This stark Western reminded me of the great Robert Altman film MCCABE AND MRS. MILLER. Set during winter in a gold rush Sierra Nevada town, the citizens are in limbo until the thaw of spring arrives. This idle time in the town of Kingdom Come is the perfect breeding ground for introspection, regret and trouble. Three strangers will arrive that will shake the town's owner Daniel Dillon to his core, because his soul is ripe for regret and self-destruction.
Dillon (Peter Mullan, MY NAME IS JOE) is living with a dark secret; a regret so strong that it taints everything he has done since. He is strong willed and often brutal, but there is a twisted humanity to his actions sometimes. For he'll have a man savagely horsewhipped, just so the town won't lynch him. As most everyone in town does, he visits the brothel, where he has taken claim to the madam Lucia (Milla Jovovich, THE FIFTH ELEMENT). Then arrive the strangers. Donald Dalglish (Wes Bentley, AMERICAN BEAUTY) is a surveyor for the railroad company. His decision on where to lay tracks will determine whether the town lives or dies. It's a great deal of power to have for a young ambitious man, which certainly does not sit well with the prideful Dillon. However, this attentions will soon focus on the two other strangers — Elena Burn (Nastassja Kinski, PARIS, TEXAS), a woman dying of TB, and her pretty blonde daughter Hope (Sarah Polley, THE SWEET HEREAFTER). They represent Dillon's past coming back to haunt him.
Director Michael Winterbottom (TRISTAM SHANDY) collaborated with his regular partner, screenwriter Frank Cottrell Boyce, to adapt Thomas Hardy's novel THE MAYOR OF CASTERBRIDGE from a British period piece into this cold, brooding Western. Having not read the original text, I cannot accurately comment on the impact of this decision, however I must say from the film, the setting plays a key and powerful role in setting the mood and often the motivations of the story. Alwin H. Kuchler's cinematography and Ken Rempel and Mark Tildesley's production design are important characters. For the screenplay, Winterbottom and Boyce throw us into this world like strangers who must figure things out on our own, which adds to the unsettling feeling. As secrets are revealed we are hit with the full ramifications of what Dillon has done.
Mullan is perfect as the sad bulldog of a man. There is a hint of madness in his search for redemption, because he knows deep down there is nothing he can do that will ever make up for what he has done. His ability to make a man so harsh and so capable of evil a sympathetic character is remarkable. Kinski is very good when given sad, lost characters to play. Bentley presents Dalglish as a man who is starting to get drunk on his own power, who will most likely be seeking redemption when the story ends.
This underrated Western is a captivating production if one lets it work on you. Audiences too accustomed to having stories spelled out for them may get frustrated with this one, but those you give it time will find that they have struck gold.
Rick DeMott
Animation World Network
Creator of Rick's Flicks Picks
