The Claim

Directed by Michael Winterbottom (Butterfly kiss, Wonderland, 24 hour party people), “The Claim” is an adaptation of the Thomas Hardy novel “The Mayor of Casterbridge”. Set in the frontier town Kingdom Come, California, in the year 1867, “The Claim” plots the story of Daniel Dillon played by Peter Mullan (My name is Joe), a man who has amassed a fortune in mining and is the unofficial ruler the town. One day three people arrive in Kingdom Come who will upset Dillon’s world. Two are the wife (Natassja Kinski) and child (Sarah Polley) that he sold in a Faustian pact twenty years earlier in exchange his first gold claim, from which all his fortunes spilled. The other is a stranger, Dalglish (Wes Bentley), a land surveyor for the railroad who is seeking a path for the train line. Dalglish’s decision will determine the future of the town and Dillon, accustomed to getting his own way, seeks to sway the decision in his favour. Shot in Alberta, Canada, “The Claim” is a magnificent looking film that portrays frontier life as rudimentary, dangerous and lawless. Milla Jovovich also stars as a bar room singer, romantically invlolved with Dillon. Features a score by Michael Nyman.