Seraphim Falls is an allegorical story about what becomes of men who are forced to fight in wars not of their own making. It explores how loss, aggression and revenge eat at your soul. The two main characters, very well played by Liam Neeson(Carver) and Pierce Brosnan(Gideon), are tied together in a terrible violent dance toward the end of their lives. They take people along with them for the ride (mostly on horses) and their struggles affect everyone they meet.

Did I mention the horses? Well often say you can't go wrong with men on horses. There's so much riding in this film that I felt saddle soreness in my ass. There are violent episodes and death seems to come easily to the victims. This is often the way the western frontier is portrayed in films. The bleak brutality of this story is offset by the barren and beautiful landscape shown through the lens of a brilliant cinematographer, Oscar winner John Toll. From the beginning shot to the last frame, it was like watching a painting. Let's not forget the director, David Von Ancken, who did a pretty good job. I felt cold at the start of the journey and parched and sweaty at the end, and not just from watching the gorgeous men.

Now about Hayes, played by Michael in classic Walter Brennan style. Hayes is what I would call a miscreant. He seems to have little to no moral compass, a bit of greed, a streak of roguishness, and a penchant for drink and debauchery. All quite fun traits to play for an actor. Even though there was not much dialogue in the entire film, Michael's lines as usual did seem to be the most telling of his character. (I never really did get Carver, he did not say enough or emote enough.) Hayes gives you the impression that he is in this pursuit for the money, but at times almost shows his disgust at the endless chase. And don’t get me started on how great he looks in a gun holster and that little black hat. . .  

It was nice to see a Michael Wincott character last nearly to the end of a movie. I won’t go into detail about his demise, as some of you may not have seen the film yet. Let’s just say there was a shocking and disgusting surprise then he died. As you see in the photo gallery screen caps, we are blessed with some great expressions by Michael. They always lend more depth to his roles. He's kind of like Bogart in that respect. In all, I'm quite pleased for him. This film was good writing and his character had validity. He chose well.

I won't comment much on the weird and surreal closing sequence, except to say that I didn't mind it as much as I thought I would. Watch it a second time and it grows on you. I think there could've been more dialog, and the building drama was stalled a bit by Anjelica Huston's out-of-place character. In the end I liked what the writer and director were aiming for and the cinematography made you feel it was worthwhile.

Seraphim Falls took only 45 days to shoot principle photography. Scenes were shot in wilderness areas outside of Sante Fe and Taos New Mexico during October through December 2005 and places like Sahalie Falls and Mckenzie River, both in Oregon, were backdrops to shooting in January of 2006. The completed film premiered at the Toronto Film Festival on September 13, 2006 to mixed reviews. It opened in the US to limited release in January of 2007. I couldn’t find a published cost or total revenue. The DVD was released on May 15, 2007.