Brimstone (2016)

## Brimstone

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## CREW

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Director

Martin Koolhoven

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Writer

Martin Koolhoven

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Producer

Els Vandevorst & Uwe Schott

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Cinematography

Rogier Stoffers

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Music

Tom Holkenborg

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Editor

Job ter Burg

## CAST

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Starring

Dakota Fanning
Guy Pearce
Emilia Jones
Kit Harington
Carice van Houten.

## DETAILS

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Genre

Western
Mystery
Thriller
Drama

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Release dates

3 September 2016

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Running time

2h 28m

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Countries

Netherlands
France
Germany
Sweden
United Kingdom

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Language

English

## Article

***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. It is a Dutch-American as well as French, German, Belgian and Swedish international production.

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

## Overview

In the menacing inferno of the old North-American West, Liz is a genuine survivor who is hunted by a vengeful preacher for a crime she didn’t commit.

## Synopsis

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.

**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 church minister, 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.

## Stills

1/12

## Filming locations

Brimstone was filmed in Domaháza, Budapest, Hungary and Tabernas, Almeria, Andalucia, Spain (Desert scenes) and Tyrol, Austria (Saul's place, exterior snow scenes) and Forstberg, Mühlhausen, Thüringen, Germany (Chapter 2 and 3) and Desierto de Tabernas, Almería, Andalucía, Spain (Desert exterior scenes).

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## Explained

Liz (Dakota Fanning) is actually Joanna, the daughter of The Reverend (Guy Pearce). A fiery preacher, The Reverend is also a violent, perverted hypocrite that eventually rapes Liz when she is a child. He is responsible, directly or indirectly for the deaths of practically everyone Liz has ever loved. From her mother, who he shames into suicide, to the outlaw, Samuel (Kit Harington) who The Reverend kills after Samuel tries to save her. Every time she escapes, The Reverend eventually finds her, leaving more destruction in his wake.

Years later, The Reverend tracks her down again, killing her husband, stepson, and father in law. The Reverend says he plans to rape his granddaughter while Liz watches and then kill her. However, Liz gets free, sets him on fire, and shoots him, blasting him out a window to his death.

Liz finally makes a living for herself running a sawmill, only to be confronted by Nathan (Bill Trangradi) a man whose child she could not save during his wife’s delivery. Seemingly not recognizing her, Nathan has become sheriff and found a wanted poster for Liz, the dead girl whose identity Joanna took. Apparently, the real Liz killed the brothel owner before saving Joanna from her father. Liz is taken away to be hanged. However, knowing she refuses to be further subjugated by men, Liz/Joanna chooses suicide, and drowns in the lake.

The film ends with her daughter Sam narrating about the strength of her mother, and how she hoped her sacrifices would make Sam strong. Despite her hardships, Sam has found happiness, and has a daughter of her own.

Thanks: moviepooper.com