Brimstone (2016 film)

Brimstone is a 2016 psychological western film written and directed by Martin Koolhoven. The film stars Dakota Fanning, Guy Pearce, Emilia Jones, Kit Harington, and Carice van Houten.[4] It is a Dutch-American as well as French, German, Belgian and Swedish international production.

Brimstone
Theatrical release poster
Directed byMartin Koolhoven
Written byMartin Koolhoven
Produced by
  • Els Vandevorst
  • Uwe Schott
Starring
CinematographyRogier Stoffers
Edited byJob ter Burg
Music byTom Holkenborg
Production
companies
  • N279 Entertainment
  • X-Filme
  • Backup Media
  • Filmwave
  • Prime Time
  • The Jokers Films
Distributed by
Release dates
  • 3 September 2016 (2016-09-03) (Venice)
  • 12 January 2017 (2017-01-12) (Netherlands)
  • 10 March 2017 (2017-03-10) (United States)
Running time
148 minutes[2]
Countries
  • Netherlands
  • France
  • Germany
  • Sweden
  • United Kingdom
LanguageEnglish
Box office$2.1 million[3]

The film was selected to compete for the Golden Lion at the 73rd Venice International Film Festival on 3 September 2016,[5] where it caused controversy.[6][7] It premiered in the Netherlands on 12 January 2017, where it was very well received,[8] as in the rest of Europe[9][10] and was released on 10 March in the United States, where it received mixed reviews from critics.[11]

Plot
Narrative acts
1. Revelation
2. Exodus
3. Genesis
4. Retribution

The plot consists of four acts, which are presented in anachronic order. The chronological order is acts 3 (Genesis), 2 (Exodus), 1 (Revelation), 4 (Retribution). So, after the first act, Revelation, the following acts are what happened before and the fourth act is chronologically the last.[12]

1. Revelation
Elizabeth "Liz" Brundy lives in the old west with her husband Eli and their two children, Matthew, Eli's son from a previous marriage, and youngest daughter Samantha “Sam”.

Liz works as a midwife who can hear but is mute, and so communicates through sign language. One day, a new Preacher, known as "The Reverend", hosts a session at the local church, and the moment that Liz hears his voice, she seems to recognize him and is terrified by his appearance. Later that day, Liz is forced to choose between delivering a baby safely or saving its mother; she chooses to euthanise the baby and save the mother, without telling her until after the procedure is finished. Afterwards, Nathan, husband of the formerly-pregnant woman, blames Liz. That night, Nathan drunkenly shows up at Eli and Liz's house, violent and threatening; Nathan claims Liz is responsible for his son's death. In the middle of the fight, the Reverend shows up and tells him to leave. He then goes into Eli's house and has a mysterious talk with Liz, saying she is guilty of the murder of Nathan's son and must be "punished". As Eli overhears some of the conversation, the Reverend leaves the house. Eli's sheep are found dead the next morning, and he seeks out Nathan, who has since disappeared. Liz later sneaks off at night to murder the Reverend, but finds her daughter's doll in the Reverend's bed instead. Meanwhile, the Reverend disembowels Eli, and leaves him to die. As he succumbs to his wounds, Eli tells Matthew to take the family up into the mountains to his father, before the boy mercy kills him. Liz and the children flee the farm.

2. Exodus
A young girl named Joanna, walking through the desert, is picked up and nursed by a traveling Chinese family. In the mining town of Bismuth, Joanna is sold to a brothel owned by Frank. She is protected by Sally, a prostitute, until she is hanged for shooting a violent customer; another prostitute, Elizabeth, then protects Joanna in the aftermath of Sally's hanging. However, when Elizabeth bites the tongue of an abusive customer, her tongue is cut off as punishment. Joanna teaches Elizabeth sign language from a book the doctor gave her. Elizabeth plans to sneak out of Bismuth to start a new life, and arranges through a marriage broker to marry Eli. The Reverend comes to the brothel, recognizes Joanna, and proceeds to violently abuse her. Elizabeth saves Joanna but is murdered by the Reverend with Joanna slashing his throat in retaliation. She runs away, cutting off her own tongue and taking Elizabeth's place with Eli.

3. Genesis
In the desert, two badly wounded men, Samuel and Wolf, are the last survivors in a dispute over gold that has left several other men dead. They depart on a single horse.

Joanna lives with her mother, Anna, and father, revealed to be the Reverend himself. He is strictly religious and is often cruel and abusive towards his family. Samuel and Wolf collapse at the farm and Joanna secretly cares for them. Anna confronts the Reverend when she realizes he lusts after their daughter, so he beats and humiliates her by placing a scold's bridle on her head. In response, Anna commits suicide in full view of the church congregation. The next day the Reverend takes Joanna to church and starts to perform a wedding ceremony between himself and his daughter. Samuel tries to rescue her, but the Reverend murders him. Her father whips Joanna and rapes her. In the morning she runs off.

4. Retribution
Matthew is shot by the Reverend as he follows Liz to her father-in-law's place in the mountains. He murders her father-in-law and tells Liz he will beat and rape her daughter, but Liz murders him instead. Some time later, after Liz has turned Eli's place into a sawmill, Nathan arrives to arrest her. The Reverend had sent him to Bismuth where he became a deputy and then sheriff. Having found a wanted poster of Elizabeth Brundy (the woman without a tongue who killed Frank before she saved Liz/Joanna), Nathan has come to arrest her (Liz). As Nathan is escorting her onto a ferry, with a last look at her daughter playing on the shore, Liz throws herself in the lake and drowns. Her daughter Sam, now a grown woman with a child of her own, remembers her well.

Cast

Production

On 5 February 2015, Guy Pearce and Mia Wasikowska were the first to be announced as part of the cast of the film.[13] Later, Robert Pattinson came on board to portray an outlaw along with Carice van Houten.[14][15]

In May 2015, Koolhoven confirmed that Jack Roth had joined the cast of the film.[16] In June 2015, The Hollywood Reporter confirmed that Dakota Fanning and Kit Harington had replaced Wasikowska and Pattinson in the film, respectively.[17] In 2017, Pattinson said he regretted not doing Brimstone and called it "his own stupid fault".[18]

Principal photography began from 15 June 2015, and took place in Germany, Hungary, Austria and Spain.[19][20]

Release

Brimstone's first commercial release was in The Netherlands on 12 January 2017, becoming Martin Koolhoven's fifth consecutive hit film.[21] The film was also released on 10 March 2017, in selected theaters and video on demand in the United States. It was sold to more than 80 countries in the world, making it the best sold Dutch movie ever.[22]

Festival screenings

Brimstone was shown in competition at the Venice Film Festival.[23] After Venice, the film had its North American premiere as a Special Presentation at the Toronto International Film Festival where it received positive reviews.[24] as it later did in other festivals like the Sitges Film Festival,[25]

Critical reception

In The Netherlands, the film received generally positive reviews from critics[26][27] and opened strongly.[28][29] The readers of True West Magazine chose the movie as Best Foreign Western Movie.[30] Koolhoven won the Gouden Pen (Golden Pen) for the screenplay[31] and the Gouden Film (Golden Film) for the film.[32] 29 September 2017 Brimstone won six Golden Calves (often called "The Dutch Oscars") at the Netherlands Film Festival, breaking the old record of four.[33]

On review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a rating of 42% based on 76 reviews and the average rating is 5.09/10.[34] On Metacritic, the film has a score of 45 based on 17 reviews, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[11] While The Independent wrote "Brimstone is raw and very powerful filmmaking, a movie that can't help but get under your skin",[35] Variety wrote it was "highfalutin exploitation", blaming it on the Netherlands, writing, "It is, after all, a country that ever since the 1960s, especially in Amsterdam, has profferred a more liberal view than almost any other place of what might euphemistically be termed 'youthful sexuality'."[36] Roger Ebert's publication referred to the film as "dimwitted, amoral exploitation" and accused Koolhoven of identifying most with the murderous and incestuous Reverend.[37] Kevin Maher of the Times UK called it "an exploitation western that veers from self-importance to high camp."[38]

Brimstone was released in the United Kingdom 29 September 2017, and was well received by British press.[39] Empire gave it four stars and called it "white-knuckle tense",[40] and Peter Bradshaw wrote in The Guardian: "This epically long, lurid, violent western from Dutch film-maker Martin Koolhoven has a kind of Tarantino-ish prolixity and narrative ingenuity. Despite its very indulgent length, it never bores."[41]

Awards

References
  1. "Brimstone (2017)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 8 March 2017.
  2. "Venezia 73". Retrieved 11 August 2016.
  3. "Brimstone (2017)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 8 March 2017.
  4. "Wasikowska, Pearce Fire Up 'Brimstone'; Voltage Enlists 'Officer Downe' – Berlin". 5 February 2015. Retrieved 25 May 2015.
  5. "Venice Film Festival 2016". Deadline Hollywood. 28 July 2016. Retrieved 24 January 2017.
  6. Palmer, Adam Ray (3 September 2016). "Venezia73: Brimstone Film Review". Cineroom.
  7. Munzenrieder, Kyle (27 January 2017). "Dakota Fanning Faces Off Against a Violent Preacher in Controversial *Brimstone* Trailer". W Magazine.
  8. "Martin Koolhoven's talks about the BRIMSTONE". cineequal.org. 17 March 2017.
  9. Cargile, Charlie (16 April 2017). "Brimstone (2017) A Journey Through Hell-Movie Review". Pophorror.
  10. Schultz, Ian (20 February 2018). "Interview With Martin Koolhoven". Psychotroniccinema.
  11. "Brimstone". Metacritic. Retrieved 7 March 2017.
  12. "Brimstone". TV Tropes. Retrieved 3 January 2020.
  13. "Guy Pearce Heads For Brimstone". Retrieved 25 May 2015.
  14. "Robert Pattinson Fired Up For Brimstone". Retrieved 25 May 2015.
  15. "Casting: Robert Pattinson Ready For 'Brimstone,' Nicolas Cage Boards 'USS Indianapolis' & More". Archived from the original on 25 May 2015. Retrieved 25 May 2015.
  16. "BrimstoneMovie". Archived from the original on 14 August 2018. Retrieved 25 May 2015.
  17. "Kit Harington Joins Thriller Brimstone". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 23 June 2015.
  18. "Pattinson about Brimstone". Retrieved 11 October 2017.
  19. "Interview with director Koolhoven". 9 March 2017. Retrieved 9 March 2017.
  20. "Production hell for Brimstone". Retrieved 3 August 2017.
  21. "Koolhoven tells about his fifth consecutive hit". Archived from the original on 24 August 2018. Retrieved 24 January 2017.
  22. "Interview with Martin Koolhoven about Brimstone" (in Dutch). Retrieved 12 December 2017.
  23. "Venezia73: Brimstone Film Review". Retrieved 3 September 2016.
  24. "Momentum Picks up Brimstone after good press in Toronto". Retrieved 3 September 2016.
  25. "Variety about Sitges". 14 October 2017. Retrieved 14 October 2017.
  26. "Dutch reviewers impressed by Brimstone". 12 January 2017. Retrieved 12 January 2017.
  27. "Reception after Venice Film Festival". 3 September 2016. Retrieved 14 September 2016.
  28. "Brimstone opens strongly". Retrieved 13 January 2017.
  29. "Interview Fanning + Review". Retrieved 12 January 2017.
  30. "Best Foreign Western Movie". 12 December 2016. Archived from the original on 14 August 2020. Retrieved 12 December 2016.
  31. "Koolhoven wins Golden Pen for Brimstone". Retrieved 27 January 2017.
  32. "Koolhoven wins Golden Film for Brimstone". Archived from the original on 15 March 2017. Retrieved 27 January 2017.
  33. "Brimstone breaks record". Retrieved 30 September 2017.
  34. "Brimstone". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 15 March 2017.
  35. "Brimstone review: Blood-soaked revenge western can't help but get under your skin". Independent.co.uk. Retrieved 4 September 2016.
  36. "Film Review: 'Brimstone'". 3 September 2016. Retrieved 3 September 2016.
  37. Kenny, Glenn. "Brimstone Movie Review & Film Summary (2017) | Roger Ebert". www.rogerebert.com. Retrieved 29 April 2019.
  38. Maher, Kevin (29 September 2017). "Film review: Brimstone". The Times. ISSN 0140-0460. Retrieved 29 April 2019.
  39. "Brimstone goed ontvangen door Britse pers" [Brimstone well-received by British press]. RTL Nieuws (in Dutch). Archived from the original on 7 October 2017. Retrieved 27 September 2017.
  40. "Brimstone Review". Empire. Retrieved 25 September 2017.
  41. Bradshaw, Peter (27 September 2017). "Brimstone review – Guy Pearce outrageously operatic in grisly and gripping western". The Guardian. Retrieved 27 September 2017.
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