Seraphim Falls (2006)

User Rating:

6.9/10   

Director:

David Von Ancken

Writers:

David Von Ancken (written by) &
Abby Everett Jaques (written by)

Release Date:

13 April 2007 (Taiwan)

Genre:

Drama | Thriller | War | Western

Tagline:

Never turn your back on the past.

Plot:

At the end of the Civil War, a colonel hunts down a man with whom he has a grudge.

Plot Keywords:

Knife | Knife Throwing | Cult Western | Survival Tactics | Knife In Throat

Awards:

1 win & 1 nomination

Cast

Liam Neeson	...	Carver
Pierce Brosnan	...	Gideon
Michael Wincott	...	Hayes
Xander Berkeley	...	Railroad Foreman
Ed Lauter	...	Parsons
Tom Noonan	...	Minister Abraham
Kevin J. O'Connor	...	Henry
John Robinson	...	Kid
Anjelica Huston	...	Madame Louise
Angie Harmon	...	Rose
Robert Baker	...	Pope
Wes Studi	...	Charon (as Wes Studie)
Jimmi Simpson	...	Big Brother
James Jordan	...	Little Brother
Nate Mooney	...	Cousin Bill

MPAA:

Rated R for violence and brief language.

Runtime:

115 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Colour:

Colour

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Ireland:15A | USA:R (certificate #40880) | UK:15 | Germany:16 | Finland:K-15 | Singapore:NC-16 | Argentina:13 | Brazil:14 | New Zealand:R16 | Australia:MA | Greece:K

Filming Locations:

Death Valley National Park, California, USA

Company:

Icon Productions

Trivia:

In theology the name Seraphim refers to a type of angel. Therefore, one could conclude the 2 main characters are angels that have fallen from grace. They battle eachother from the mountain tops (Heaven) to the hot desert (Hell).

Goofs:

Continuity: When Gideon rides past the wagon train of (possibly) Mormons, the sunlight in his closeups is coming from a different direction than the shots of the immigrants. This is especially noticeable when the woman calls out, "God sees your sin!"

Quotes:

The Kid: He must be part Indian or wolf. Eat a man like that.
Hayes: He didn't eat him. Go.

Movie Connections:

Spoofed in "Family Guy: Prick Up Your Ears (#5.6)" (2006)

Soundtrack:

Stacked Them Up in Piles

solid western

Written by Abby Everett Jaques and David Von Ancken and directed by Von Ancken, "Seraphim Falls" is a rough, tough, old-fashioned western set on the dusty plains and snow-covered mountains of western Nevada. The plot is little more than a straightforward revenge tale involving Liam Neeson (sans Southern accent) as a sadistic Rebel army colonel who hires a posse to track down the marauding Union officer he believes slaughtered his family in the days following the Civil War. The officer, played with steely-eyed determination by Pierce Brosnan, is a savvy, quick-on-the-draw survivalist who, through sheer ingenuity and skill, stymies and outwits the colonel and his men at every turn.

What "Seraphim Falls" lacks in substance, it more than makes up for in grit and style. For even though there isn't a great deal of depth to the characters, there's much pleasure to be derived from merely watching two actors of the caliber of Neeson and Brosnan squaring off in a grueling game of cat-and-mouse played out in a punishing, unforgiving landscape. Brosnan's character achieves an almost Superman-like quality as he stays one step ahead of his pursuers, devising ever-more elaborate means of ensnaring them in his traps. The movie takes a decidedly metaphysical turn in its closing stretches, with the divine Anjelica Huston, no less, appearing out of nowhere as a desert apparition to set the boys straight on a few eternal verities like redemption and forgiveness. But it is as a simple tale of vengeance and obsession that "Seraphim Falls" most captures our imagination and interest.