While Andreas Prochaska's film is set in the Austrian Alps, all other elements of The Dark Valley are familiar. And the familiarity accounts for much of what is good about it.
Highly acclaimed in Europe where it garnered many German Film Awards, the movie failed to impress the few American critics who viewed it: a half dozen Rotten Tomatoes scores average an unimpressive 33 percent. It's neither as good as the German awards indicate nor as bad as its RT score suggests.
The best influences on The Dark Valley come from the cinematography of decades old westerns-particularly that of Vilmos Zsigmond for McCabe and Mrs Miller. Like Zsigmond, cinematographer Thomas Kienast presents leaden cast snow laden exteriors shot under overcast skies that contrast with warm hued interiors, and the images of both photographers appear to be illuminated by ambient light. Diffuse light falls on the broad snowy landscapes cut by dark veined ridges and spotted with deep brown clusters of buildings. Some of Kienast's interiors feature soft golden light emanating from lamps and candle flames which falls on the source sides of faces, receding into gradients of shadow opposite the light. Pale daylight, starkly framed in rectangular windows, backlights characters or dimly seeps inside to enable the viewer to discern people and features of the rooms. Yet not a single shot has the viewer straining to see in the near blackness that too many filmmakers present as realism.
Kienast, like Zsigmond, makes the cold a constant presence that in this film is utterly intrusive. There are no warm baths or comfortable spaces; curls of white drift from noses and mouths inside as well as out, making the constant discomfort of the characters palpable. A particularly notable white wisp rises from the brass side panel of a rifle as a warm shell is ejected.
Outside the cold is scarcely bearable. Stiffened hands struggle to grasp shotgun shells; faces reddened by the wind are tightened into grimaces.
The white of the snow also serves to intensify the violence, succeeding in making the effect of gunfire disturbing. Heavy splashes of blood pool and sink into the white and red spatter fans in awful droplets: deep red near the corpse, a tone of pink farther away The award winning production design is also first rate. The assortment of weapons, the overcoats and dresses, the tableware and more are not only authentic but exhibit use and wear.
While assessing performances in a dubbed version is difficult, Sam Riley presents a cool controlled reserve like Eastwood's Man with No Name while eschewing that actor's snarls. The principle antagonist as played by Tobias Moretti is effectively menacing. As in films like High Plains Drifter, most of the cast has little to do but appear belligerent or cowed, and this group does both quite well.
The plot is only mildly compelling: yet another young stranger gradually reveals himself as a man thirsting for revenge. And some of the protagonist's decisions are boneheaded for one who exhibited stealth and skill in the early reels. In one late scene, he has the entire array of villains at gunpoint and shoots no one. Another flaw is the use of pop rock in portions of the movie which is irritatingly anachronistic and adds nothing.
Watch for the action and the remarkable ambiance that so immerses the audience that we feel the bite of the wind and sting of the snow, smell leather and dank wool.
Highly acclaimed in Europe where it garnered many German Film Awards, the movie failed to impress the few American critics who viewed it: a half dozen Rotten Tomatoes scores average an unimpressive 33 percent. It's neither as good as the German awards indicate nor as bad as its RT score suggests.
The best influences on The Dark Valley come from the cinematography of decades old westerns-particularly that of Vilmos Zsigmond for McCabe and Mrs Miller. Like Zsigmond, cinematographer Thomas Kienast presents leaden cast snow laden exteriors shot under overcast skies that contrast with warm hued interiors, and the images of both photographers appear to be illuminated by ambient light. Diffuse light falls on the broad snowy landscapes cut by dark veined ridges and spotted with deep brown clusters of buildings. Some of Kienast's interiors feature soft golden light emanating from lamps and candle flames which falls on the source sides of faces, receding into gradients of shadow opposite the light. Pale daylight, starkly framed in rectangular windows, backlights characters or dimly seeps inside to enable the viewer to discern people and features of the rooms. Yet not a single shot has the viewer straining to see in the near blackness that too many filmmakers present as realism.
Kienast, like Zsigmond, makes the cold a constant presence that in this film is utterly intrusive. There are no warm baths or comfortable spaces; curls of white drift from noses and mouths inside as well as out, making the constant discomfort of the characters palpable. A particularly notable white wisp rises from the brass side panel of a rifle as a warm shell is ejected.
Outside the cold is scarcely bearable. Stiffened hands struggle to grasp shotgun shells; faces reddened by the wind are tightened into grimaces.
The white of the snow also serves to intensify the violence, succeeding in making the effect of gunfire disturbing. Heavy splashes of blood pool and sink into the white and red spatter fans in awful droplets: deep red near the corpse, a tone of pink farther away The award winning production design is also first rate. The assortment of weapons, the overcoats and dresses, the tableware and more are not only authentic but exhibit use and wear.
While assessing performances in a dubbed version is difficult, Sam Riley presents a cool controlled reserve like Eastwood's Man with No Name while eschewing that actor's snarls. The principle antagonist as played by Tobias Moretti is effectively menacing. As in films like High Plains Drifter, most of the cast has little to do but appear belligerent or cowed, and this group does both quite well.
The plot is only mildly compelling: yet another young stranger gradually reveals himself as a man thirsting for revenge. And some of the protagonist's decisions are boneheaded for one who exhibited stealth and skill in the early reels. In one late scene, he has the entire array of villains at gunpoint and shoots no one. Another flaw is the use of pop rock in portions of the movie which is irritatingly anachronistic and adds nothing.
Watch for the action and the remarkable ambiance that so immerses the audience that we feel the bite of the wind and sting of the snow, smell leather and dank wool.
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