Seraphim Falls
Summary
The terminate ofSeraphim Fallsturns what is an exceedingly naturalistic if slow - suntan Western up to that point into a largely emblematical type study . It start as a unsubdivided cat - and - mouse pursuit : Carver ( Liam Neeson ) follow up on Gideon ( Pierce Brosnan ) across the West to kill him for a crime Gideon committed . As Gideon and Carver make their way further into the desert , the patch ofSeraphim Fallsgets more confusing . New fibre seemingly appear out of nowhere in the flick ’s final minutes , only to turn in cryptic lines and choices . Seraphim Fallswasn’t well received at its initial release in 2007 , but it has found new life on cyclosis , and could be a challenger for the list ofthe best Westerns on Netflix .
Carver ’s William Holman Hunt for Gideon takes them across the American frontier and through multiplefilming locations forSeraphim Falls . Their journeying leaves them both with serious injuries before the final scenes ofSeraphim Falls , and they are both suffering from desiccation due to their journey through the desert . While their injury and evaporation could explicate some of the more mysterious elements , there are also thematic reasons for their inclusion in the ending ofSeraphim Falls , and those symbolic constituent can be quite confusing .
Liam Neeson has carved out his own subgenre of modernistic military action movies after the success of Taken , becoming an iconic and profitable public figure in the field .
Why Gideon & Carver Stop Fighting
They Decide To Let Go Of The Past
Gideon and Carver both live on their last shootout and walk into the distance , only to disappear . The two had been fighting each other ferociously for the entire moving picture , Gideon for his life and Carver for revenge , so their decision to give up each other seems sudden . However , Gideon and Carver stop fighting because they finally learn to let go of the past , and they resolve to walk aside from it . Though both men come to the same decision , they do so for very unlike reasons .
Carver actualize that he does n’t truly want to kill Gideon , he ’s just grieving his married woman and home , as evidenced by him saying " Rose " before resolve to put down the gun . Gideon realizes that he involve to cover the sins of his past rather than tend from them , as he at long last apologizes to Carver rather than make excuses or wallow in his own guilt trip . Their conclusion to stop struggle allows Gideon and Carver to end their feud and help each other move on . There is another character who does n’t want them to reconcile , however .
Seraphim Fallsis usable to stream on Netflix .
Custom image by Yailin Chacon
Who Is The Woman In The Desert?
Madame Louise Symbolizes The Devil
Madame Louise ( Anjelica Huston ) suddenly appear in the desert , seemingly out of flimsy air . She offer both Gideon and Carver a pick : in Gideon ’s case , his horse or a bullet train , and for Carver , his body of water or a gun . Madame Louise symbolize the devil inSeraphim Falls , as she essentially offers both character a selection between life and death . Without the sawhorse and the urine , Gideon and Carver ’s chances of escaping the desert alive are gravely diminish , and the tools she contribute them are only mean to destroy each other - and their souls in the process .
There are other hints that this is her role , such as her obsession with take a crap deals and her insidious line that the curatives she offered are"the demon rum . " However , the heavy hint that Madame Louise is the Lucifer comes from similarities to a scriptural story . In the Bible , Jesus was charm by Satan for 40 days and nights in the desert . Madame Louise tempts Gideon and Carver likewise to the biblical Satan , which suggests she has a much more spiritual function than she seems to .
Why Gideon & Carver Choose The Bullet And The Gun
They Choose Death Over Life Because Of Their Obsession With The Past
Madame Louise offers both Gideon and Carver a option between animation and death . Both men choose to give up something that would serve keep them live , urine and a horse , in substitution for something that would aid them drink down the other , a artillery and a bullet train . Gideon and Carver both choose decease as they are still obsessed with the past tense and their vengeanceat this item in the motion-picture show . They would rather destroy each other , and themselves in the process than let go of their past tense .
Gideon pick out the bullet because he is still seek to extend from his past , which Carver serves as a reminder of . He is penetrate with guilty conscience over his role in the murder of Carver ’s phratry , and that guiltiness is too large for him to process decently , so he runs from it . Carver has a similarly unhealthful response to the event , as he becomes obsessed with revenge rather than giving himself the time and space necessary to litigate his heartbreak . The climax of their journeys to view with the past give them both an ultimatum : to move on and live , or declare on and conk out .
The Man At The Watering Hole Explained
He Is A Reference To Greek Mythology
Wes Studi ’s Charon suddenly appears to both Gideon and Carver at the lacrimation hole in a similarly mysterious style to Madame Louise . He demands that both men pay for the " living " they had charter from the piddle , and insist that if they ca n’t , they will pay with their lives . Charon ’s name , which is not let loose in the movie itself , is a lineal allegory : In Greek mythology , Charon is the ferryman on the River Styx who bring person to the afterlife . InSeraphim Falls , Charon take on a very standardised role to his Greek opposite number .
When Gideon and Carver occur to him , Charon offers them a alternative : to pay for the water system and go along on , or to keep their defrayal and turn back . Charon and his watering hole act as a spiritual roadblock for the men , a interval . Everything before that distributor point is an emblem of Purgatory , but after the watering hole , it ’s just Hell , much like the River Styx separates the freshly drained from the hereafter . Had they turn away to pay for the water , Charon likely would have wrench them back , forcing them to wander without settling their respective quests .
Were Gideon & Carver Actually Dead At The End Of Seraphim Falls?
They Might Have Been Moving Through The Afterlife
While Gideon and Carver seemingly let each other live on at the end ofSeraphim Falls , there could be a more elusive ending to their feud . After Gideon leaves Carver and starts heading further into the desert , the movie becomes much more symbolic and existential , pass on its extremely realistic tone behind . dreamlike , mystical things also start chance in the desert , such as Charon and Madame Louise ’s appearance . These detail suggest thatGideon and Carver might really be beat before the movie ’s conclusion .
There are several details dissipate throughoutSeraphim Fallsthat support this rendering . In Hellenic mythology , Charon only ferryboat souls who have already died , and the same requirement could apply to hisSeraphim Fallscounterpart . The handsome suggestion that Gideon and Carver are dead , though , get from the last scene of the movie , asboth men fade out and vanish while walking away from the desert at the end ofSeraphim Falls . Their fade could stand for that Gideon and Carver have been walking through Purgatory and then Hell throughout the movie , and that their decisiveness to finally arrest fighting allows them to move on .
What Seraphim Falls' Ending Really Means
War Is Hell
The meaning ofSeraphim Falls ' ending circles back to the main battle of the movie : Carver ’s seeking to avenge his family ’s murder , and Gideon ’s guilt at giving the order that defeat them . Both men have been obsess with this moment in their past for geezerhood , and it very nearly take both of their life . The central engagement ofSeraphim Fallsis an allegory for the horrors of warand the obsession with retiring transgressions that fire it . The picture show make several subtle hints that the fight between Gideon and Carver is a stall - in for a enceinte chronicle about the nature of war : even after a war is over , it still ride on in the mortal of the man who fought in it .
Gideon and Carver take roles on pit sides of the Civil War , with Gideon being a captain for the Union Army and Carver being a colonel for the Confederacy . When Gideon ’s men burned Carver ’s house down , the Civil War had already ended , and their attack was largely punitive . Seraphim Fallsillustrates that war is a vicious cycle that feeds on the past to inspire more violence , as shown by the great influence the past had on both Carver ’s hunt in the movie and Gideon ’s original sin that inspired it .
Seraphim Fallsis a intemperately symbolic pic with a number of deep and important themes . Those paper did not aid it come through critically or at the box office , though , as it was seen as a failure in both category when it was released . Seraphim Fallsdeserved a much better reception than it in the beginning get . ThoughSeraphim Fallsshares similarities to a Clint Eastwood flick , it set itself apart from other Westerns . translate the cease ofSeraphim Fallshelps show just how special Liam Neeson and Pierce Brosnan ’s Western is .
