Brimstone

Zweieinhalb Stunden eines offensichtlichen Leidens der weiblichen Hauptfigur durch die männliche Hauptfigur. In einer epischen Westernumgebung, in vorhersehbar anachronistisch angeordneten vier Akten und ohne einen Film-Touch des Autors. Gruselige Momente wechseln sich mit billig wirkenden und nachlässigen Szenen ab und der Erzählung fehlen Nebenlinien der Handlung, die ihr eine gedankliche Tiefe verleihen würden. Der Film konzentriert sich ausschließlich auf eine möglichst intensive Vertiefung des Bösen in der Figur von Guy Pierce, ohne seine Beweggründe zu erklären. An manchen Stellen emotional stark und beklemmend, aber leider eine eindimensionale Geschichte wie aus einem simplen Roman für Hausfrauen. Und mit einem lächerlichen Höhepunkt. (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)

Mit Pech und Schwefel ist eine brutale Feier des starken weiblichen Geistes, der der männlichen Scheußlichkeit und Perversion die Stirn bietet. Zahlreichen abstoßenden und recht gewaltsamen Szenen zum Trotz, wo zwei für mich schon absolut zu viel waren, betrachte ich Mit Pech und Schwefel als perfekt ausgefeilten, modern aufgefassten Western mit einem herausragenden Drehbuch und exzellenten schauspielerischen Leistungen. Vor allem Guy Pearce spielt das Scheusal so perfekt, dass ich mir masochistisch alle möglichen Szenarien vorstellte, wie man ihn zu Tode quälen und beseitigen könnte. In einem perfekten Kontrast zu ihm treten die fragilen Schönheiten Dakota Fanning und Emilia Jones in den Vordergrund. Und alle Fans von Games of Thrones wird wohl freuen, dass gleich zwei Stars dieser Serie zu sehen sind. Irgendwie gelingt es mir nicht, adäquate Filme für die Osterfeiertage auszuwählen, doch dies wird davon übertrumpft, dass eine Perle größer ist als die andere. (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)