Brimstone (2016)
Country: NL/FR/GER/SV/BEL/GB/US
Technical: col/2.35:1 148m
Director: Martin Koolhoven
Cast: Guy Pearce, Dakota Fanning, Emilia Jones, Carice van Houten, William Houston
Synopsis:
North America, the 19th century: a mute girl is pursued by a paedophile hellfire preacher, is orphaned, whored and widowed, all the while having to survive in a society in which she has 'no voice'.
Review:
Deconstructed achronologically, and divided into four chapters (Revelation, Genesis, Exodus, Retribution), this very European western-cum-thriller screams out the chaotic potential of scripture to mean whatever anyone wants it to. We have seen religious hypocrisy before, and baleful stepfathers too, but rarely has the cinema served up a monster to match Pearce's The Reverend. Having traced his theme of female courage via an elliptical prologue, Koolhoven proceeds through two and a half gruelling hours to prove it, and many are those who may have to look away from the often repellent detail. What comes across, however, from this gripping piece of cinema, is the hypocrisy of a whole society, one which relies on the services of a midwife until she loses a baby, or on those of a prostitute until she defends her own body, or stands by as its preacher muzzles and denounces his own wife. The metonymy of dumbness is perhaps contrived at times, and the fairytale horrors come thick and fast, but this is a magisterial work of direction in which Fanning confirms her promise as a young actress.
Country: NL/FR/GER/SV/BEL/GB/US
Technical: col/2.35:1 148m
Director: Martin Koolhoven
Cast: Guy Pearce, Dakota Fanning, Emilia Jones, Carice van Houten, William Houston
Synopsis:
North America, the 19th century: a mute girl is pursued by a paedophile hellfire preacher, is orphaned, whored and widowed, all the while having to survive in a society in which she has 'no voice'.
Review:
Deconstructed achronologically, and divided into four chapters (Revelation, Genesis, Exodus, Retribution), this very European western-cum-thriller screams out the chaotic potential of scripture to mean whatever anyone wants it to. We have seen religious hypocrisy before, and baleful stepfathers too, but rarely has the cinema served up a monster to match Pearce's The Reverend. Having traced his theme of female courage via an elliptical prologue, Koolhoven proceeds through two and a half gruelling hours to prove it, and many are those who may have to look away from the often repellent detail. What comes across, however, from this gripping piece of cinema, is the hypocrisy of a whole society, one which relies on the services of a midwife until she loses a baby, or on those of a prostitute until she defends her own body, or stands by as its preacher muzzles and denounces his own wife. The metonymy of dumbness is perhaps contrived at times, and the fairytale horrors come thick and fast, but this is a magisterial work of direction in which Fanning confirms her promise as a young actress.
Country: NL/FR/GER/SV/BEL/GB/US
Technical: col/2.35:1 148m
Director: Martin Koolhoven
Cast: Guy Pearce, Dakota Fanning, Emilia Jones, Carice van Houten, William Houston
Synopsis:
North America, the 19th century: a mute girl is pursued by a paedophile hellfire preacher, is orphaned, whored and widowed, all the while having to survive in a society in which she has 'no voice'.
Review:
Deconstructed achronologically, and divided into four chapters (Revelation, Genesis, Exodus, Retribution), this very European western-cum-thriller screams out the chaotic potential of scripture to mean whatever anyone wants it to. We have seen religious hypocrisy before, and baleful stepfathers too, but rarely has the cinema served up a monster to match Pearce's The Reverend. Having traced his theme of female courage via an elliptical prologue, Koolhoven proceeds through two and a half gruelling hours to prove it, and many are those who may have to look away from the often repellent detail. What comes across, however, from this gripping piece of cinema, is the hypocrisy of a whole society, one which relies on the services of a midwife until she loses a baby, or on those of a prostitute until she defends her own body, or stands by as its preacher muzzles and denounces his own wife. The metonymy of dumbness is perhaps contrived at times, and the fairytale horrors come thick and fast, but this is a magisterial work of direction in which Fanning confirms her promise as a young actress.