Richly Absorbing

Rating: Null/10 (11 March 2003)

I saw this movie many years ago like most of the movies I review here. I fell in love with it from the first time I saw it. Like I said, I'm a fan of epic dramas in a sense, so this movie went down on my list. The texture of the landscape was breathtaking. I've never been a mountain girl, but this movie made me wanna at least drive by some. The acting was superb. It was drenched in a sense of melancholy and isolation much like their home was. It was in the middle of nowhere in the Montana mountains and they survived a lot of death and loss, so the acting reflected that. It was happy at first when all of them were together and there was no talk of war, but after people started dying, that's when the true nature of people came out and it was enthralling. Nothing seemed forced or out of place, except the changing of the years in the beginning. After that, the director seemed to notice that he needed to notify the audience. Tristan is still a bit of an enigma to me. The whole symbolism of the "bear" inside him was a bit over my head, yet I understood. However, his nature pulled him through the entire film. He couldn't be blamed for his mistakes because of his "bear-like" personality. That was a bit too much. I didn't understand why Sussanah cut her hair at the end. I never understand that in movies. Still, the story itself was good. Hopkins wore the part as his own and it shows. The mixing of cultures was beautiful as well. I like to see that in movies. Great film!