Le bianche tracce della vita

One of my favourite things about this fine film is that the characters have European accents; too often films set in the American frontier of the 19th Century have their characters speaking in unlikely modern American accents. It adds greatly to the film's believability, as well as reminding the viewer that these were people who left their homelands, usually to escape extreme poverty, and started a new life in what was (to the white man) unknown territory; this utter anonymity helps explain the actions of some of the characters in the film. Indeed the central theme, the cost of sacrificing what one has for a possible better life, is an aspect of emigration itself; the poem "Noreen Bán" recited by Hope Byrne recalls the tragedy of mass emigration from Ireland after the Great Famine, so its impact on Dillon is multiplied.

Great credit is also due to the actors, excellent performances all round.

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.

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.

Daniel Dillon owns much of the town of Kingdom Come, an area he obtained in exchange for a woman and a baby that travelled with him as a young man. Now he has the chance to become richer when Mr Dalglish arrives in town from the railroad company to scope the area for a possible railway route. At the same time, the woman he traded in exchange for the claim to the land all those years ago, Elena, returns with her daughter Hope to ask for money from Dillon.

Director Winterbottom is almost enough to draw me to watch a film, while the great potential in the cast brought me the rest of the way. The film is rather slow and deliberate but this is not a problem as it suits the atmosphere of the town and the film. However the various threads are perhaps too restrained and insular for the film's own good. It is clear that Winterbottom is mirroring the coldness of his surroundings in the hearts of his characters, but it makes it difficult to be involved in the emotions of the story. Also the fact that everything is quite polite and restrained doesn't quite fit with what I expect from a small frontier town based around mining and prostitution.

Likewise the characters were too mellow for the majority of the film - certainly Dillon does not seem like a man who has that in his past, he isn't anywhere near as complex as he should have been. This is not enough to ruin the film though; it still is interesting and reasonably involving as a collection of threads around the town. If only it had had more in the way of heart it would have been a much better film.

The cast are pretty good even though they are restricted by the material. Mullan is always worth watching and he does a reasonable job here. Jovovich is a very risky proposition sometimes but she stands out here mainly because her character allows her to show more of an emotional range. Kinski is wasted in a role that is key to the thrust of the film but is badly used and badly developed. Polley and Bentley are both very able actors but neither manage to convince; they are OK but their characters are not allowed to go where they needed to.

The story is interesting and, after seeing this, I will now try and read the original material it came from as I can see the potential that was quite missed by this version of it. The emotions of the story and the characters are not allowed to develop and it really robs the film of much of it's power. It looks great and feels very worthy but it is hard not to feel like something is missing. Well worth a look but it requires patience to enjoy.

I have been following this director for a while and I always liked his films but this time he has exceeded my expectations.

'The Claim' is like an ancient greek tragedy and Dillon is its' hero. Dillon is a man who goes West with his wife and new born daughter in order to find gold. In the process he sells his wife and his daughter in exchange for that gold. Years later his wife will come back to haunt him and Dillon comes to realize how empty his life has been, how irrelevant wealth can be to happiness. The story is so beautifully told and the last scene where the people of the new city of Lisboa prey on Dillon's gold is a metaphor or at least I would like it to be. I think Winterbottom wanted to show how the world will never change, how people will continue to go after that gold. Dillon came and went, but he didn't leave anything behind him. He achieved all those things, he was a pioneer he went out West, he was one of the people who built America but he didn't win his daughter's heart. And it makes one wonder, what was the point of his life. 'The Claim' is the story of America itself, an America that was built on greed, on the quest for new lands, new conquers and prosperity. Peter Mullan gives us an excellent performance, as well as Sarah Polley as the elegant young daughter and Milla Jovovich. Nastasia Kinsky has a rather insignificant role and Wes Bentley is disappointing. Overall, a very good film, a piece of art by Winterbottom and a story that you won't forget for a while.