The Claim
Synopsis
Daniel Dillon sold his wife and child - and then tried to buy forgiveness.
California 1849. The snowbound goldfields are littered with countless hopefuls rushing to make their fortune. Among them are the poor Irish immigrant Daniel Dillon, his wife Elena and baby daughter, Hope. Lost in a blizzard, exhausted and starving, they stumble upon a lonely hut with a sign above which reads 'Thy Kingdom Come'.
Fuelled by drink and a lust for gold, Dillon sells his wife and child to the prospector who lives there, in exchange for a gold claim.
Twenty years later Elena and Hope return to the pioneer settlement of Kingdom Come. Although rough and tough, the town is prosperous and Dillon is now a wealthy man of considerable authority, having as his mistress the local madam, Lucia.
The Claim is an epic story against the backdrop of American history in the making. This is a world of sweeping snowbound landscapes, goldmines, rowdy saloon bars and the racket and bustle of a pioneer town.
Hard times where jealousy and rejection take their toll and where one momentary lapse of weakness, twenty years earlier brings, a final and terrible retribution.
Based on Thomas Hardy's 'The Mayor of Casterbridge'.
Details
- Year
- 2001
- Type of film
- Features
- Running Time
- 120 mins
- Format
- 35mm Kodak
- Director
- Michael Winterbottom
- Producer
- Martin Katz, Alexis Lloyd, Andrea Calderwood
- Editor
- Trevor Waite
- Screenwriter
- Frank Cottrell Boyce
- Director of Photography
- Alwin Kuchler
- Sound
- George Tarrant
- Music
- Michael Nyman
- Principal Cast
- Wes Bentley, Milla Jovovich, Nastassja Kinski, Peter Mullan
Genre
Production status
Complete
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Last updated 26th November 2005
