The Claim is a story of family tragedy and the inevitability of fate set in 1867 California. It is apparently based on a novel by Thomas Hardy, but I cannot attest to the faithfulness of this film to the novel except to say that it undoubtedly had a change of setting.
Daniel Dillon is the ruler of Kingdom Come, a small mining town high in the California Sierras. Dillon is rich, powerful but fair, and has won the favor of a beautiful young mistress. But he has secrets that that makes contentment elusive. Twenty years before, Dillon committed an unspeakable act to gain his fortune and has been marking time ever since.
When two mysterious women, an older woman and her twenty-year old daughter, arrive in Kingdom Come with a railroad survey party, the sins of the past come back to affect everyone in the town. Although I haven't read the source material, the plot and tone of this film has an almost palpable sense of impending tragedy that is a hallmark in all of Hardy's works. The harsh winter and forbidding mountains of the American west fits very well with this theme.
Although this is ostensibly a western, there are none of the standard western cliches in this film. There are no heroes nor villains. The sporadic scenes of violence are confused and pointless, as violent situations are apt to be, and the pacing of the film is very deliberate. It is an intimate epic, more concerned with character than grand vistas and set pieces. Nevertheless, the visuals are stunning. I wish could have seen this on a big screen.
Watching this film, I couldn't help thinking to myself how this is what it must have been like, living in those times. Many critics have complained how muted the performances are, but in a time when death was so close and a person's fortune was so transitory, not investing a lot of emotional stake into something seems a pragmatic choice. Besides, without a modicum of restraint, this film could have devolved into melodramatic camp. As far as I am concerned the choices were perfect.
The standout cast includes Scottish actor Peter Mullan as Dillon. He is the center of this film. His performance brings both gravity and vulnerabitlity to this complex character.
The always watchable Natassja Kinski plays Elena, the mysterious, dying woman who has returned from Dillon's past. Sarah Polley plays Hope, Elena's innocent daughter who serves as a catalyst for Dillon's search for redemption. Polley's character is sketchier than the others, serving more as a plot point, but Polley does what she can with this ultra virtuous Victorian throwback.
But the real casting surprise is a nearly unrecognizable Milla Jovovich in the small but intergral role of Lucia, Dillon's mistress. Lucia is Dillon's opposite in every way: tough, smart and running from a regretful past. It's a tough role and Jovovich pulls is off beautifully. I had previously dismissed her as a bimbo model dilletante, but this serious sympathetic performance sheds a new light on things. Hopefully she will be given similar down to earth roles in the future.
People compare this film to Robert Altman's 1970's anti-western, McCabe and Mrs. Miller. This might be accurate in a superficial way, but I found the Claim much more satisfying. I found Winterbottom's objective, detached storytelling more effective than Altman's gimmicky, painfully self-conscious direction. I was never a fan of that film (or Altman in general) in the first place, so almost anything would be an improvement.
A better comparison would be Ang Lee's 1999 masterwork, Ride With the Devil. Both portray a little known facet of American history in an authentic and unsentimental fashion. They take the settings of a Western without wallowing in convention. They were also both buried by the public. It's sad to think that when garbage like Pearl Harbor are splattered all over multiplexes in the country, a beautiful film like this is ignored. It does not reflect well on modern American culture.
The Claim was definitely the best movie that was released in 2000 that I have seen. And I feel confidant that it will be recognized as one of the best films of this new decade.
See it. Now.
Daniel Dillon is the ruler of Kingdom Come, a small mining town high in the California Sierras. Dillon is rich, powerful but fair, and has won the favor of a beautiful young mistress. But he has secrets that that makes contentment elusive. Twenty years before, Dillon committed an unspeakable act to gain his fortune and has been marking time ever since.
When two mysterious women, an older woman and her twenty-year old daughter, arrive in Kingdom Come with a railroad survey party, the sins of the past come back to affect everyone in the town. Although I haven't read the source material, the plot and tone of this film has an almost palpable sense of impending tragedy that is a hallmark in all of Hardy's works. The harsh winter and forbidding mountains of the American west fits very well with this theme.
Although this is ostensibly a western, there are none of the standard western cliches in this film. There are no heroes nor villains. The sporadic scenes of violence are confused and pointless, as violent situations are apt to be, and the pacing of the film is very deliberate. It is an intimate epic, more concerned with character than grand vistas and set pieces. Nevertheless, the visuals are stunning. I wish could have seen this on a big screen.
Watching this film, I couldn't help thinking to myself how this is what it must have been like, living in those times. Many critics have complained how muted the performances are, but in a time when death was so close and a person's fortune was so transitory, not investing a lot of emotional stake into something seems a pragmatic choice. Besides, without a modicum of restraint, this film could have devolved into melodramatic camp. As far as I am concerned the choices were perfect.
The standout cast includes Scottish actor Peter Mullan as Dillon. He is the center of this film. His performance brings both gravity and vulnerabitlity to this complex character.
The always watchable Natassja Kinski plays Elena, the mysterious, dying woman who has returned from Dillon's past. Sarah Polley plays Hope, Elena's innocent daughter who serves as a catalyst for Dillon's search for redemption. Polley's character is sketchier than the others, serving more as a plot point, but Polley does what she can with this ultra virtuous Victorian throwback.
But the real casting surprise is a nearly unrecognizable Milla Jovovich in the small but intergral role of Lucia, Dillon's mistress. Lucia is Dillon's opposite in every way: tough, smart and running from a regretful past. It's a tough role and Jovovich pulls is off beautifully. I had previously dismissed her as a bimbo model dilletante, but this serious sympathetic performance sheds a new light on things. Hopefully she will be given similar down to earth roles in the future.
People compare this film to Robert Altman's 1970's anti-western, McCabe and Mrs. Miller. This might be accurate in a superficial way, but I found the Claim much more satisfying. I found Winterbottom's objective, detached storytelling more effective than Altman's gimmicky, painfully self-conscious direction. I was never a fan of that film (or Altman in general) in the first place, so almost anything would be an improvement.
A better comparison would be Ang Lee's 1999 masterwork, Ride With the Devil. Both portray a little known facet of American history in an authentic and unsentimental fashion. They take the settings of a Western without wallowing in convention. They were also both buried by the public. It's sad to think that when garbage like Pearl Harbor are splattered all over multiplexes in the country, a beautiful film like this is ignored. It does not reflect well on modern American culture.
The Claim was definitely the best movie that was released in 2000 that I have seen. And I feel confidant that it will be recognized as one of the best films of this new decade.
See it. Now.