Brimstone: La hija del predicador

Dos horas y media de sufrimiento de la protagonista femenina a manos del protagonista masculino. En un entorno épico del oeste, en cuatro actos predeciblemente anacrónicos y sin el procesamiento cineasta del autor. Los momentos aterradores se alternan con escenas baratas y la narrativa carece de subtramas que le añaden capas de pensamiento. Se centra únicamente en la profundización del mal en el personaje de Guy Pierce, sin explicar sus motivos. A veces emocionalmente intensa y sofocante, pero lamentablemente una historia unidimensional como las de una novela de supermercado para amas de casa. Y con un desenlace ridículo. (24.03.2024)

If it wasn’t said in advance that this was a western movie, I would have thought that the Dutch director has laid the foundations for this story somewhere under the Alps. The locations truly encourage it. Okay, fine… Let’s consider Brimstone a western movie. A western movie, shot by a Dutch director with the support of various European funds and with American actors, who showed the best they are capable of. For example, Guy Pearce is truly the ultimate bastard in this movie, who makes you think for the first half an hour just so he can make you sick for the rest of the movie. Dakota Fanning shows how incredibly she matured as an actress, because she managed to play a partially silent role absolutely fantastically. Even the atypical narration divided into chapters makes sense, even though it is not completely linear. All of that makes Brimstone a very unique, very uncompromising and rather rough movie that looks like a western, but I would rather compare it to a raw European historical drama with an atypical cast and a touch of American environment. (03.11.2017)

To his own detriment, it deals to much with constantly increasing suffering purely for suffering´s sake. In this case, more than anywhere else, less would be more. The constant martyrdom of the central heroine caused by all men makes the viewer become indifferent, not disgusted. At the same time, this would fix even the biggest snag in the form of too long footage. In any case, as an impressively constructed drama of a (non) western with a patina of a fatal Greek tragedy about a loving "a little" misogynistic father and a "ungrateful" excellent daughter that love men too much. Especially because there are some moments of hypnotic enchantment and because of great acting of Dakota. (31.03.2017)

A story about womanhood conceived as a bloody drama set in the Wild West. The status of women at the time (almost every man, apart from one, see them either as cleaning ladies or whores – or both), the strength of the Christian faith and its interpretation are approached exceedingly suggestively. Not one ounce of humor, cruelty is taken to new levels, thanks too to Guy Pearce’s demonic reverend, who often steals the limelight in some scenes. The non-linear chronology of the storytelling works very well, and each chapter leads smoothly to the point and gradually answers the viewer’s questions. A masterpiece. (17.09.2017)

Revenant 2 – for women, but with a more sophisticated, non-linear narrative, and at the same time often quite gratuitous violence in an attempt to shock the viewer at any cost. It might seem that this female anti-western is about the role of women in the Wild West, but it is presented too black and white, or only black, in this case. It is a classic revenge motif, only atypically presented and unreadable. Underneath the skin, it looks much more like the director either a) had a difficult childhood and used his frustration for such a cruelly uncompromising depiction of explicit and mental violence, or b) wanted to flash across the Atlantic to show how Europe can kick the US in the balls, because no one is going to let a big production do that. It’s shot in an impressively non-mainstream style, with great performances, but the value of the message is very questionable at best. (04.04.2017)

Brimstone es una brutal celebración del fuerte espíritu femenino que desafía la repugnancia y perversión masculina. A pesar de muchas escenas asquerosas y violentas, algunas de las cuales para mí ya estaban completamente fuera de límites, considero a Brimstone como un western moderno perfectamente elaborado con un guion excelente y actuaciones excelentes. Especialmente Guy Pearce interpreta a esa monstruosidad tan perfectamente, que masoquistamente imaginé todos los posibles guiones de cómo torturarlo y destruirlo. En contraste perfecto con él, aparecen en primer plano las frágiles bellezas de Dakota Fanning y Emilia Jones. Y a todos los fanáticos de Juego de Tronos seguramente les agradará la presencia de dos estrellas de esta serie. No puedo encontrar películas adecuadas para las vacaciones de Pascua, pero lo supera el hecho de que es una joya más grande que la otra. (21.04.2019)

Once again, the Dutch filmmakers pulled off a film with excellent atmosphere. Based on its running time, I thought it would drag on, but instead it just flew by. Guy Pearce was cast in the role of a slimy bastard, which was a perfect fit for him as usual. The story was told in an interesting way, kind of a journey against the flow of time, and it didn’t get boring for even a second. It’s true that there wasn't much action but when it did come it was brutal. The scene with the pigs reminded me of Deadwood and Mr. Wu. (25.01.2018)

Westerns are on the rise again, and filmmakers are realizing that they need to take a new approach. The European co-production succeeded in doing that and we get a film that's pretty gritty, very uncomfortable, and has a great demonic character. But the way the story is told doesn't really serve much of a purpose and doesn't give the film much extra. (21.03.2017)