cinemattraction

Seraphim Falls is a chase film set in the deep landscape of the western frontier just after the Civil War. This is a time typically depicted as an allegory for the untamed nature of the West and its uncivilized lawless inhabitants, juxtaposed with some type of civility that a protagonist – normally in the form of a rough and tough male – brings to the story.

In Seraphim Falls, those rules change. The film does not simply fall into one genre, it picks and chooses from several. Gideon (Pierce Brosnan) is a burly son of a bitch. He is an identifiable yet ruthless murderer who is pardoned for his killings by the audience. Director David Von Ancken immediately forwards the narrative by having Gideon shot by an unknown man while he peacefully cooks a bird high up in the mountains. The serene nature is instantly shattered setting the narrative in motion.

Gideon was shot by Col. Morsman Carver (Liam Neeson), who is relentlessly pursuing Gideon. Carver is introduced as a cold, vengeful bastard. He surrounds himself with four hired hands, Hayes (Michael Wincott), Parsons (Ed Lauter), Pope (Robert Baker), and Kid (John Robinson). Each of these characters looks as worn as the rough side of a stone. Ancken introduces them as a shadowy bunch out to kill, whereas Gideon seems peaceful and at rest with his untamed surroundings. But as soon as the bullet hits Gideon in the shoulder, we enter the world of pain that remains in the ashes of a story untold. The history of the two men and Carver’s motivation loom in the background like the mountains that frame the film.

The revenge story obviously has motivation, but Ancken takes pains not to reveal the history of the event, placing the viewer on a seesaw. The initial injury to Gideon is our entrance into the film and to the interior of Gideon and his will to stay alive. When Gideon uses his own knife to dig the bullet out in one harrowing scene, it is his attempt to rid himself of Carver. However, the excruciating pain is something that resonates long after the movie is over. It’s hard to believe that Brosnan was not actually feeling the pain himself; his acting is superb. The result of sharing Gideon’s pain is that the audience bonds with him in a way that they do not with Carver – at least not at first.

One cannot lavish enough praise on the amazing shooting style of cinematographer John Toll (winner of two consecutive Academy Awards for Braveheart and Legends of the Fall). Ancken’s film does not just work on the level of dialogue, it exceeds on the visual stimulation of landscape and man juxtaposed alone against the never-ending planes and mountain ridges. Ancken knew of Toll’s brilliance and is quoted as saying, “I had known and admired John’s movies for a long time, and there’s something very striking and simply visual about them. He’s a master at using natural light and he has made the film look absolutely beautiful.” To use nature as part of the elemental level of the film adds a dynamic to the chase that is undeniable. Fans of Westerns and fans of landscapes alike will enjoy Seraphim Falls.

The film is very violent, which seems contradictory because most of the violence comes from the character with whom the viewer is aligned. While the audience justifies his killings as self-defense, they appear – to the other characters who lack the sort of context the audience enjoys – as primal and savage.

All in all, Seraphim Falls is a return to the Western, but in the form of a psychological chase film. It is a revisionist Western, creating a new breed that seems to be recently revived.

© 2006 Myles David Jewell. All rights reserved.

Filed under Reviews