The Claim

I've been waiting four months for this exquisite film to come to my hometown. Featuring a stellar cast including Peter Mullan, Wes Bentley, Sarah Polley, Nastassja Kinski, and Milla Jovovich, "The Claim" is the first great western of the new millenium.

The film has received much criticism for echoing Altman's "McCabe and Mrs. Miller." Both hide beauty behind layers of mud, snow and facial hair. Winterbottom creates a soundscape not unlike Altman's multi-layered dialogues that have distinguished all of his work. They are not dissimilar, yet I find it impossible to imagine anyone feeling that Winterbottom's film cannot stand on its own. It would be like dismissing Richard Burton for acting too much like Marlon Brando--a successful style need not be used once and thrown away.

The mountain-top scenery is as breathtaking as the cast. Every performance glows, but Milla Jovovich perhaps steals the most scenes in a jarring, convincing display of both theatrical grandness and close-up subtlety. She gives us one of the best cigarette inhalations in recent memory.

I believe "The Claim" does for saloon scenes what "Saving Private Ryan" did for battle scenes. The film revels in its classic western themes. The railroad, the town patriarch, tuberculosis, visiting women from the east, the whore who makes good--all but the quickdraw are present, constantly reminding us whose rules we're playing by despite the modern style of photography and art direction.

Michael Winterbottom's previous best work includes "Jude" and "Welcome to Sarajevo." Like both of those films, "The Claim" is if nothing else tragic. Every character endures hardships and many do not survive the journey. The vice on the table is greed, but the script is clever enough not to reveal immediately who is the guiltiest party. There are no villains in this film, only people doing what they believe they have to do. I admire "The Claim" for fragmenting its protagonist, letting emotion rather than plot carry the narrative. Winterbottom hints at who the "hero" of the film will be by letting her image be the first recognizable cast member we see. It is not until the film's conclusion that we realize this is her life story we have just witnessed.

This is Winterbottom's second adaptation of Thomas Hardy. Like "Jude," this adaptation of "The Mayor of Casterbridge" is courageous, risky, and decidedly cinematic. Kudos to a British director for avoiding the standard BBC treatment.

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