The Claim (2000)

Director:

Michael Winterbottom

Writers:

Thomas Hardy (novel)
Frank Cottrell Boyce (screenplay)

Release Date:

2 February 2001 (UK)

Genre:

Drama | Romance | Western

Tagline:

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:

Gold | Gold Mine | Railroad | Surveyor | Miner

Awards:

1 win & 8 nominations

Cast

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

Also Known As:

Kingdom Come (USA) (working title)
Le maître de Kingdom Come (Canada: French title)
Rédemption (France)

MPAA:

Rated R for sexuality, and some language and violence.

Runtime:

120 min | Spain:115 min (DVD edition)

Country:

UK | France | Canada

Language:

English

Colour:

Colour

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

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

Filming Locations:

Calgary, Alberta, Canada

Company:

Alliance Atlantis Communications

Trivia:

The official Web site of the movie was one of the first to track a production day by day, with journal entries, commentary, still photographs and video. The Web site visitors were asked to help pick a new name for the production when the original title, "Kingdom Come", was awarded by the M.P.A.A. to a rival production.

Movie Connections:

Featured in My Big Break (2009)

Soundtrack:

Menina E Moca

Somewhat pretentious, but ultimately powerful.

Probably more reminiscent of Heaven's Gate than the filmmakers would like, The Claim ultimately works much more effectively than Cimino's movie, for reasons that include Michael Winterbottom's ability to reign himself in a bit. One can almost feel the director yearning to make the movie bigger and more grandiose, but that would not be to its ultimate benefit. The first half hour is interminably boring, but the film ultimately overcomes that with a fine second half. I felt Wes Bentley was good, but may have been a bit miscast. He doesn't have the edge or mystique that one might have wanted from his character as a wandering surveyor for the railroad. Sarah Polley is excellent, and strikes an uncanny resemblance to the young Sondra Locke. Fortunately, she has more going on than Ms. Locke. The centerpiece performance really belongs to Peter Mullan. While Nastassia Kinski's role as a dying woman might give her a little more to play off of, Mullan usually has to play his role with more subtle looks. He does quite well at that. Winterbottom attempts to give this Western a very spare, haunting feel, and has mixed success. As mentioned, the first half seems to be regarded with more gravity by Winterbottom than the forward motion of the story should allow. The scene in the cabin that reveals the secret that Peter Mullan holds comes much too early, and is much too short. One misses the weight and import of this scene, simply because Peter Mullan agrees to the Faustian bargain much too soon. By the end, Winterbottom and the writer have managed to fashion a rather engrossing Western with a fairly classic feel. One feels that it would have been something Eastwood might have considered twenty-five years ago. The music is a real high point, with composer Michael Nyman using the requisite inspiration of Ennio Morricone's Once Upon a Time in the West (it is subtle, but it is there), while fashioning a haunting work in his own right. Cinematography by Alwin H. Kuchleris is tragically average. While the vistas are beautiful, and the look of the film should have been amazing, the work is too inconsistent. In the end, The Claim can be considered a flawed success. It isn't perfect, but it contains enough of value to sustain it, and the mere attempt at creating a Western of great artistic magnitude is appreciated.