The Claim (Widescreen)

 

 

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I would urge Amazon's WWW site's users to obtain and to view this film, but with a warning. The narrative of the film does not reveal itself very clearly. I even had read the novel ("The Mayor of Casterbridge") by Thomas Hardy on which the film was based (with a transfer from a British to an American Western setting, with changes in the names of the characters), but had read that great work too long ago to be able to recall enough of it to follow clearly what the film, too, was portraying. I did manage to "get the gist of it" despite a lot of confusion along the way, but it was a summary of the action of the motion picture, on a WWW site that made it all congeal together, "after the fact" of having viewed it, rather than adequate clues of a visual sort or from the dialogue from the movie itself while I first was watching it.

The film is visually very beautiful. The mountainous California scenery is magnificent and rather well and atmospherically filmed. The young male actor, Wes Bentley, who plays the role of Dalglish, the railroad planner, provides the main human pulchritude, very handsome and youtfully appealing, real "eye candy"; one would wish that in the scene, when he is confronted in bed with a prostitude while a weapon is trained upon him to shoot him (but does not), that Dalglish/Bentley had thrown aside that sheet completely to reveal his full frontal nudity rather than merely to reveal his body from the head down to his upper torso, themselves equisitely buff (his chest nearly hairless, the muscles nicely developed without being excessively bulging, his smooth complexion of marvellously flawless palour; however, there is much full nudity of the several of the females in this film). Bentley's acting is less than stunning, perhaps at least in part due to the apparent need to affect a foreign accent that he conveys with only intermittent ability to convince. One of the problems, though, that this film has with conveying the narrative is that so much attention on the character of Dalglish (Bentley), especially so near to the beginning of the movie, distracts the viewer's attention from the plight (until revived later as the action progresses) of Daniel Dillon (played by Peter Mullan), who, after all, is the central character around whose fate this cinematic work turns. What occurs in flashbacks to the past and what is happening in the action's present also is unclear, creating potential confusion for the viewer.

The film might have benefitted from a better and more assertive musical score. Too much happens without the evocative enhancement that a more skillful and prominent score would have provided.

A good motion picture this is, in short, but do some "homework" to prepare yourself to follow the story that this film recounts with such visual beauty. I would like to see my DVD of this movie a few more times, to feast the eyes on the lofty loveliness of the mountain setting and on the boyishly bearded beauty of Wes Bentley, so, I guess that this is adequate to have provoked that opening, decided recommendation to you from me!

The Claim

Director 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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This is one of those movies that "they don't make anymore." It's not a movie for people who thrive on SFX, or acrobatics, or one-dimensional characters, or stories that are as meaningful as a message in a fortune cookie. This one is about people struggling to survive in a winter wilderness during the railroad boom of the 1860s with all the corruption, decadence, and pioneering spirit of a time, much like our own, in which capitalism and "progress" were the driving forces of society. Wes Bentley, Milla Jovovich, et al, are superb. There isn't a false note in the acting. The landscapes are breathtaking. This is director Michael Winterbottom's finest hour yet, and he's had a few (Jude, Welcome to Sarajevo). If you enjoy a movie with great production design, breathtaking cinematography, an involving human drama (albeit slowly paced), beautiful music, and all the elements of a meticulously produced, high class film, I'd consider getting this one on DVD. The transfer is excellent. It's unfortunate that the disc doesn't offer much in the area of "extras," with the exception of a trailer, but it doesn't really matter because the movie itself is so visually impressive, and so unpretentious at the same time, that there's plenty of eye candy and food for thought to keep any intellectual viewer satisfied. I highly recommend this overlooked gem. Give it a chance and you won't be sorry.

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3.0 out of 5 stars Scenically Gorgeous Setting in Mountainous California and Huge Moral & Economic Struggles Make for a Fine Cinematic Saga
I would urge Amazon's WWW site's users to obtain and to view this film, but with a warning. The narrative of the film does not reveal itself very clearly. Read more

Published on Feb 21 2009 by C.-P. Gerald Parker

3.0 out of 5 stars The Scenery, and Some of the Actors, Are Better than the Unfolding of the Narrative in This Lovely Film
I would urge Amazon's WWW site's users to obtain and to view this film, but with a warning. The narrative of the film does not reveal itself very clearly. Read more

Published on Feb 18 2009 by C-P Parker

1.0 out of 5 stars Too dark and snowy
I did not enjoy this movie. It is very dark. There is little colour. Just people wearing black against a backdrop of snow and more snow. Read more

Published on Aug 10 2004

4.0 out of 5 stars Good multifaceted story with terrific cast...
Dalglish (Wes Bentley) arrives to Kingdome Come in the High Sierra's in order to survey the direction of the railroad he is bringing to the area. Read more

Published on April 8 2004 by Kim Anehall

2.0 out of 5 stars Epic (n): 2+ hr. movie with no attention to characterization
Thankfully, it's only 2 hours (as opposed to typical epic movie durations). When will Hollywood and movie critics realize that a movie isn't very satisfying if it has only one... Read more

Published on Jan 19 2004

2.0 out of 5 stars The Claim is quite lame
I really tried to enjoy this film, but what a bore! Ebert & Roeper must have been held at gunpoint to rate this as "Two Thumbs Up. Read more

Published on Nov 1 2003 by HM

4.0 out of 5 stars powerful and passionate
a great cast makes this work. Michael Winterbottom directs another powerful and passionate film alongside his earlier film Jude with Kate Winslet and Christopher Eccelston... Read more

Published on Oct 16 2003 by Michael Bolts

3.0 out of 5 stars Michael Winterbottom hates me.
That's the conclusion I came to while watching The Claim. I have not yet read The Mayor of Casterbridge, but Winterbottom's frigid Sierra adaptation left me cold, and not in the... Read more

Published on Jan 28 2003 by Adam Cole

2.0 out of 5 stars Michael Winterbottom hates me.
That's the conclusion I came to while watching The Claim. I have not yet read The Mayor of Casterbridge, but Winterbottom's frigid Sierra adaptation left me cold, and not in the... Read more

Published on Jan 25 2003 by Adam Cole

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the best films I've ever seen
If, as another reviewer said, you're looking for big blasts, action and a superficial script that has nothing to reveal then get yourself something else. Read more

Published on Dec 7 2002 by PianoMom

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