The Claim (2000)

A prospector sells his wife and daughter to another gold miner for the rights to a gold mine. Twenty years later, the prospector is a wealthy man who owns much of the old west town named ... See full summary »

Director:

Michael Winterbottom

Writers:

Thomas Hardy (novel), Frank Cottrell Boyce (screenplay)

Stars:

Peter Mullan, Milla Jovovich, Wes Bentley

3 wins & 8 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
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

Storyline

A prospector sells his wife and daughter to another gold miner for the rights to a gold mine. Twenty years later, the prospector is a wealthy man who owns much of the old west town named Kingdom Come. But changes are brewing and his past is coming back to haunt him. A surveyor and his crew scout the town as a location for a new railroad line and a young woman suddenly appears in the town and is evidently the man's daughter.

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Plot Keywords:

gold | gold mine | railroad | miner | surveyor | 

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Taglines:

Everything has a price.

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Genres:

Drama | Romance | Western

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for sexuality, and some language and violence

Details

Official Sites:

Kingdom Films / Kingdom Come Productions

Country:

UK France Canada

Language:

English

Release Date:

2 February 2001 (UK)

Also Known As:

Kingdom Come

Filming Locations:

Calgary, Alberta, Canada

Box Office

Budget:

CAD 20,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

£38,975 (UK) (9 February 2001)

Gross:

$403,932 (USA) (18 May 2001)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Alliance Atlantis Communications, Arts Council of England, British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

120 min 115 min (DVD edition)

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

On the cat house stage, after Sarah Polley's recitation, a man recites a poem. It's Shelley's "Ozymandia" from 1818. I met a traveller from an antique land Who said: Two vast and trunkless legs of stone Stand in the desert. Near them, on the sand, Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown, And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command, Tell that its sculptor well those passions read Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things, The hand that mocked them and the heart that fed: And on the pedestal these words appear: "My name is Ozymandias, king of kings: Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!" Nothing beside remains. Round the decay Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare The lone and level sands stretch far away.

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Goofs

Near the end of the film, Donald and Francis arrive back to town on horseback. Several men are walking behind them. Two men in Russian style hats are wearing modern day aviator sunglasses.

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Quotes

Vauneen: [first lines - overlapping conversations] Alright ladies, let's go. I'm Vauneen, I take care of you from this point on. Ya get down, and we're going to get you to work real soon...
Deputy: Alright gents, let's hand-up your firearms.
Donald Dalglish: Why?
Deputy: It's a town's rule.
Donald Dalglish: These firearms are the property of the Central Pacific Railroad.
Deputy: That don't matter, Mr. Dillon says no firearms in town, so no firearms in town, come on...
Donald Dalglish: You can't take these weapons...
Vauneen: I said, leave that...
Deputy: Well then you can't come into Mr. ...
[...]

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Connections

Version of The Mayor of Casterbridge (1978)

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Soundtracks

"Menina E Moca"
Written by Fausto Frazao, Armerico Pinto & Edmundo Bettencourt
Published by SPA

User Reviews

A "Hardy" Take on the Classic Western

One of the most remarkable adaptations of a literary work I've seen. Frank Cottrell Boyce completely changes Thomas Hardy's classic The Mayor of Casterbridge - and actually betters it lifting it from its original setting and tailoring it into a tale of the American West during the Gold Rush. Some of Hardy's holes hold (predictable) difficulty for many modern readers, but Boyce's western retelling fills them in and lends strong plausibility. (There's a tad too much "faint, fall ill and die" for me in the Hardy original). Some have complained that Boyce went too far - but this is a movie "based" on the book not claiming to be a faithful retelling.

Director Michael Winterbottom proves to have an enormous eye emerging in bold style at once stylized and natural. He brings us here images that, once seen, burn, linger and haunt forever be it a Victorian mansion hauled across the frozen plains or a horse's immolation as on fire it gallops across the screen.

Winterbottom's cast is a strong one - none remaining as they initially seem, each changing before our eyes. Kinski, first strong and bitter gives one of her most tender heartbreaking performances, Wes Bentley, likable and promising becomes petty and meddlesome. Milla Jovovich serves up, predictably, hearty and hot, yet more delicate than she would like to appear.

In all of this Peter Mullan's Daniel Dillon is the focus and the fulcrum by which the story hinges. He is never less than masterful. To see him early on nearly ravaged by youthful greed then watch him in age yearn for salvation that may never come or come too late, one cannot help but be riveted by his endeavor to make up by his plight and his attempt to change it.

The Claim is a remarkable film which, while it may take a bit of time to warm up to, burns its own unique reward in a way few modern Hollywood films can.