The Claim [VHS]
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VHS Movie Reviews of The Claim [VHS]
Movie Review: Awful
Summary: 1 Stars
This blew. I got suckered by the blurbs on the front of the box. I don't see how Siskel and Ebert gave this movie two thumbs up. The story is bleak and depressing. Not a single character is likeable. They're all antagonists. Anyhow, watching this movie is a major waste of time.Movie Review: Would have worked better as a stage play
Summary: 1 Stars
I just felt bored. I was looking for a promising story about the american gold rush - and so I got to this film. I really love movies and I must say that watching this movie just was a waste of time. Nothing really works. The story could have been of some interest. But neither the director nor the really poor cast could transform the drama into the necessary dimension. There is not one character you care about. Well, there is a lot of just white landscape. You can do not much with that setting concerning outdoor shots. But if the camerawork would have been a bit more inventing, the whole thing could have been more interesting. I don't think that static shots have to underline stagnation in the character development. It might be that the movie works better in a theater, but for home entertainment on DVD it offers nothing of inerest. The sound design works well, but that's it.Movie Review: The "small" American Story
Summary: 2 Stars
The ClaimDirector Michael Winterbottom
Producer Andrew Eaton
Writer Frank Cottrell Boyce
Music Michael Nyman
Photography Alwyn H Kuchler
Starring Peter Mullen, Natassja Kinski, Milla Jovovitch, Wes Bentley, Sarah Polly, Sean McGinley
The big American story is that in 1776 courageous American settlers fought for freedom and democracy against British monarchical tyranny. This story is reinforced again and again on the big screen. The story of The West is one that is used most often to illuminate the fight for these essentially admirable ideals. The small American story however, the one often hidden from historical view, is the one that injects a little reality into this interpretation of the American way of freedom and democracy by revealing what really inspired the revolution and made America the country it is. In cinematic terms, The Claim is one of those small stories that expresses much about the American economic mentality.
"Everything has a price" says the film publicity. That tagline defines not only the action of this story but a whole social context, where the driving force behind the society, the main preoccupation of its citizens, is self-interest, and society itself morally bankrupt.
Of course, the story could be set anywhere, its inspiration is credited to Thomas Hardy's Mayor of Casterbridge set in the small, rural backwaters of 19th century England. However, excessive materialism in this setting is not to be equated with the general nature of society. The story of a man selling his wife and daughter to finance his own ambitions is such an outrage because it is related to a society with some moral credibility. But in the 1840s California, in an era of frenzied gold prospecting where "everything has a price" and economic success is everything, the moral effect of such a story is of a different nature. This is the setting for The Claim.
So, it is not surprising that The Claim is an essentially English enterprise. Setting the Hardy story amidst the relatively uncivilised landscape of the Sierra Nevada, in a thin society set up by invading hoards of the self interested, ruthless and ambitious representatives of unfettered capitalism, Michael Winterbottom, the film's young English director, and writer Frank Boyce have, with a measure of cynicism, advanced a new moral context for the original story.
Twenty years after the mad rush for gold Daniel Dillon ( Peter Mullen) is king of Kingdom Come, a town built on gold. Dillon owns everything of value, the bank, the mine, the hotel, the liquor store and his affectionate association with the exotic brothel owner Lucia (Milla Jovovich) affirms his control of every aspect of town life. However, his success was financed and made possible only by an apparent act of moral depravity many years before.
The arrival of three strangers disturbs his contentment and threatens his success. Two women, the young and beautiful Hope (Sarah Polley) and the ailing Elena (Natassja Kinski) possess the secret of his potential downfall. The other stranger, Mr Dalglish (Wes Bentley), a railway surveyor, represents a purely economic danger to Kingdom Come.
Yet, this "moral" tale has, ultimately, limited effect because here is a society where depravity is the norm. So, the film's weakness is based on an irony. The more accurate it is at depicting a morally uncharted land, a wilderness of brutality where a civilised social contract is barely recognisable - and here the film is excellent - , the less an immoral act is reprehensible.
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Movie Review: Hope Comes to Kingdom Come and Leaves Again
Summary: 2 Stars
Movie Summary: It's 1867 and Mr. Dillon runs the small mining town of Kingdom Come. Three people arrive in his town on the same stage on the same day. Two represent his past and one his future. One of them is Donald Dalglish the man from the railroad who will decide if the railroad comes through Kingdom Come making everyone rich, or passes it by killing it. The other two are a mother and daughter who bring with them a past that Dillon is forced to deal with. My Opinion: The story seems like it should be a good one, but it's just not very engaging. The characters seem like they should be interesting and likeable, but the end up being flat and dull. The main character Mr. Dillon is never developed as a character to the point where we know or care why he did what he did and how he feels about it now. The plot ends up being straight forward, but is confused through partial flashbacks during the movie. The direction and acting are fine, but they end up being just window dressing on a story that I found no reason to care about. In the end I had to force myself to finish watching the movie knowing that I had much better DVD offerings in the briefcase on my lap.
DVD Quality: Video: Widescreen Anamorphic 2.35:1 Sound: DD 5.1 Extras: The trailer is the only extra on this bare bones DVD.
What You Should Do: Steer Clear of this one unless you like long drawn out character studies. I found the entertainment value of this one very low.
Related Movies To Check Out: Unforgiven, Pale Rider, High Plains Drifter
Movie Review: Rocks in the Rocky's
Summary: 3 Stars
Against the beautiful backdrop of the Rocky Mountains The Claim is a film about the rugged individualists that went looking for fortune(of different sorts) in the old west.It is 1867 and a small mining town called Kingdom Com is attemping to get The Eastern Pacific Railroad company to come through their town. This brings Wes Bentley to survey the surrounding area to determine if the railroad will be built through the town. It is very important for the founder of Kingdom Com, Daniel Dillon(Peter Mulan) because the town will flounder if the railroad is built elsewhere. Also arriving at the same time are Hope Burns(Sara Polley) and her dying mother, Elena(Nastassja Kinski), they have some other business with Mr. Dillon. As the story unfolds it becomes apparent that there is more to this set up then there originally seems.
So, what did I like about this film? Mostly everything, well shot, well edited, above average acting, decent pacing, it is a well made picture. What didn't I like about this film? Well the title for starters, but more importantly the story. I did not care for most of the plot developments, which is just my personal opinion. The subplots also tended to the "I don't care" catigory and I thought they hurt the overall pacing. There were however a lot of little things I enjoyed about this movie. The acting was all top notch. And it had to be because Michael Winterbottom, the director, likes to use the close up as much as he can get away with. Mullan was especially good as was Kinski. Bentley and Polley had magnetic chemistry, but it was subtle which I really liked. Milla Jovovich turns in what is probably the finest work of her career(except for the singing).
I also liked how Winterbottom chose to use changes in focus as scene transitions.
All in all I enjoyed this film. I will certainly be checking out other work by Michael Winterbottom. If your a fan of strong characters and period westerns then you might check out this film and enjoy it.