Seraphim Falls (2006)

Director:

David Von Ancken

Writers:

David Von Ancken (written by) &
Abby Everett Jaques (written by)

Release Date:

13 April 2007 (Taiwan)

Genre:

Drama | War | Western

Tagline:

Never turn your back on the past.

Plot:

At the end of the Civil War, a colonel hunts down a man with whom he has a grudge.

Plot Keywords:

Shot In The Arm | Cult Western | Told In Flashback | Revenge | Survival Tactics

Awards:

1 win & 1 nomination

Cast

Liam Neeson	...	Carver
Pierce Brosnan	...	Gideon
Michael Wincott	...	Hayes
Xander Berkeley	...	Railroad Foreman
Ed Lauter	...	Parsons
Tom Noonan	...	Minister Abraham
Kevin J. O'Connor	...	Henry
John Robinson	...	Kid
Anjelica Huston	...	Madame Louise
Angie Harmon	...	Rose
Robert Baker	...	Pope
Wes Studi	...	Charon (as Wes Studie)
Jimmi Simpson	...	Big Brother
James Jordan	...	Little Brother
Nate Mooney	...	Cousin Bill

MPAA:

Rated R for violence and brief language.

Runtime:

Canada:115 min (Toronto International Film Festival) | USA:115 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Finland:K-15 | Ireland:15A | USA:R (certificate #40880) | UK:15 | New Zealand:R16 | Singapore:NC-16 | Germany:16 | Brazil:14 | Argentina:13

Filming Locations:

Lordsburg, New Mexico, USA

Company:

Icon Productions

Trivia:

Had a 45-day shoot.

Goofs:

Continuity: At the start of the movie, when Gideon moves around to create false trails (after falling in the river), his fire is/is not burning as he passes it (and is burning when Carver and his men arrive).

Quotes:

Water Man: Go as you wish. That which is yours will always return to you. That which you take will always be taken from you.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Behind the Scenes of 'Seraphim Falls' (2007) (V)

Soundtrack:

Stacked Them Up in Piles

solid western

Written by Abby Everett Jaques and David Von Ancken and directed by Von Ancken, "Seraphim Falls" is a rough, tough, old-fashioned western set on the dusty plains and snow-covered mountains of western Nevada. The plot is little more than a straightforward revenge tale involving Liam Neeson (sans Southern accent) as a sadistic Rebel army colonel who hires a posse to track down the marauding Union officer he believes slaughtered his family in the days following the Civil War. The officer, played with steely-eyed determination by Pierce Brosnan, is a savvy, quick-on-the-draw survivalist who, through sheer ingenuity and skill, stymies and outwits the colonel and his men at every turn.

What "Seraphim Falls" lacks in substance, it more than makes up for in grit and style. For even though there isn't a great deal of depth to the characters, there's much pleasure to be derived from merely watching two actors of the caliber of Neeson and Brosnan squaring off in a grueling game of cat-and-mouse played out in a punishing, unforgiving landscape. Brosnan's character achieves an almost Superman-like quality as he stays one step ahead of his pursuers, devising ever-more elaborate means of ensnaring them in his traps. The movie takes a decidedly metaphysical turn in its closing stretches, with the divine Anjelica Huston, no less, appearing out of nowhere as a desert apparition to set the boys straight on a few eternal verities like redemption and forgiveness. But it is as a simple tale of vengeance and obsession that "Seraphim Falls" most captures our imagination and interest.