Seraphim Falls
Encyclopedia
Seraphim Falls is a 2007 American Revisionist Western
film directed by television producer and director David Von Ancken
in his first feature film
. The storyline was conceived from a screenplay written by Von Ancken and Abby Everett Jaques. The fictional story focuses on a bounty hunt
for a Union soldier by a Confederate colonel following the American Civil War in the late 1860s. Pierce Brosnan
, Liam Neeson
, Michael Wincott
, Tom Noonan
, and Ed Lauter
star in principal roles. Seraphim Falls explores civil topics, such as violence, human survival and war.
The film was produced by the motion picture studio of Icon Productions
. It was commercially distributed by Samuel Goldwyn Films
and Destination Films
theatrically, and by Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
for home media. The film score was composed by musician Harry Gregson-Williams
, although a soundtrack version for the motion picture was not released to the public. Notable similarities have been found between the film and the 1976 revisionist western, The Outlaw Josey Wales
directed by Clint Eastwood
.
Seraphim Falls premiered in theaters in limited release in the United States on January 26, 2007 grossing $418,296 in domestic ticket sales. It earned an additional $801,762 in box office business overseas for a combined worldwide total of $1,220,058 in revenue. The film was generally met with positive critical reviews before its initial screening in cinemas. The widescreen DVD edition of the film featuring scene selections and a bonus featurette, was released in the United States on May 15, 2007.
, Gideon (Pierce Brosnan
) roasts an animal over an open fire. Suddenly, gunshots ring out with one striking his left arm. He grabs what he can and races down the mountain. His attackers emerge from their cover to inspect his campsite. Colonel Morsman Carver (Liam Neeson
), a former Confederate
officer, is accompanied by Pope (Robert Baker
), Hayes (Michael Wincott
), Parsons (Ed Lauter
) and the Kid (John Robinson
); who are all engaged in a bounty operation to apprehend him.
Following the removal of the bullet from his arm at a secluded locale, Gideon leaves an open fire burning to attract the posse. He ends up killing Pope with his hunting knife and then ventures out again into the wilderness. He attempts to steal a horse, but is caught by a young woman named Charlotte (Shannon Zeller) who helps him after she realizes he is injured. She redresses his wound, and her family lets him sleep overnight in their farmhouse. He later offers to buy their horse and leaves before daybreak. As the group of men approach Gideon's trail, he lays an ambush using a bear trap which impales the Kid, who is later murdered by Carver in a mercy killing. Later, Parsons decides to abandon the men following the discovery of a dead armed bank robber (James Jordan
), whom Gideon had killed earlier in an act of self-defense and whose bounty money exceeded that of Gideon's.
Encountering a railroad under construction, Gideon hitches his horse and steals some food. The foreman recognizes the stolen horse and detains Gideon. Carver and his remaining man, Hayes, come upon the railroad site and search for Gideon. Meanwhile, Gideon escapes from custody and makes off with another horse. As Carver and Hayes draw within sight of Gideon, Gideon's horse can no longer take the strain of the heat and collapses. Gideon euthanizes the horse with his knife. When Carver and Hayes finally reach the horse's carcass, Hayes dismounts and marvels at what type of an animal would disembowel the creature. Suddenly, Gideon leaps out from the horse's belly, where he had been hiding, and grabs Hayes threatening to kill him if Carver doesn't give up his gun. Carver instead decides to shoot Hayes with his last bullet. While confronting each other, Carver and Gideon recall the events that put them at odds. After the American Civil War
had concluded, Gideon was ordered to track down former Confederate officers. When he arrived in Seraphim Falls at Carver's home to interrogate him, Carver was out in a nearby field. To coerce Carver's wife (Angie Harmon
) into revealing his whereabouts, and believing that their house was empty, Gideon ordered their barn to be set on fire. The blaze quickly spread to their main residence, as Carver emerged from the cropland. While the soldiers detained him, his wife and son ran inside the house to save their infant child who was still in a bedroom. Trapped by the flames, all three perished. Gideon was racked with guilt over the tragedy.
The two men fight, but Gideon eventually gets the better of Carver. He points him in the direction of a town and tells Carver that he will get nothing but trouble if he continues his pursuit. Gideon takes the horses ridden by Carver and Hayes and sets off, deeper into the countryside. When Carver catches up to Gideon at a future point in time, both men are on the brink of exhaustion. They confront each other again, with their pistols. Gideon shoots Carver in the side, but instead of killing him, he offers himself to Carver. Carver decides not to shoot him, and throws his pistol aside. Gideon helps Carver to his feet and the two men walk into the distance away from one another.
David Von Ancken
first researched the script for six months before joining Abby Everett Jaques to create the screenplay. The film was originally announced at the Cannes Film Festival
with Liam Neeson
and Richard Gere
in the lead roles. Gere dropped out in August 2005 and was soon replaced by Pierce Brosnan
. Shooting on Seraphim Falls started on October 17, 2005 and actress Anjelica Huston
later joined the cast the following November. The film was filmed on location for 48 days, primarily in New Mexico
; some of the opening scenes were filmed along the McKenzie River
in Oregon
.
Oscar
-winning cinematographer
John Toll
was responsible for cinematography work on the film. Toll later noted it was a "great opportunity to work with a director who was interested in visual storytelling."
, was produced at Bastyr University's
chapel in Kenmore, Washington
. Gregson-Williams wrote the music in three or four weeks, describing it as "very atmospheric". However, A CD soundtrack version of the film's score was never released to the public. The sound effects in the film were supervised by Kami Asgar. The mixing of the sound elements were orchestrated by William Sarokin and mastered by Steve Maslow.
reported that 54% of 81 sampled critics gave the film a positive review, with an average score of 5.7 out of 10. At Metacritic
, which assigns a weighted average
out of 100 to critics' reviews, the film received a score of 62 based on 21 reviews. Following its cinematic release in 2007, Seraphim Falls received a nomination from the Gotham Awards
for the "Breakthrough Director Award". In 2008, the film won the "Best Specialty Stunt" award from the Taurus World Stunt Awards
for Mark Vanselow and Craig Hosking.
In a mixed review, Christy Lemire writing in the Deseret News mused about the lead characters stating, "Their climactic confrontation is visually arresting in its starkness. But as an anti-war statement, a call to lay down arms that's clearly intended to be relevant today, it's a bit too clunky in its literalism." She ultimately found the film to be "technically solid" but a "dramatically unremarkable Western". Todd McCarthy of the Variety staff
believed the film was "nothing rousing or new" and that Brosnan along with Neeson wouldn't be enough "to muster more than modest theatrical B.O. for this very physical but familiar oater." He did however reserve praise for the cinematography noting, "Its physical beauty notwithstanding – Toll's work, which emphasizes the blues and greens of the forests, is always a pleasure to behold". The film however, was not without its supporters. Claudia Puig writing for USA Today
offered an almost entirely positive review recalling how she thought the film was a "psychological drama with an intriguing ambiguity that challenges the viewer's loyalties and preconceived notions." She remarked that the storyline was an "elaborate and relentless chase that takes those involved into primal psychological terrain."
Stephen Holden
writing in The New York Times
applauded some of the realism displayed in the film commenting, "Nothing in the rest of the film comes close to matching the impact of Gideon’s carving the bullet from his arm with his hunting knife, then cauterizing the wound while emitting agonizing howls. This scene is enough to give you vicarious hypothermia." He also expressed his satisfaction with the visual attributes of the picture by saying "Its strongest element is the austere majesty of the cinematography by John Toll ("Braveheart
," "Legends of the Fall
," "The Thin Red Line
"), in which the severe beauty of the Western landscape looms over the characters as a silent rebuke." Critic Josh Rosenblatt, writing for The Austin Chronicle viewed Seraphim Falls as "Meditative, beautifully shot, and blessed with a healthy dose of cynicism" and a "morality play without the morality and a Western Purgatorio that, in the end, demands its protagonists resign themselves to their loneliness and brutality and avail themselves of the redemptive power of sheer exhaustion." Kevin Crust of the Los Angeles Times
gave the film a somewhat mixed rating calling it "A beautifully shot chase film by writer-director David Von Ancken and co-writer Abby Everett Jaques, it moves along with minimalist efficiency" but overall admitting it ran out of "gas during an overlong allegorical final section." Author Joshua Rothkopf of Time Out commented that the film "has all the good looks of its wintry Oregon locales, not to mention the equally craggy faces of Liam Neeson and a grizzled-up Pierce Brosnan, embroiled in a Fugitive
-like pursuit with the latter on the run."
Peter Rainer of The Christian Science Monitor
highlighted on the film's merits by declaring that it was "essentially one long, bleak stalk-and-kill action thriller. From the rugged snowscapes to the cracked desert vistas, director David Von Ancken and cinematographer John Toll serve up a whole lot of eye candy from the great outdoors." He added, "The film functions as a kind of survivalists' guide, and there's a morbid pleasure in seeing how Gideon extricates himself from one impossible situation after another." Alternately though, columnist Joe Morgenstern
of The Wall Street Journal
sadly mentioned, "things take a turn from simplicity to sententiousness, then to surreal silliness, and finally to a mano-à-mano contest, on a parched desert floor, over which man gets the best close-ups."
came in first place during that weekend grossing $18,612,544. The film's revenue dropped by 49% in its second week of release, earning $79,181. For that particular weekend, the film fell to 48th place screening in 48 theaters. The film The Messengers, unseated Epic Movie to open in first place grossing $14,713,321 in box office revenue. During its final weekend in release, Seraphim Falls opened in 73rd place with $10,526 in revenue. The film went on to top out domestically at $418,296 in total ticket sales through a 6-week theatrical run. Internationally, the film took in an additional $801,762 in box office business for a combined worldwide total of $1,220,058. For 2007 as a whole, the film would cumulatively rank at a box office performance position of 276.
widescreen
edition of the film was released on DVD
in the United States on May 15, 2007. Special features for the DVD include; Audio commentary with Pierce Brosnan, writer-director David Von Ancken and production designer Michael Hanan; and a "Behind the Scenes of Seraphim Falls" featurette. Currently, there is no scheduled release date set for a future Blu-ray Disc
version of the film, although it is available in other media formats such as Video on demand
.
Revisionist Western
The Revisionist Western, Modern Western or Anti-Western traces to the mid 1960s and early 1970s as a sub-genre of the Western movie....
film directed by television producer and director David Von Ancken
David Von Ancken
David Von Ancken is an American film, television director and screenwriter. He is perhaps best known for directing the 2007 Western film Seraphim Falls, his feature film directorial debut....
in his first feature film
Feature film
In the film industry, a feature film is a film production made for initial distribution in theaters and being the main attraction of the screening, rather than a short film screened before it; a full length movie...
. The storyline was conceived from a screenplay written by Von Ancken and Abby Everett Jaques. The fictional story focuses on a bounty hunt
Bounty hunter
A bounty hunter captures fugitives for a monetary reward . Other names, mainly used in the United States, include bail enforcement agent and fugitive recovery agent.-Laws in the U.S.:...
for a Union soldier by a Confederate colonel following the American Civil War in the late 1860s. Pierce Brosnan
Pierce Brosnan
Pierce Brendan Brosnan, OBE is an Irish actor, film producer and environmentalist. After leaving school at 16, Brosnan began training in commercial illustration, but trained at the Drama Centre in London for three years...
, Liam Neeson
Liam Neeson
Liam John Neeson, OBE is an Irish actor who has been nominated for an Oscar, a BAFTA and three Golden Globe Awards.He has starred in a number of notable roles including Oskar Schindler in Schindler's List, Michael Collins in Michael Collins, Peyton Westlake in Darkman, Jean Valjean in Les...
, Michael Wincott
Michael Wincott
Michael Anthony Claudio Wincott is a Canadian actor.Wincott was born in Toronto, Ontario and is renown for playing villainous roles-Filmography:*Title Shot - Robber*Wild Horse Hank - Charlie Connors...
, Tom Noonan
Tom Noonan
Tom Noonan is an American actor and film writer-director.-Early life:Noonan was born in Greenwich, Connecticut, the son of Rosaleen and Tom Noonan, who worked as a dentist and jazz musician respectively...
, and Ed Lauter
Ed Lauter
Edward Lauter is an American actor. He has appeared in numerous movies and was a stand up comic before getting into acting.Lauter was born in Long Beach, Long Island, New York...
star in principal roles. Seraphim Falls explores civil topics, such as violence, human survival and war.
The film was produced by the motion picture studio of Icon Productions
Icon Productions
Icon Productions LLC is an American independent production company founded in August 1989 by actor/director Mel Gibson and Australian producing partner Bruce Davey.-History:Icon started when Gibson was having trouble in financing the 1990 film Hamlet...
. It was commercially distributed by Samuel Goldwyn Films
Samuel Goldwyn Films
Samuel Goldwyn Films is an independent film company founded by Samuel Goldwyn, Jr., the son of the Hollywood business magnate/mogul, Samuel Goldwyn...
and Destination Films
Destination Films
Destination Films is Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions' independent film division. The company was originally founded and established by Brent Baum and Steve Stabler in 1999. The logo is two halves of a ring formed at the top and the bottom with a line with a crescent on one end and a star on...
theatrically, and by Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
Sony Pictures Home Entertainment is the home video distribution arm of Sony Pictures Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation. It was established in November 1979 as Columbia Pictures Home Entertainment, releasing 20 titles: The Anderson Tapes, Bell, Book and Candle, Born Free, Breakout,...
for home media. The film score was composed by musician Harry Gregson-Williams
Harry Gregson-Williams
Harry Gregson-Williams is a prolific British composer, orchestrator, conductor, and music producer. He is best known for his film scores, of which he has composed over sixty using electronic music and orchestral pieces...
, although a soundtrack version for the motion picture was not released to the public. Notable similarities have been found between the film and the 1976 revisionist western, The Outlaw Josey Wales
The Outlaw Josey Wales
The Outlaw Josey Wales is a 1976 American revisionist Western film set during and after the end of the American Civil War. It was directed by and starred Clint Eastwood , with Chief Dan George, Sondra Locke, Sam Bottoms, and Geraldine Keams.The film was adapted by Sonia Chernus and Philip Kaufman...
directed by Clint Eastwood
Clint Eastwood
Clinton "Clint" Eastwood, Jr. is an American film actor, director, producer, composer and politician. Eastwood first came to prominence as a supporting cast member in the TV series Rawhide...
.
Seraphim Falls premiered in theaters in limited release in the United States on January 26, 2007 grossing $418,296 in domestic ticket sales. It earned an additional $801,762 in box office business overseas for a combined worldwide total of $1,220,058 in revenue. The film was generally met with positive critical reviews before its initial screening in cinemas. The widescreen DVD edition of the film featuring scene selections and a bonus featurette, was released in the United States on May 15, 2007.
Plot
In 1868, within the Ruby MountainsRuby Mountains
The Ruby Mountains comprise one of the many mountain ranges of the Great Basin in the western United States. They are the predominant range in Elko County, in the northeastern section of the state of Nevada. To the north is Secret Pass and the East Humboldt Range, and from there the Rubies run...
, Gideon (Pierce Brosnan
Pierce Brosnan
Pierce Brendan Brosnan, OBE is an Irish actor, film producer and environmentalist. After leaving school at 16, Brosnan began training in commercial illustration, but trained at the Drama Centre in London for three years...
) roasts an animal over an open fire. Suddenly, gunshots ring out with one striking his left arm. He grabs what he can and races down the mountain. His attackers emerge from their cover to inspect his campsite. Colonel Morsman Carver (Liam Neeson
Liam Neeson
Liam John Neeson, OBE is an Irish actor who has been nominated for an Oscar, a BAFTA and three Golden Globe Awards.He has starred in a number of notable roles including Oskar Schindler in Schindler's List, Michael Collins in Michael Collins, Peyton Westlake in Darkman, Jean Valjean in Les...
), a former Confederate
Confederate States of America
The Confederate States of America was a government set up from 1861 to 1865 by 11 Southern slave states of the United States of America that had declared their secession from the U.S...
officer, is accompanied by Pope (Robert Baker
Robert Baker (actor)
Robert Baker is an American actor known for his roles in Valentine, Grey's Anatomy, Out of Time and a supporting role in the film Special.-Credits:- External links :...
), Hayes (Michael Wincott
Michael Wincott
Michael Anthony Claudio Wincott is a Canadian actor.Wincott was born in Toronto, Ontario and is renown for playing villainous roles-Filmography:*Title Shot - Robber*Wild Horse Hank - Charlie Connors...
), Parsons (Ed Lauter
Ed Lauter
Edward Lauter is an American actor. He has appeared in numerous movies and was a stand up comic before getting into acting.Lauter was born in Long Beach, Long Island, New York...
) and the Kid (John Robinson
John Robinson (American actor)
John Robinson is an American actor. He portrayed John McFarland in Gus Van Sant's Elephant and Stacy Peralta in the skateboarding film Lords of Dogtown....
); who are all engaged in a bounty operation to apprehend him.
Following the removal of the bullet from his arm at a secluded locale, Gideon leaves an open fire burning to attract the posse. He ends up killing Pope with his hunting knife and then ventures out again into the wilderness. He attempts to steal a horse, but is caught by a young woman named Charlotte (Shannon Zeller) who helps him after she realizes he is injured. She redresses his wound, and her family lets him sleep overnight in their farmhouse. He later offers to buy their horse and leaves before daybreak. As the group of men approach Gideon's trail, he lays an ambush using a bear trap which impales the Kid, who is later murdered by Carver in a mercy killing. Later, Parsons decides to abandon the men following the discovery of a dead armed bank robber (James Jordan
James Jordan (actor)
James Jordan is an American actor.He has had roles in series such as Veronica Mars - playing two different characters , and has also appeared in Without a Trace, Seraphim Falls,Just Legal, Cold Case, Close to Home and CSI: Crime Scene InvestigationAs of 2011, James has...
), whom Gideon had killed earlier in an act of self-defense and whose bounty money exceeded that of Gideon's.
Encountering a railroad under construction, Gideon hitches his horse and steals some food. The foreman recognizes the stolen horse and detains Gideon. Carver and his remaining man, Hayes, come upon the railroad site and search for Gideon. Meanwhile, Gideon escapes from custody and makes off with another horse. As Carver and Hayes draw within sight of Gideon, Gideon's horse can no longer take the strain of the heat and collapses. Gideon euthanizes the horse with his knife. When Carver and Hayes finally reach the horse's carcass, Hayes dismounts and marvels at what type of an animal would disembowel the creature. Suddenly, Gideon leaps out from the horse's belly, where he had been hiding, and grabs Hayes threatening to kill him if Carver doesn't give up his gun. Carver instead decides to shoot Hayes with his last bullet. While confronting each other, Carver and Gideon recall the events that put them at odds. After the American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
had concluded, Gideon was ordered to track down former Confederate officers. When he arrived in Seraphim Falls at Carver's home to interrogate him, Carver was out in a nearby field. To coerce Carver's wife (Angie Harmon
Angie Harmon
Angela Michelle "Angie" Harmon is an American fashion model and television/film actress. She became a well-known model before gaining international fame for her roles in Baywatch Nights and Law & Order....
) into revealing his whereabouts, and believing that their house was empty, Gideon ordered their barn to be set on fire. The blaze quickly spread to their main residence, as Carver emerged from the cropland. While the soldiers detained him, his wife and son ran inside the house to save their infant child who was still in a bedroom. Trapped by the flames, all three perished. Gideon was racked with guilt over the tragedy.
The two men fight, but Gideon eventually gets the better of Carver. He points him in the direction of a town and tells Carver that he will get nothing but trouble if he continues his pursuit. Gideon takes the horses ridden by Carver and Hayes and sets off, deeper into the countryside. When Carver catches up to Gideon at a future point in time, both men are on the brink of exhaustion. They confront each other again, with their pistols. Gideon shoots Carver in the side, but instead of killing him, he offers himself to Carver. Carver decides not to shoot him, and throws his pistol aside. Gideon helps Carver to his feet and the two men walk into the distance away from one another.
Cast
- Liam NeesonLiam NeesonLiam John Neeson, OBE is an Irish actor who has been nominated for an Oscar, a BAFTA and three Golden Globe Awards.He has starred in a number of notable roles including Oskar Schindler in Schindler's List, Michael Collins in Michael Collins, Peyton Westlake in Darkman, Jean Valjean in Les...
as Carver: Like Brosnan, Neeson described being "kind of steeped in that western mythology growing up in IrelandNorthern IrelandNorthern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...
." He likened his character, Carver, to Captain AhabCaptain AhabCaptain Ahab may refer to:* Ahab , the captain of the Pequod in Herman Melville's 1851 novel Moby-Dick* Captain Ahab , a Los Angeles based pop/electronic band...
in Moby-DickMoby-DickMoby-Dick; or, The Whale, was written by American author Herman Melville and first published in 1851. It is considered by some to be a Great American Novel and a treasure of world literature. The story tells the adventures of wandering sailor Ishmael, and his voyage on the whaleship Pequod,...
, "he's [Carver] totally governed by this idea of revenge where he’s practically lost his humanity." - Pierce BrosnanPierce BrosnanPierce Brendan Brosnan, OBE is an Irish actor, film producer and environmentalist. After leaving school at 16, Brosnan began training in commercial illustration, but trained at the Drama Centre in London for three years...
as Gideon: The role was originally to be played by Richard GereRichard GereRichard Tiffany Gere is an American actor. He began acting in the 1970s, playing a supporting role in Looking for Mr. Goodbar, and a starring role in Days of Heaven. He came to prominence in 1980 for his role in the film American Gigolo, which established him as a leading man and a sex symbol...
but after he dropped out, Pierce Brosnan replaced him. Brosnan spoke of his love of WesternWestern (genre)The Western is a genre of various visual arts, such as film, television, radio, literature, painting and others. Westerns are devoted to telling stories set primarily in the latter half of the 19th century in the American Old West, hence the name. Some Westerns are set as early as the Battle of...
films during production and promotion of Seraphim Falls, which had stemmed from watching them as a child. - Michael WincottMichael WincottMichael Anthony Claudio Wincott is a Canadian actor.Wincott was born in Toronto, Ontario and is renown for playing villainous roles-Filmography:*Title Shot - Robber*Wild Horse Hank - Charlie Connors...
as Hayes - Xander Berkely as McKenzy, a railway foreman.
- Ed LauterEd LauterEdward Lauter is an American actor. He has appeared in numerous movies and was a stand up comic before getting into acting.Lauter was born in Long Beach, Long Island, New York...
as Parsons - Tom NoonanTom NoonanTom Noonan is an American actor and film writer-director.-Early life:Noonan was born in Greenwich, Connecticut, the son of Rosaleen and Tom Noonan, who worked as a dentist and jazz musician respectively...
as Minister Abraham - Kevin J. O'Connor as Henry
- John RobinsonJohn Robinson (American actor)John Robinson is an American actor. He portrayed John McFarland in Gus Van Sant's Elephant and Stacy Peralta in the skateboarding film Lords of Dogtown....
as Kid - Anjelica HustonAnjelica HustonAnjelica Huston is an American actress. Huston became the third generation of her family to win an Academy Award, for her performance in 1985's Prizzi's Honor, joining her father, director John Huston, and grandfather, actor Walter Huston. She later was nominated in 1989 and 1990 for her acting in...
as Madame Louise, a vanishing con artist, who figures in the end of the film. Huston first joined the cast in November 2005. - Angie HarmonAngie HarmonAngela Michelle "Angie" Harmon is an American fashion model and television/film actress. She became a well-known model before gaining international fame for her roles in Baywatch Nights and Law & Order....
as Rose - Robert Baker as Pope
- Wes StudiWes StudiWesley "Wes" Studi is a Cherokee actor, who has earned notability for his portrayal of Native Americans in film. He has appeared in well-received Academy Award-winning films, such as Kevin Costner's Dances with Wolves, Michael Mann's The Last of the Mohicans, the award-winning Geronimo: An...
as Charon - Jimmi SimpsonJimmi SimpsonJames Raymond "Jimmi" Simpson is an American actor. He has had recurring roles on the television shows 24, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Psych, My Name Is Earl, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation and The Late Show with David Letterman...
as Big Brother - James JordanJames Jordan (actor)James Jordan is an American actor.He has had roles in series such as Veronica Mars - playing two different characters , and has also appeared in Without a Trace, Seraphim Falls,Just Legal, Cold Case, Close to Home and CSI: Crime Scene InvestigationAs of 2011, James has...
as Little Brother - Nate Mooney as Cousin Bill
Filming
David Von Ancken
David Von Ancken is an American film, television director and screenwriter. He is perhaps best known for directing the 2007 Western film Seraphim Falls, his feature film directorial debut....
first researched the script for six months before joining Abby Everett Jaques to create the screenplay. The film was originally announced at the Cannes Film Festival
Cannes Film Festival
The Cannes International Film Festival , is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films of all genres including documentaries from around the world. Founded in 1946, it is among the world's most prestigious and publicized film festivals...
with Liam Neeson
Liam Neeson
Liam John Neeson, OBE is an Irish actor who has been nominated for an Oscar, a BAFTA and three Golden Globe Awards.He has starred in a number of notable roles including Oskar Schindler in Schindler's List, Michael Collins in Michael Collins, Peyton Westlake in Darkman, Jean Valjean in Les...
and Richard Gere
Richard Gere
Richard Tiffany Gere is an American actor. He began acting in the 1970s, playing a supporting role in Looking for Mr. Goodbar, and a starring role in Days of Heaven. He came to prominence in 1980 for his role in the film American Gigolo, which established him as a leading man and a sex symbol...
in the lead roles. Gere dropped out in August 2005 and was soon replaced by Pierce Brosnan
Pierce Brosnan
Pierce Brendan Brosnan, OBE is an Irish actor, film producer and environmentalist. After leaving school at 16, Brosnan began training in commercial illustration, but trained at the Drama Centre in London for three years...
. Shooting on Seraphim Falls started on October 17, 2005 and actress Anjelica Huston
Anjelica Huston
Anjelica Huston is an American actress. Huston became the third generation of her family to win an Academy Award, for her performance in 1985's Prizzi's Honor, joining her father, director John Huston, and grandfather, actor Walter Huston. She later was nominated in 1989 and 1990 for her acting in...
later joined the cast the following November. The film was filmed on location for 48 days, primarily in New Mexico
New Mexico
New Mexico is a state located in the southwest and western regions of the United States. New Mexico is also usually considered one of the Mountain States. With a population density of 16 per square mile, New Mexico is the sixth-most sparsely inhabited U.S...
; some of the opening scenes were filmed along the McKenzie River
McKenzie River
The McKenzie River is a tributary of the Willamette River in western Oregon in the United States. It drains part of the Cascade Range east of Eugene and flows into the southernmost end of the Willamette Valley. It is named for Donald MacKenzie, a Scottish Canadian fur trader...
in Oregon
Oregon
Oregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern...
.
Oscar
Academy Awards
An Academy Award, also known as an Oscar, is an accolade bestowed by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry, including directors, actors, and writers...
-winning cinematographer
Cinematographer
A cinematographer is one photographing with a motion picture camera . The title is generally equivalent to director of photography , used to designate a chief over the camera and lighting crews working on a film, responsible for achieving artistic and technical decisions related to the image...
John Toll
John Toll
John Toll A.S.C. is a Cleveland-born American cinematographer.In 1978 he worked on his first film, Norma Rae, as camera operator. He won back-to-back Academy Awards for Best Cinematography in 1994 and 1995, for the movies Legends of the Fall and Braveheart.He was also nominated for an Academy...
was responsible for cinematography work on the film. Toll later noted it was a "great opportunity to work with a director who was interested in visual storytelling."
Music
The soundtrack, composed by Harry Gregson-WilliamsHarry Gregson-Williams
Harry Gregson-Williams is a prolific British composer, orchestrator, conductor, and music producer. He is best known for his film scores, of which he has composed over sixty using electronic music and orchestral pieces...
, was produced at Bastyr University's
Bastyr University
Bastyr University was established as the John Bastyr College of Naturopathic Medicine in 1978 in Seattle, Washington by Sheila Quinn, Joseph Pizzorno, ND, LM; William Mitchell, ND; and Les Griffith, ND, LM...
chapel in Kenmore, Washington
Kenmore, Washington
Kenmore is a city in King County, Washington, United States, along the northernmost shores of Lake Washington...
. Gregson-Williams wrote the music in three or four weeks, describing it as "very atmospheric". However, A CD soundtrack version of the film's score was never released to the public. The sound effects in the film were supervised by Kami Asgar. The mixing of the sound elements were orchestrated by William Sarokin and mastered by Steve Maslow.
Critical response
Among mainstream critics in the U.S., the film received mixed to positive reviews. Rotten TomatoesRotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
reported that 54% of 81 sampled critics gave the film a positive review, with an average score of 5.7 out of 10. At Metacritic
Metacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
, which assigns a weighted average
Weighted mean
The weighted mean is similar to an arithmetic mean , where instead of each of the data points contributing equally to the final average, some data points contribute more than others...
out of 100 to critics' reviews, the film received a score of 62 based on 21 reviews. Following its cinematic release in 2007, Seraphim Falls received a nomination from the Gotham Awards
Gotham Awards
The Gotham Awards is an annual ceremony of awards presented to the makers of independent films which takes place in New York City...
for the "Breakthrough Director Award". In 2008, the film won the "Best Specialty Stunt" award from the Taurus World Stunt Awards
Taurus World Stunt Awards
The Taurus World Stunt Awards is a yearly award ceremony that honors stunt performers in movies. It is held each year in Los Angeles.- Categories :*Best Fight*Best Fire Stunt*Best High Work*Best Work with a Vehicle*Best Overall Stunt by a Stunt Woman...
for Mark Vanselow and Craig Hosking.
| "Neeson, who has more presence doing nothing than most actors do playing Hamlet, gives Carver hints of a psycho drive beneath his righteous scowl." |
| —Owen Gleiberman, writing in Entertainment Weekly |
In a mixed review, Christy Lemire writing in the Deseret News mused about the lead characters stating, "Their climactic confrontation is visually arresting in its starkness. But as an anti-war statement, a call to lay down arms that's clearly intended to be relevant today, it's a bit too clunky in its literalism." She ultimately found the film to be "technically solid" but a "dramatically unremarkable Western". Todd McCarthy of the Variety staff
Variety (magazine)
Variety is an American weekly entertainment-trade magazine founded in New York City, New York, in 1905 by Sime Silverman. With the rise of the importance of the motion-picture industry, Daily Variety, a daily edition based in Los Angeles, California, was founded by Silverman in 1933. In 1998, the...
believed the film was "nothing rousing or new" and that Brosnan along with Neeson wouldn't be enough "to muster more than modest theatrical B.O. for this very physical but familiar oater." He did however reserve praise for the cinematography noting, "Its physical beauty notwithstanding – Toll's work, which emphasizes the blues and greens of the forests, is always a pleasure to behold". The film however, was not without its supporters. Claudia Puig writing for USA Today
USA Today
USA Today is a national American daily newspaper published by the Gannett Company. It was founded by Al Neuharth. The newspaper vies with The Wall Street Journal for the position of having the widest circulation of any newspaper in the United States, something it previously held since 2003...
offered an almost entirely positive review recalling how she thought the film was a "psychological drama with an intriguing ambiguity that challenges the viewer's loyalties and preconceived notions." She remarked that the storyline was an "elaborate and relentless chase that takes those involved into primal psychological terrain."
Stephen Holden
Stephen Holden
Stephen Holden is an American writer, music critic, film critic, and poet.Holden earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from Yale University in 1963...
writing in The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
applauded some of the realism displayed in the film commenting, "Nothing in the rest of the film comes close to matching the impact of Gideon’s carving the bullet from his arm with his hunting knife, then cauterizing the wound while emitting agonizing howls. This scene is enough to give you vicarious hypothermia." He also expressed his satisfaction with the visual attributes of the picture by saying "Its strongest element is the austere majesty of the cinematography by John Toll ("Braveheart
Braveheart
Braveheart is a 1995 epic historical drama war film directed by and starring Mel Gibson. The film was written for the screen and then novelized by Randall Wallace...
," "Legends of the Fall
Legends of the Fall
Legends of the Fall is a 1994 epic drama film based on the 1979 novella of the same title by Jim Harrison. It was directed by Edward Zwick and stars Brad Pitt, Anthony Hopkins and Aidan Quinn. The film was nominated for the Academy Awards for Best Cinematography, Best Art Direction , and Best...
," "The Thin Red Line
The Thin Red Line (1998 film)
The Thin Red Line is a 1998 American war film which tells a fictional story of United States forces during the Battle of Mount Austen in World War II. It portrays men in: C Company, 1st Battalion, 27th Infantry Regiment, 25th Infantry Division; in particular those soldiers played by Sean Penn, Jim...
"), in which the severe beauty of the Western landscape looms over the characters as a silent rebuke." Critic Josh Rosenblatt, writing for The Austin Chronicle viewed Seraphim Falls as "Meditative, beautifully shot, and blessed with a healthy dose of cynicism" and a "morality play without the morality and a Western Purgatorio that, in the end, demands its protagonists resign themselves to their loneliness and brutality and avail themselves of the redemptive power of sheer exhaustion." Kevin Crust of the Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
gave the film a somewhat mixed rating calling it "A beautifully shot chase film by writer-director David Von Ancken and co-writer Abby Everett Jaques, it moves along with minimalist efficiency" but overall admitting it ran out of "gas during an overlong allegorical final section." Author Joshua Rothkopf of Time Out commented that the film "has all the good looks of its wintry Oregon locales, not to mention the equally craggy faces of Liam Neeson and a grizzled-up Pierce Brosnan, embroiled in a Fugitive
The Fugitive (1993 film)
The Fugitive is a 1993 American thriller film based on the television series of the same name. The film was directed by Andrew Davis and stars Harrison Ford and Tommy Lee Jones. The film was one of the few movies associated with a television series to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best...
-like pursuit with the latter on the run."
| "When actors of Neeson and Brosnan's quality stoop to material so obviously beneath them, a lashing at least might be in order." |
| —Ruthe Stein, writing for the San Francisco Chronicle |
Peter Rainer of The Christian Science Monitor
The Christian Science Monitor
The Christian Science Monitor is an international newspaper published daily online, Monday to Friday, and weekly in print. It was started in 1908 by Mary Baker Eddy, the founder of the Church of Christ, Scientist. As of 2009, the print circulation was 67,703.The CSM is a newspaper that covers...
highlighted on the film's merits by declaring that it was "essentially one long, bleak stalk-and-kill action thriller. From the rugged snowscapes to the cracked desert vistas, director David Von Ancken and cinematographer John Toll serve up a whole lot of eye candy from the great outdoors." He added, "The film functions as a kind of survivalists' guide, and there's a morbid pleasure in seeing how Gideon extricates himself from one impossible situation after another." Alternately though, columnist Joe Morgenstern
Joe Morgenstern
Joe Morgenstern is a Pulitzer Prize-winning film critic for The Wall Street Journal.-Career:Morgenstern graduated from Lehigh University in 1953. His first journalism experience was as news clerk at the New York Times...
of The Wall Street Journal
The Wall Street Journal
The Wall Street Journal is an American English-language international daily newspaper. It is published in New York City by Dow Jones & Company, a division of News Corporation, along with the Asian and European editions of the Journal....
sadly mentioned, "things take a turn from simplicity to sententiousness, then to surreal silliness, and finally to a mano-à-mano contest, on a parched desert floor, over which man gets the best close-ups."
Box office
The film premiered in cinemas on January 26, 2007 in limited release throughout the U.S.. During its opening weekend, the film opened in a distant 42nd place grossing $155,560 in business showing at 52 locations. The comedy film, Epic MovieEpic Movie
Epic Movie is a 2007 American parody film directed and written by Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer and produced by Paul Schiff. It was made in a similar style to Date Movie, Friedberg and Seltzer's previous film. The film mostly references The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the...
came in first place during that weekend grossing $18,612,544. The film's revenue dropped by 49% in its second week of release, earning $79,181. For that particular weekend, the film fell to 48th place screening in 48 theaters. The film The Messengers, unseated Epic Movie to open in first place grossing $14,713,321 in box office revenue. During its final weekend in release, Seraphim Falls opened in 73rd place with $10,526 in revenue. The film went on to top out domestically at $418,296 in total ticket sales through a 6-week theatrical run. Internationally, the film took in an additional $801,762 in box office business for a combined worldwide total of $1,220,058. For 2007 as a whole, the film would cumulatively rank at a box office performance position of 276.
Home media
Following its cinematic release in theaters, the Region 1 CodeDVD region code
DVD region codes are a digital-rights management technique designed to allow film distributors to control aspects of a release, including content, release date, and price, according to the region...
widescreen
Widescreen
Widescreen images are a variety of aspect ratios used in film, television and computer screens. In film, a widescreen film is any film image with a width-to-height aspect ratio greater than the standard 1.37:1 Academy aspect ratio provided by 35mm film....
edition of the film was released on DVD
DVD-Video
DVD-Video is a consumer video format used to store digital video on DVD discs, and is currently the dominant consumer video format in Asia, North America, Europe, and Australia. Discs using the DVD-Video specification require a DVD drive and a MPEG-2 decoder...
in the United States on May 15, 2007. Special features for the DVD include; Audio commentary with Pierce Brosnan, writer-director David Von Ancken and production designer Michael Hanan; and a "Behind the Scenes of Seraphim Falls" featurette. Currently, there is no scheduled release date set for a future Blu-ray Disc
Blu-ray Disc
Blu-ray Disc is an optical disc storage medium designed to supersede the DVD format. The plastic disc is 120 mm in diameter and 1.2 mm thick, the same size as DVDs and CDs. Blu-ray Discs contain 25 GB per layer, with dual layer discs being the norm for feature-length video discs...
version of the film, although it is available in other media formats such as Video on demand
Video on demand
Video on Demand or Audio and Video On Demand are systems which allow users to select and watch/listen to video or audio content on demand...
.