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

The movie was filmed at Fortress Mountain in the Province of Alberta, Canada. Fortress Mountain, part of the Canadian Rockies, rises to a height of 3,007 meters (9,865 feet). The movie was filmed at a location above 2,440 meters (approximately 8,000 feet). The sets were close to the popular ski 71.5 miles) to the west of Calgary. The film set location was popular with snowboarders, who threatened to shut the production down through hooliganism, according to the official movie Web site. Differences were smoothed over when it was made apparent that the production company planned to return the site to its natural state. As the production neared completion, the producers rejected an offer to preserve the gold-rush town set for tourism, instead burning it down to provide a fitting climax for the film.

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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 (1921)

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Soundtracks

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

User Reviews

Haunting

One thing I loved about this film is also the thing that took it down a notch: The place looked so real. It did not seem like a movie set. It did not even seem like a movie, with actors saying their lines. It was more like you were eavesdropping on a town. One way they showed this was overlapping dialogue. There would be several different conversations at once. You'd catch the tail end of one, the main thrust of another, and the beginning of yet another conversation. All this contributed to make it one of the most realistic movies I've ever seen.

The disadvantage in this is that I think the director spent too much camera time on incidental dialogue, and not enough on dialogue involving the main plot. Some incredibly emotional scenes were cut short. Just when you think you're going to get hit with it, it moves to a scene where Milla is talking to Bentley about something trivial. And those shots lasted far too long. I understand that in movie making, you don't want to focus on the sentimental, because if you do, it can come out maudlin and manipulative. But in this case, I felt a little cheated.

Still...I was deeply moved by several scenes in the movie. So it wasn't devoid of all emotion. I just felt in places it could have been stronger.

Nastassja Kinski was perfect for her role, and I don't say that about her very often. She looked every bit like she could have an 18 year old daughter, and yet she was also incredibly childlike and delicate herself. And beautiful, in a pale, pathetic, used way. Actually, the best term to describe her in this movie is "haunting."

Peter Mullan was awesome. I have never seen him in anything, but I was fascinated. Milla was like an over-ripe exotic bird. She was excellent at nailing greedy desperation. As for the subplot with Wes Bentley and Sarah Polley, I was not terribly moved by it. These two were not bad, but not outstanding in any way, either.

Scenery was fantastic. You know how some movies stick with you for awhile? This is one of those.