filthy lucre, you have to live with your sins and your mistakes, and you can't put a price on love. I rarely pay to go see a movie twice, but I might just make an exception for this one. Don't miss.

One of the most remarkable adaptations of a literary work I've seen. Frank Cottrell Boyce completely changes Thomas Hardy's classic The Mayor of Casterbridge - and actually betters it lifting it from its original setting and tailoring it into a tale of the American West during the Gold Rush. Some of Hardy's holes hold (predictable) difficulty for many modern readers, but Boyce's western retelling fills them in and lends strong plausibility. (There's a tad too much "faint, fall ill and die" for me in the Hardy original). Some have complained that Boyce went too far - but this is a movie "based" on the book not claiming to be a faithful retelling.

Director Michael Winterbottom proves to have an enormous eye emerging in bold style at once stylized and natural. He brings us here images that, once seen, burn, linger and haunt forever be it a Victorian mansion hauled across the frozen plains or a horse's immolation as on fire it gallops across the screen.

Winterbottom's cast is a strong one - none remaining as they initially seem, each changing before our eyes. Kinski, first strong and bitter gives one of her most tender heartbreaking performances, Wes Bentley, likable and promising becomes petty and meddlesome. Milla Jovovich serves up, predictably, hearty and hot, yet more delicate than she would like to appear.

In all of this Peter Mullan's Daniel Dillon is the focus and the fulcrum by which the story hinges. He is never less than masterful. To see him early on nearly ravaged by youthful greed then watch him in age yearn for salvation that may never come or come too late, one cannot help but be riveted by his endeavor to make up by his plight and his attempt to change it.

The Claim is a remarkable film which, while it may take a bit of time to warm up to, burns its own unique reward in a way few modern Hollywood films can.

This is a rare British attempt at a Western, albeit an uncharacteristic one about a small mining town clashing with the oncoming railroad: it's reasonably well served by the stark cinematography, Michael Nyman's dramatic underscoring and a surprisingly able cast (the most impressive being Peter Mullan as the town leader with a secret past and Milla Jovovich as the chanteuse who has hooked up with him).

Given the director, the film strives for absolute realism (down to the varying accents of the multi-national townspeople and the kind of entertainment provided in the dingy saloon); this, coupled with its relentless solemnity and a plot which isn't as engaging as it should be - actually containing a good deal of padding, particularly its baffling emphasis on the blossoming romance between a prospector and a prostitute - results in a rather uneasy film, one that's not remembered with affection! However, the tragic finale - with Mullan's dreams literally going up in flames - is effectively handled.

Curiously enough, watching THE CLAIM I was reminded of Nicolas Roeg's similar EUREKA (1983) - which also revolved around a family undone by the lust for gold - though it lacks that film's striking imagery (not to mention its equally distinctive eccentricity).