The Claim (2000)

loosely based on Hardy's THE MAYOR OF CASTERBRIDGE, featuring a man who sells his wife and child. I agree with earlier comments that there are similarities to HEAVEN'S GATE (I was one of three people in the country who thought HG was pretty good; my wife was another), and MCCABE AND MRS MILLER.

I also agree with those who said the plot and flashbacks are a little confusing, tho maybe this is only because I wasn't attentive enough. Mila Jovovich was good; at least, she was not as hysterical as she was in THE MESSENGER.

BTW, as I recall in the novel, the mayor loses his interest in his supposed daughter when he finds out she really isn't his daughter. In the movie, tho, the Sarah Polley character just walks coldly away when she finds out she is his daughter. The result in both cases of course is alienation.

I thought the cinematography and acting were excellent.

Fmovies: 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.

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.

The Claim fmovies. In the sense that it lacks the conventions of any particular trend or mode, The Claim is timeless filmmaking. It betrays no resemblance to any single period in film's modern history, and could've as easily appeared in 1985, or 1965, as now. Of all the cinematic influences Director Winterbottom might ally, he seems to have ignored all but one: himself. Leaving behind contemporary notions of style or authorism, he guides us through the story of a pioneer man's creation of himself, his young aspirations, and the insurmountable grief he eventually reaps. Winterbottom's camera moves softly and beautifully, even in and out of focus, as if navigating slowly through falling snow or sluggish cold air. But the film, for all it's seemingly languorous pace, never once leaves us for wont of a scene to move on, or for the story to ascend another level of fullness. The story will chill your heart as deeply as it's landscape will chill your bones.

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 woul

Michael Winterbottom's decision to construct the whole movie out of extreme telephoto shots - some of which have a pane of focus so shallow you start to wonder if it's really there at all - is more dogma than style. It places a heavy strain on the eyes which some viewers will mistake for tension in the story. (Michael Nyman's music, consisting of something like the "endless melody" which Wagner threatened to write but thankfully never did, likewise creates a tension which some viewers will mistakenly think belongs to the story. Actually, for once Nyman's music isn't that bad.) You have to admire the skill, and the art direction, like the choice of location, is beyond praise, but there's NO REASON AT ALL to make as peer at every single scene through a telescope, except perhaps that it's a shortcut (far too easy a shortcut) to stylistic unity.

It's surprising, towards the end, after all the cold, barely focused and rather absent storytelling, to find that the film packs a punch, after all. It came as a shock when I realised I'd actually been watching something GOOD. We really had been transported to another place (the journey was just a little slow); not having read Hardy's book, I found myself wondering how he could possibly have placed the story in an English setting.

I was also surprised to find myself touched. Some sad things happen at the end. I won't say what they are, and a synopsis of the plot probably wouldn't reveal what's sad about them, anyway.