The Dark Valley

The more "user reviews" I read on IMDb over the years, the more I am convinced that people post things without A) actually paying attention to the movie or B) A lick of forethought or critical thinking skills. The Dark Valley is a genre film, a revenge western set in the Alps instead of the Rockies. For anyone complaining that the main characters' motivations aren't talked about, did you watch the beginning? The opening scene explains it all in a matter of seconds. I mean come on you lazy viewers!! He only pulled out his pocket watch a half a dozen times to get the point across.

The Dark Valley is brilliant BECAUSE it doesn't treat viewers like the idiots that (obviously from these reviews) most of them are... There is no "I'm here to do THIS because of THAT" scene... It literally is not necessary if you just watch the movie. Sam Riley is great as The Stranger that so many have played in Westerns before, the plot is straight forward, the acting top notch, and the camera work is hauntingly beautiful. What else do you need from a Netflix gem?

And really? You didn't like the movie because of the song at the beginning? Sounds like something my teenage daughter would say... But seriously, it's an Austrian movie so OF COURSE it's going to have bad music. :) Too lazy to pay attention to nuance, but not too lazy to make asinine generalizations on the Internet.

This Movie is exceptional German/Austrian Movie. Never saw a Western in this Setting. Sometimes it reminds me of The Great Silence from 1968. But there is something that destroys this incredible Film. The Songs of the Soundtrack are extremely rubbish. What was in Prochaskas Mind, when he choose these Songs? Sad. Great Atmosphere and fine acting, destroyed by a Soundtrack. However, I hope this is the beginning of a new Revival for the European Western. But this time they don't try to pretend that the stories are happening in the US. I can imagine a Western in the Black Forest, or in the flat, wide region of northern Germany, or a polish one.

There isn't much to say about this movie. I was pretty thrilled to hear that Das Finstere Tal was chosen to be among the Oscar candidates. So I simply had to give it a shot, after all it's an Austrian movie. So what I've come to find is that, as you watch the film, it gets more and more awe-inspiring. Sam Riley's performance is simply impeccable. The cinematography stunningly created, the shots simply gorgeous and even the soundtrack is genuinely amazing. Andreas Prohaska has created something I haven't seen in a while. Bottom line, I'd highly recommend the movie to everyone interested in something refreshingly original, an alps-western (even if I never thought this genre would even exist).

Another reviewer mentioned "The Great Silence" - exactly, that's the best comparison. It's a very condensed western without any frills, using little dialogue and less colour and relying on the character faces (congratulations, good casting and make-up here). In fact, the reduced colour palette gets a bit grating after a while; during the whole winter sequence (about 90% of the movie) there's not a single spot of green on the screen; everything is black, blueish-white and sepia tones. Even the shootout was shot in this muted palette - come on, blood on snow makes for such a nice contrast! And we never see a blue sky. I liked how they went for "different" when shooting those landscapes; it's rare that the mountains look that dreary, cold and inhibiting on the screen - but some scenes really could have used some colour.

Besides the dull palette, there were also some questionable (read: ridiculous) choices for music/soundtrack. And, really, there was not much tension since the story unfolds along well-trodden lines with not a single surprise anywhere. Otherwise, I can recommend this to anyone who likes a tight western. In Germany/Austria's world of streamlined TV-coproductions, this is a nice exception with its uncompromising look and story and the use of local idioms and dialect.

Despite the flat character development that some critics have talked about (and I agree with, with the exception of the female lead), I found this compelling viewing. It has a fantastic opening, which pulled me in, but what I found fascinating was the relentless feeling that it was all taking place in a truly dark place; where normal happy life had been extinguished. The story itself is dark enough, but the effect is to a large part the result of the choices made in the cinematography, with the acting of some of the cast also helping. Finally the location adds too, to the sense of a closed, remote world, full of evil... Real human evil, not some horror type fantasy!