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Seraphim Falls (2007) DVD Review
Seraphim Falls (2007) DVD Credits:
Seraphim Falls (2007) Directed by:
David Von Ancken
Seraphim Falls (2007) Written by:
Abby Everett Jaques, David Von Ancken
Seraphim Falls (2007) Cast:
Anjelica Huston, Pierce Brosnan, Liam Neeson, Michael Wincott
Seraphim Falls (2007) Released by:
Not available at this time
Region:
1
Seraphim Falls (2007) DVD Release Date:
14th May 2007
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Seraphim Falls (2007) Synopsis:

Taking place at the end of the Civil War, this psychological actioner centers around Carver (Neeson), an army colonel, as he vows to hunt down and kill a man named Gideon (Brosnan) to settle a wartime grudge.

Seraphim Falls (2007) DVD Review:

“Seraphim Falls” retools the western genre with an art house approach that favors its characters psychology as much as the violence they do to one another. To look at the DVD cover and theatrical poster with Liam Neeson and Pierce Brosnan standing side-by-side in a Western setting of all things is to go "wha?" But that befuddled reaction to the sight of two Irish actors playing American cowboys is exactly where the film grabs you. If you know and adore these actors as I do then you must see this film, of only to catch a glimpse of two grizzled giants chewing as much scenery as tobacco.

As one man tracks another through the snow, wilderness and eventually desert, the film becomes a frontiersmen odyssey full of lush visuals and grim violence. In the early scenes the sparseness, lack of dialogue and snow-covered simplicity gives the film a “McCabe and Mrs. Miller” sheen of coolness (literally) but as the chase continues into a purgatorial fever dream version of the West, “Seraphim Falls” takes an almost mythic look into the warring nature of man’s soul. Liam Neeson headlines the film as Civil War colonel who relentlessly follows a man with a mysterious past named Gideon (the fantastic Pierce Brosnan). The weakened, perpetually on-the-run Brosnin is the Western version of Richard Kimble to Neeson’s Tommy Lee Jones. When the two men meet for the first time, Gideon asks the appropriately named Carver a question that’s on everyone’s mind: “Why are you doing this?” The only answer he gets back is a growl that sounds something like “Seraphimmmm Falls.” Hum. While the film is structured to have the viewer identify with the running man Brosnan, that answer, once uncovered, alters our allegiance and enriches the film with a good deal of substance (though it should be noted that the quick flashbacks to the inciting incident at Seraphim Falls are the film’s weakest moments). At its heart this is a Western revenge film in the vein of “Unforgiven,” “The Proposition,” and perhaps even John Ford’s “The Searchers.” The film’s addition to this impressive Western subgenre is the remarkably surreal tone the film takes in its third act.

“Nobody can protect nobody in this world” Carver tells a young boy whom he crosses paths with along his blood soaked journey. By the end of this gritty morality tale that lesson is well learned by the boy, yes, but especially the viewer. Television director David Von Ancken (“CSI”) may be new to theatrical films but his enthusiasm for the subtleties that the cinematic form allows for is noticeable, and laudable. From the harshness of barren snow to the blistering barren desert, this is especially true in terms of the many ways the environment functions as a metaphor that mirrors the damaged psychological state of the two characters. No more is this true than in final moments when the two would eventually trade the life sustaining water for the death that is bullets in order to continue their thirst for revenge.

The DVD
An impressive behind the scenes documentary features interviews with the cast and crew. The concept that the two characters are “complicit in their own damnation” and that the “hatred is a form of salvation” is fascinating. As is the idea that water and snow threatens to kill characters at the beginning of the film yet becomes the only thing that will save them at the end (why didn’t I see that myself!). Additionally, we learn that the mystical presence in the desert at the end of the film played by Angelica Huston is revealed to represent the devil for she takes their salvation and replaces it with instruments of death, exposing man as a manifestation of war and death. It’s rare that filmmakers tell you what their symbolism stands for but this Cliff Notes doc may help anyone who didn’t understand this film the first time through. More laid back and technical/antidotal is the commentary by director David Von Ancken, Brosnan and the production designer.

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Seraphim Falls (2007) DVD review written by: Greg Douglass

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