Seraphim Falls [2007]
![Seraphim Falls [2007]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51LehXn1XfL._SL160_.jpg) RRP £19.99 Lowest New Price £4.28 
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Suitable for 15 years and over Icon Home Entertainment Release date: Monday 24th of December 2007 Starring: Director(s): Format: PAL, Region code: 2 Running time: 115 minutes Language: English (Original Language) Language: Spanish (Original Language) |
It centres around the search for a man named Gideon, played by Pierce Brosnan, and the reasons for said search aren’t clear at the start of the film. But what is certain is that a small party is on his trail, led by Liam Neeson’s Morsman Carver, and that Carver is very determined to get his man. From this set up, Seraphim Falls slowly unfolds as an intelligent, ambiguous mish-mash of Western and thriller, and an intriguing one at that. Seraphim Falls, it should be said, isn’t a ride without a few problems. The pacing isn’t consistent, for instance, and the back end of the film doesn’t make the most of the build up before it. But there’s still plenty in its corner. Its two star actors are in excellent form, with both Brosnan and Neeson revelling in the complexity of their respective characters, while some sequences are genuinely exciting too. If Serphami Falls, though, fails to quite deliver what it hints it’s capable of, then it still leaves enough in place to enjoy. Refusing to dumb down its approach, it’s a grown-up, interesting movie, and one that’s easily possible to warm to in spite of the aforementioned problems. Roll on more Westerns, say we… --Jon Foster
RRP: £19.99
Editorial
Amazon.co.uk Review
Out of nowhere, the Western seems to be enjoying its latest mini-resurgence. And while Seraphim Falls isn’t quite as high profile as the recent 3:10 To Yuma, it’s still a solidly made piece of cinema that’s well worth spending some time with.
One outstanding moment....
Review date: 2008-12-23 Rating: 2 out of 10
....which involves Pierce Brosnan hiding in the carcass of a horse which he has gutted. I kid you not! The film itself is fairly bland and becomes quite silly (hence the reference to the horse) which is the only part of this film which sticks in my mind due to the absurditity of it all. Many, many westerns are far superior to this so save your money. Brosnan's character committed a crime upon Neeson years ago which is why he is being hunted and all becomes apparent later in the film but it's still cack at the end of the day.
Reviews
good, bad but not ugly!!
Review date: 2008-12-01 Rating: 6 out of 10
Mmm, reading some of the reviews here its hard to understand what some people want from a film. Let's get one thing straight; this film won't change your world but it does entertain. This is no 'Unforgiven' or 'Open Range' but it still has enough about it to make it watchable and enjoyable.
After watching it the first time my immediate thought was 'this is a rambo-western'!! Brosnan being hunted by Neeson through all sorts of terrain, which, may I add, is stunning scenery throughout. The backstory unfolds as the film goes on; showing us how Neeson's family are killed under Brosnan's command, for which he is wrecked with remorse- unbeknownst to Neeson.
Both actors give fine performances, Mr. Brosnan especially so (you kind of expect top quality from Liam Neeson every time). The movie is a slow burner, building up to a somewhat indifferent ending and that's my only gripe. For all the fine performances, beautiful locations and gripping chase sequences, the ending is not solid enough for me. Its probably dragged on to long aswell.
I've given this 3 stars because of the ending but up until then its worthy of 4. This is a GOOD film, with a BAD ending but it isn't UGLY.
From hard and gritty to mythical and allegorical
Review date: 2008-10-31 Rating: 8 out of 10
A film of two halves, but with a somewhat uncomfortable join.
This movie starts off with one of the most gritty and riveting hunts in recent memory. Pierce Brosnan's weatherbeaten and hardened ex Union officer is the hunted one, and Liam Neeson is the hunter, driven remorselessly by the ghosts of his past. The cold of the mountains, the pain of using a knife to gouge out a bullet and cauterize the wound, the chill of the water, the close quarters kills with the knife, all make for a visceral start with minimal dialogue and little explanation. Each man is completely single minded - one on survival, and one on revenge. As the chase moves onto the plains, we discover more about their past and the reason for the chase, marking a change in tone of the movie. As the plains give way to the desert, the movie takes an altogether more mythical and almost surreal mood, which is sure to divide audiences. Those expecting an action packed climax to the chase may feel cheated, however what we do get is at the very least thought provoking and I think lingers in the memory much more than a conventional showdown would have.
The director borrows heavily from the greats - the revenge themes of many a spaghetti Western, with the repeated flashbacks revealing a little more each time we see them reminiscent of Leone, also Ford's `The Searchers', as well as the atmosphere of Eastwood's Westerns. Borrowed the styles may be, but they are put together with a unique voice and vision, albeit in a somewhat hollow way in which the director too often substitutes myth and images for true drama. But what startling images they are! The photography is beautiful, whether it is the stark beauty of the mountains and snow, or the green of the plains or the arid expanses of the desert, and the images of the men facing off, or Angelica Huston in the desert, will stick with you.
The musical score to the movie is surprisingly restrained, but is a perfect accompaniment to the story - at first minimalist and somber in minor keys, reflecting the movies tone of survival and single mindedness, then the score switches to something more traditional as it enters the plains and the sphere of a traditional Western, and finally becomes wistful and dreamlike in the final stages. It's imaginative and subtle, always in the background and never grabbing your attention, but adding immensely to the tone and feel of the movie, almost like another character.
It is the final third of the movie which feels just a little longer than it should, with some ideas dragged out, and with changes of tone which leave the viewer almost feeling like he is being asked to start a new movie. What helps keep the viewer hooked are the leads, who are terrific, the two Irishman fitting into a Western with great assurance. Brosnan in particular makes the most of a very physical role, with much more subtlety than we might expect. Otherwise, a strong supporting cast of character actors is great to watch but frankly is given little of substance to do.
This is a flawed film, to be sure - but nonetheless it achieves what great cinema is supposed to - it stirs the emotions, and makes you think. Recommended.
Seraphim Fails
Review date: 2008-09-22 Rating: 2 out of 10
You know where you are when a movie gets glowing reviews from the Daily Star and Daily Mirror.
Seraphim Falls certainly doesn't disappoint, living so far down to expectations that it may well rate some kind of Worst Movie of 2007 Award. But then, it was rushed out onto DVD in a hurry, and seemingly amidst so much embarrassment that the DVD transfer is even worse than the theatrical release itself.
Looking at the outset like a potentially interesting entry from a student film maker for The Sundance festival, Seraphim Falls fairly quickly turns out to be as original as a used sweet wrapper and just about as interesting. Everything that can be plagiarised is plagiarised, but to no effect other than as a reminder of how genre masters like Ford and Leone were so infintely, and effortlessly, superior.
Intriguingly, it seems the writer /director makes a bold move in abandoning the back story altogether, and heading straight into the plot; only afterwards does it become clear that the back story is a re-hash of umpteen Western 'revenge' movies, in this case a sequence so maladroit in its direction that thoughts are again prompted about the ages of those somewhere near, if not actually behind, the camera.
The narrative arc moves from A to B and, er, stops with a palpably absurd ending in which the vengeful Neeson, in a career-killing performance -- and having just been shot by his quarry, Brosnan, in another ditto performance -- go off into the desert together, side by side. Cue Morecambe & Wise, perhaps, and "Bring Me Sunshine".
Ever since the days of early film noir there's been a fine tradition of titling movies on the basis of a street address or other physical location. "Seraphim Falls" tries exactly the same trick, but fails even in this because neither the director nor audience has the faintest idea where the SFs are: if it's the place where the back story began, then no location could have been more misnamed; if it's not, but merely a waterfall into which Brosnan falls early on in the movie and then survives, its significance is of no account whatsoever.
Rubbish from start to finish, the movie -- with its desperate resort to metaphysical resonance in the form of mad spouting Indians and a mad Anjelica Huston roaming the desert -- is less a Western as a mystery: a mystery how it ever came to be made and released.
Chase movie with a Western setting
Review date: 2008-09-15 Rating: 6 out of 10
Although set in 19th century USA this isn't a typical Western in many ways but instead offers an extended chase/revenge thriller rather than the old standard tales of settlers, trains, 'injuns' and bankrobbing - though all of those do make appearances.
The film opens with a grizzled Brosnan sitting by a fire eating feshly roast rabbit on a snowy mountainside but the idyll is promptly shattered when he is shot at by an unseen assailant. Brosnan flees down the mountain and indeed spends most of the movie being pursued by an obsessive and determined Liam Neeson and his hired hands.
There is little dialogue for either lead actor to build a character around but none the less both protagonists are sharply drawn - more often by their deeds than words.
There are moments of brutal violence and a sustained sense of threat as prey and pursuer encounter each other along the way but this mood is squandered in the final act when the brutal reality of nature and the stories metaphorical undercurrent switch places.
It may be that this final act represents a drifting into madness or worse but it doesn't sit well with the tone of the earlier arts of the film at all.
However, the film does redeem this last chapter at the very end when the story arcs of the two main players are resolved, but I couldn't help but think that the final denouement would have worked just as well, better even, without the metaphysical interlude that precedes it.
The settings, largely the great outdoors of Oregon and Texas, are magnificent and as the story moves from killing cold to killing heat we see the harshness of nature from both ends.
The subtext of heaven and hell is written all over the script and the scenery and it is always possible that the entire film is some sort of Dante-esque pursuit through purgatory, none the less the plot could have been a little tighter.
That said, the performances from Neeson, Brosnan and Wincott are all excellent and they breath life into the relatively sketchy characters and simple storyline.
Not an all time classic western, but a good solid movie, memorable for its odd ending and its strong performance from Pierce Brosnan.
Product Details/Specifications
Actor(s):
Jimmi Simpson
Nate Mooney
Michael Wincott
Kevin J. O'Connor
Pierce Brosnan
Creators:
Pierce Brosnan (Primary Contributor)
Michael Wincott (Primary Contributor)
Director(s):
Recording label: Icon Home Entertainment
Manufacturer: Icon Home Entertainment
EAN: 5051429101224
Binding: DVD
Number of items: 1
Format: PAL,
Release date: 2007-12-24
Audience rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
Region code: 2
Running time: 115 minutes
Theatrical release date: 2007
Language: English (Original Language)
Language: Spanish (Original Language)
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