Movie Review - The Dark Valley
The Dark Valley is as the title suggests, a dark film, or rather a gritty film that does an amazing job of building up the suspense and delivers gracefully when it comes to the few moments of action. A return to storytelling, with convincing performances by its cast, along with an equally impressive soundtrack, this film delivers in a way that leaves you fully satisfied when the credits roll.
It sat there patiently in my Netflix list for months, quietly nestled between The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, and a television series called The 100. While I still have yet to watch it's neighbors, each time I would roll through my list I was pulled subconsciously to its tile, with its lead character Greider, played by Sam Riley, looking menacingly over one shoulder, his rifle adorning the other. Being a foreign film, with its actual title being Das Finstere Tal, I overlooked it many times simply because I needed to be able to focus on it alone, for all the subtitle reading, however Netflix assured me that it would be a 4 out of 5 match, so I finally decided it was time to see what this film was all about.
It is billed as a western, taking place high in the Austrian Alps and opens with an immediate sense of worry as a young couple huddles quietly in the corner of what appears to be a basement, as footsteps can be heard walking on the floorboards above them. In just a moment more, several men burst in through a door, and both the man and woman are dragged away by the men. As the screen fades, a somber melody begins, and a black and white portrait of a woman is shown briefly on the screen just as a narration on forgiving and forgetting sets the pace for the rest of the film. As the womans portrait fades out, and the movie title begins to fade in, we are treated to an outstanding cover of Nina Simone's Sinnerman, by Austrian singer-songwriter Clara Luzia, that journeys along with us, as we watch our dark hero ride through a valley in the Austrian Alps. It isn't long before he rides into a small village, and the tone that was already set is now firmed with his first interactions among the locals, and ensuing narrative by our storytelling companion on this sullen adventure.
As the minutes roll by, one story begins to unfold, of this village and the patriarch that owns every individual within it, while another story of two young lovers in our hero's midst also begins to take shape. With both stories unfolding in one scene after the next, we begin to feel the despair of our young lovers, as well as understand the necessity for revenge by our hero. This thing he is doing, is not done of free will, or for any gain, and is merely the payment of a debt, one he owes to the patriarch of the village, one that has been building interest over many years, and one that has an immediate due date.
As the story closes, we are given one brief action scene, where our hero engages several foes in a wilderness themed shootout. Not only is this one of the films only action scenes, but as the action itself begins to peak, it is overlaid by an electronic melody aptly named How Dare You? courtesy of yet another Austrian talent, the Steaming Satellites, and while an electronic sound may seem like an odd choice for a western, set in the Austrian Alps, in the late 19th century, nothing else about this film was average so not only did it feel right, it added the extra momentum of carrying our hero to his final task.
In the end, as the credits rolled, I couldn't help think to myself how awesome of a film I just watched, and how much of a hidden gem it was; film making at it's finest.
I gave The Dark Valley a solid 4.5 out of 5, and according to the IMDB and Rotten Tomatoes, I am not alone in my admiration of this film. Check out the links below, and see for yourself.
Have you seen The Dark Valley? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below. Also, the two songs mentioned above can be listened to here:
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