THE CLAIM
US/Canada, 2000, 120 minutes, Colour.
Peter Mullan, Milla Jovivich, Wes Bentley, Nastassja Kinski, Sarah Polley, Shirley Henderson, Sean Mc Ginley.
Directed by Michael Winterbottom.
Several of Thomas Hardy's novels have been filmed, Tess of the D' Urbevilles, Far From the Madding Crown, The Woodlanders. Michael Winterbottom made Jude from Jude the Obscure and he has now turned his attention to The Mayor of Casterbridge. However, it is really the Mayor of Kingdom Come, a snowbound gold mining town in the Sierra Nevadas. Hardy and Winterbottom, courtesy of an intense screenplay by Frank Cottrel Boyce (Hillary and Jackie) have left Wessex for the American west. And, to their credit, Hardy's grim fatalism works well and is very much at home in this sombre setting and society.
Peter Mullan is convincing as the Mayor who runs his town ruthlessly. But, the arrival of Mrs Burns (Nastassia Kinski, once Polanski's Tess) and her daughter (Sarah Polley) surfaces his dark secrets, the selling of his wife and child to gain gold and the claim to his town. His tragedy lies in his attempts to atone for his sin. In the meantime (it is 1867), railroad engineers set up a base in Kingdom Come to survey the inhospitable mountains for a route to the east. Wes Bentley (the neighbour from American Beauty) is the earnest leader. Milla Jovovich is the mayor's mistress.
The western setting is familiar but the British bring an outsider's view to the quests of the pioneers, the harsh way of life amid craggy grandeur and ice and snow. What they have made is a powerful drama from a classic source and illuminated the human struggles by drawing on the conventions of the west. A grim, but distinguished film.
1. An adaptation of Thomas Hardy, The Mayor of Casterbridge? The transition to the Californian locations in the 19th century?
2. Location photography, atmosphere of the mining town, the surrounding mountains? The musical score by Michael Nyman?
3. The portrait of, Peter Mullan and his screen presence? Irish background, coming to California, his success, the passing of 20 years, the 1860s, his building the town of Kingdom Come, his power, the issue of the rail development, his wanting the rail to come through Kingdom Come?
4. The cheer, her owning the brothel, the girls, the customers, Dillon and his relationship with her, but not owning her or the brothel?
5. The arrival of Donald Dalglish, the railways and their development, the issue of the route, the possibility through Kingdom Come? The meetings with Dillon? His making his arguments?
6. The arrival of the women with Dalglish, Elena and her daughter hope? The revelation of the secret of 20 years before? Dillon and his conscience? Is prospecting, the encounter with Byrne, Burn and his frustration, the cold, Dillon selling his wife and daughter to Burn, the gold and his stockpile? Ellen coming to visit Dillon, her ill-health, her wanting some money to help her daughter?
7. Dillon and his reaction, giving all the gifts to Lucia? Her being upset? Dillon and Elena, his declaration of love, renewing their marriage, his desperate search for a cure for his wife, her death?
8. The decision about the route, Dillon and his reaction? Lucia moving the girls to a new town, Lisboa?
9. Hope, Dillon taking her to the hut, her hearing the story of the past, the photo? Her decision to go with Dalglish?
10. Dillon, his reaction, setting fire to his town, its being consumed? The locals all searching for his stockpile of gold? Hope and Dalglish leaving and going with each other?
