Dust (I) (2001)

Two inter-cut tales of redemption, a century apart. Late in the 1800s, two brothers feud over a woman. She marries one; the other, Luke, a deadly gunslinger, becomes a soldier of fortune in... See full summary »

Director:

Milcho Manchevski

Writer:

Milcho Manchevski

Stars:

Joseph Fiennes, David Wenham, Adrian Lester

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Joseph Fiennes	...	Elijah
David Wenham	...	Luke
Adrian Lester	...	Edge
Anne Brochet	...	Lilith
Nikolina Kujaca	...	Neda
Rosemary Murphy	...	Angela
Vlado Jovanovski	...	Teacher
Salaetin Bilal	...	The Major
Vera Farmiga	...	Amy
Matt Ross	...	Stitch
Meg Gibson	...	Bone
Tamer Ibrahim	...	Kemal
Vladimir Jacev	...	Spase
Vladimir Gjorgjijoski	...	Enver
Zora Georgieva	...	Maslina

Storyline

Two inter-cut tales of redemption, a century apart. Late in the 1800s, two brothers feud over a woman. She marries one; the other, Luke, a deadly gunslinger, becomes a soldier of fortune in Macedonia, helping Turks keep local Christians in line. He's after money. Wounded, he's nursed by a pregnant villager who urges him to "kill for good, not for gold." A dying old woman in modern Manhattan tells Luke's story; her listener is Edge, a young thief who's burgled her flat to pay off crooked cops who can send him to jail. He listens with the desperate hope that he'll find gold that he thinks she has. The stories intersect when Edge sorts out the old woman's connection to Luke.

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Plot Keywords:

old woman | soldier of fortune | dying | redemption | macedonia | 

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Genres:

Drama | Western

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for sequences of strong violence, sexual content and language

Details

Country:

UK Germany Italy Macedonia

Language:

English Macedonian German Turkish

Release Date:

5 April 2002 (Italy)

Also Known As:

Cenizas y pólvora

Filming Locations:

Macedonia

Company Credits

Production Co:

Alta Films, British Screen Productions, British Sky Broadcasting (BSkyB)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

127 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Trivia

Opening film of the 2001 Venice Film Festival.

User Reviews

A film with more good ideas than most

It's unusual a film will have as many good ideas as this and so many striking ideas and images and still not be a success. Perhaps it's because there are simply too many striking visuals and set-pieces - other directors would have built whole films around just one or two of the concepts contained here - for one film to cope with all of them. Essentially, the story is of a burglar (Lester) who breaks into a house of an old woman (Murphy) in New York and she tells him the story of American cowboys (Fiennes and Wenham) in the Ottoman Empire in Macedonia and their tangled fraternal love/hatred when confronted with a beautiful woman. It's a story that dips in and out of narrative timelines. Sometimes it's New York and sometimes it's the Old west and sometimes it's old Macedonia - and sometimes it's bits of all of them. And sometimes it's just fantasy. Reality, illusion, truth and cinematic deception are all part of the mix. Director Machevski is not here to give the viewer an easy ride. He is an intelligent man and he expects intelligence of his viewers. However, in return he offers some beautiful images that pay homage to spaghetti westerns while adding a sly twist of knowing humour. It's violent, but there's a blackly funny element to it that's closer to life than the comic-book stock-in-trade of such directors as Tarantino (and rightly so, Macedonians have seen more real-life warfare than most Hollywood filmmakers).And despite this, it's a movie that's life-affirming (not in the easy way - you really have to like life to have it affirmed here). The performances are variable. Wenham and Fiennes have both done better in the past and you have to hope they'll do better in the future. But in Lester and Murphy, there are two actors who are in full command of the camera. There's not an emotion you'll feel that they haven't carefully worked to create. Simply beautiful work. With a greater distribution, this is would have built a considerable cult following. Not easy-going, pop-corn-chomping stuff, but highly recommended.