Seraphim Falls
Sony, $26.99
Like some Old West Dante's Inferno, director David Von Ancken's Seraphim Falls chronicles a descent into a mythical hell. Three years after the end of the Civil War, a former Confederate colonel – Carver, expertly portrayed by Liam Neeson – hunts former Union Capt. Gideon – the gruff and unkempt Pierce Bronson – for atrocities committed during the war. Beginning with a fight atop a frigid Montana mountain to the oftentimes strange characters encountered in the arid deserts of the Southwest, Seraphim Falls plays like a frenetic love letter to the beauty of the American wilderness. Between the backdrop and the brutality, Von Ancken tells a powerful story of vengeance and the moral destruction of two men.
He successfully weaves action, touches of humor, and moribund bizarreness in his picture. A variety of characters and situations test each man's conviction and patience: a traveling band of whiskey-drinking, peace-loving religious fundamentalists; a Chinese labor camp managed by mean, hard-drinking Irishmen; and an Indian water man – the ideally cast Wes Studi – who spouts an intriguing mixture of Native American and Buddhist beliefs. Anjelica Huston, clad in an elegant red satin dress, steals the show with her perfect portrayal of Madame Louise Fair, purveyor of fine patent medicines.
Seraphim Falls falters some in the storytelling. Unclear scenes and poor timing obfuscate several events. Magnificent cinematography from the Oscar-winning John Toll sometimes overtakes the picture with its sheer beauty and grace, distracting from the story itself.
The well-produced DVD documentary presents an entertaining, if too-brief, insight into the difficulties of creating the film. The commentary by Bronson, Von Ancken, and production designer Michael Hanan offer a superior overview. All three exhibit their knowledge of film and Western history with wit and reverence. The missing selection of deleted scenes and outtakes – mentioned throughout the commentary – would have enhanced the disk.
For some unfathomable reason, Seraphim Falls, the best Western since 2005's The Proposition, failed to achieve national distribution. Thankfully, this DVD issue almost evens things up.
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