The Claim (2000)

Calificación de los usuarios:

6.5/10   

Director:

Michael Winterbottom

Escritores:

Thomas Hardy (novel)
Frank Cottrell Boyce (screenplay)

Fecha de Lanzamiento:

2 febrero 2001 (UK)

Género:

Drama | Romance | Del Oeste

Frase comercial:

Everything has a price.

Plot:

A prospector sells his wife and daughter to another gold miner for the rights to a gold mine. Twenty years later...

Plot Keywords:

Railroad | Gold Mine | Surveyor | Miner | Morphine

Premios:

1 win & 8 nominations

Comentarios de los usuarios:

A "Hardy" Take on the Classic Western

Reparto

Peter Mullan	...	Daniel Dillon
Milla Jovovich	...	Lucia
Wes Bentley	...	Donald Dalglish
Nastassja Kinski	...	Elena Burn
Sarah Polley	...	Hope Burn
Shirley Henderson	...	Annie
Julian Richings	...	Francis Bellanger
Sean McGinley	...	Mr. Sweetley
Randy Birch	...	Priest
Tom McCamus	...	Mr. Burn
Frank Zotter	...	Photographer
Artur Ciastkowski	...	Delany
Barry Ward	...	Young Dillon
Karolina Muller	...	Young Elena
David Lereaney	...	Saloon Actor

También conocida como:

Kingdom Come (USA) (working title)
Le maître de Kingdom Come (Canada: French title)
Rédemption (France)
El perdón (Spain) [es]

MPAA:

Rated R for sexuality, and some language and violence.

Duración:

120 min | Spain:115 min (DVD edition)

País:

UK | France | Canada

Idioma:

Inglés

Color:

Color

Relación de Aspecto:

2.35 : 1

Sonido:

Dolby Digital

Clasificación:

Iceland:12 | Singapore:M18 | France:U | Germany:12 | Spain:13 | UK:15 | USA:R | South Korea:18 | Australia:M

Locaciones de Filmación:

Calgary, Alberta, Canada

Compañía:

Alliance Atlantis Communications

Trivialidades:

The movie was filmed at Fortress Mountain in the Province of Alberta, Canada. Fortress Mountain, part of the Canadian Rockies, rises to a height of 3,007 meters (9,865 feet). The movie was filmed at a location above 2,440 meters (approximately 8,000 feet). The sets were close to the popular ski 71.5 miles) to the west of Calgary. The film set location was popular with snowboarders, who threatened to shut the production down through hooliganism, according to the official movie Web site. Differences were smoothed over when it was made apparent that the production company planned to return the site to its natural state. As the production neared completion, the producers rejected an offer to preserve the gold-rush town set for tourism, instead burning it down to provide a fitting climax for the film.

Conexiones de Película:

References McCabe & Mrs. Miller (1971)

Banda de Sonido:

Menina E Moca

A "Hardy" Take on the Classic Western

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.