Available at Amazon.com
Director
David Van Ancken
Cast
Liam Neeson……….Carver
Pierce Brosnan……….Gideon
The Movie
Since Pierce Brosnan stopped playing James Bond, it’s been interesting the sort of roles he’s chosen. He was critically acclaimed for his role as a hit man with an anxiety disorder in The Matador – a complete departure from his roles as 007. Brosnan seems to be taking the Sean Connery route of post-Bond roles with Seraphim Falls, a western, opposite Liam Neeson.
Brosnan is Gideon and Neeson is Carver, too men on the opposite sides of the Civil War. Carver is on a mission of revenge, as Gideon burned his house down and killed his family during the war. With a group of hired hands, Carver chases a wounded Gideon for many miles as revenge is the only thing on his mind. For Gideon, his instincts are baser as he merely just wants to survive. It turns into an interesting psychological drama about the effects of war on the psyche of two men.
And if one was to need two great actors to play against one another, certainly one would pick Neeson. Him, matched up against Brosnan’s dirty and vicious Gideon character, both show they are not afraid to get their hands wet. Brosnan ditches the martini and Remington Steele outfit to give us a performance that allows him to show he can do more than be suave and sophisticated. Being a vicious person may be old hand for Neeson, who brought it out in Henri Ducard for Batman Begins, matches him step for step as well. Neither of these men can be considered good, honorable human beings. Director David Van Ancken, who also wrote the script, seems to be pontificating on the level of evil that men can stoop to.
For his first film he chose a script he wrote, which gives Ancken a familiarity with the material that he otherwise wouldn’t receive in the television world from which he began his career, and it shows. He has two actors that have terrific chemistry with one another as well, which certainly helps. It’s a case of having a top script with two actors perfectly suited for the main roles; Neeson and Brosnan may not win awards but this isn’t a film designed to do so. It’s too gritty and too violent for that. It is a nice throwback to an era gone by, with some modern sensibilities as well.
Van Ancken also seems to have an appreciation for the Leone/Ford era of the western as a lot of his shots and sequences follows the more traditional western in the same manner that last year’s The Proposition did. There are lots of terrific shots, including long panning ones of the scenery, that are reminiscent of a film like The Searchers, and Van Ancken seems to be stooped in the mythos of the older westerns from the John Wayne era in terms of his camerawork.
Seraphim Falls may have come and went on a short art house run earlier in the year, but maybe it can find its audience on DVD.
A/V QUALITY CONTROL
Presented in a widescreen format with a 2.40:1 aspect ratio, complete with Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound, Seraphim Falls, the DVD captures the film’s top-notch score and beautiful landscapes wonderfully. Much like the DVD releases of The Proposition a year ago, this is a western with a lot of visuals and long shots. It needs to look good and the DVD delivers.
The Extras
Behind the Scenes of Seraphim Falls is a typical behind the scenes featurette included on most DVDs. A glorified electronic press kit, it’s a short piece from the main players about why the wanted to do the film and explores some of its themes on a superficial level.
