The Backwoods

September. 24,2006      
Rating:
5.7
Trailer Synopsis Cast

An English couple's holiday in Spain is interrupted when they discover a girl imprisoned in a cabin.

Gary Oldman as  Paul
Virginie Ledoyen as  Lucy
Paddy Considine as  Norman
Aitana Sánchez-Gijón as  Isabel
Jon Ariño as  Lechón
Lluís Homar as  Paco
Andrés Gertrúdix as  Antonio
Kandido Uranga as  Miguel
Álex Angulo as  José Andrés
Patxi Bisquert as  José Luis

Reviews

ThiefHott
2006/09/24

Too much of everything

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Raymond Sierra
2006/09/25

The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

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Ginger
2006/09/26

Very good movie overall, highly recommended. Most of the negative reviews don't have any merit and are all pollitically based. Give this movie a chance at least, and it might give you a different perspective.

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Janis
2006/09/27

One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.

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kbelle-1
2006/09/28

I don't know if i was watching the same movie as some of the others but I love both these actors and the only magic in this movie was how it made these 2 look like they were fresh out of drama school!? I would love the answer to this mystery. The females were awful their characters were irritating. The red neck family were stereotypical except Spanish. It was bizarre at best and embarrassing at worst. For a mid week piece of viewing this could be acceptable. But a weekend movie treat it is not. It has already been mentioned about Straw Dogs but that was disturbing chilling and frightening. This was a poor attempt at trying to recreate this type of fear & suspense. Why did you do it boys?

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ma-cortes
2006/09/29

Exciting film set at the end of the 1970s , about four tourists threatened by hooligans locals , as there are hunters and prey . When they return to an ancestral village tensions build between them , a brewing conflict with locals becomes a threat to them . As two couples's holiday called Paul (Gary Oldman) , Lucy (Virginie Ledoyen) , Norman (Paddy Considine) , Isabel (Aitana Sánchez-Gijón) in Spain are interrupted when they discover a girl imprisoned in a cabin . Ledoyen and Considine play a young married couple who are going through a difficult patch in their relationship and come to visit a friend Paul (Oldman) who now lives in the Basque region because he has married a woman from there (Aitiana Sánchez-Gijón) . It escalates quickly into a bloody battle between Brits and Spanish rednecks (Kandido Uranga , Patxi Bisquert , Lluis Homar) . Paul whose pacifism is put to supreme test attempts to protect a dim-witted little girl who they have found locked . They try to help her by taking her away from a dark house , but the local villagers, who have to protect the girl and seem determined to keep her in atrocious conditions, start a pursuit in the forest they know much better than the visitors . As the jealous as well as resentful locals and desirous of women assault their house , as they are viciously attacked . Their house is put under siege by the incensed villagers , but they defend the mansion with ferocity . Later on , they flee seeking security , but their attempts to help the little girl are hampered by the denseness of the forest and a relentless pursuit by the nasty rednecks .Violent film contains thrills , chills , suspense , twists , and results to be quite entertaining . A controversial violence-themed picture ; dealing with a known plot , as a group of British people go to a rural little village and face increasingly vicious local harassment . As their tranquil summer turns to horror when they discover a girl with horribly mutilated hands in the forest . We are facing a tense film , hard , tough , brilliant in many moments, with some aspect of western , with a grand and impressive ending . The picture packs intrigue , action , intense drama and lots of violence . The story takes parts , here and there , from famous films such as ¨Deliverance", ¨Wild bunch¨ , ¨Next of kin¨ and especially "Straw Dogs" . The main cast is frankly excellent with players of several nationalities as the British Gary Oldman and Paddy Considine ; French Virginie Ledoyen and Spanish Aitiana Sanchez Gijon . Support cast is mostly Spaniard such as Jon Ariño , Lluís Homar who excels in his acting , Kandido Uranga and special appearance of Álex Angulo , ¨Dia De La Bestia¨'s starring . Gary Oldman, Paddy Considine and Virginie Ledoyen were dubbed for the Spanish version of the film. The scenes where the characters had whole scenes with English dialog were all dubbed ; only when the characters spoke in English with the Spanish characters, the dubbing actors said their lines in English ; 'Aitana Sánchez-Gijon' dubbed herself . Unax Mendia cinematography is excellent creating a rainy and cold atmosphere , he's expert on sombre photography , being stunningly shot on location in Navarra woods . Thrilling and moving musical score by Fernando Velazquez who subsequently would make a notorious career with successful films as ¨Orphanage¨ , ¨Devil¨ , ¨Mama¨ and ¨The impossible¨ . The flick was finely produced by the chairman of Filmax Productions , Julio Fernandez along with his brother Carlos Fernandez as executive producer , they're two successful producers and experts on terror genre , producing a lot of hits , such as ¨The machinist¨, ¨Rec ¨1¨, 2¨ and ¨3¨ , ¨Fragiles¨, ¨Darkness¨, ¨El perfume¨ , ¨The nun¨ , ¨Transsiberian¨ and many others . The flick was professionally directed by Koldo Serra in his only film and obtained moderated success . Serra uses many long shots, showing a leisurely narrative pace . Definitely a big "debut" of director Koldo Serra who promises to be a great filmmaker .

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Richard Virga
2006/09/30

First, what's wrong with it. Aside from Cohen's wonderful song, the sound and music were poor and didn't add anything. The cinematography was not particularly inventive or inspiring.But still a 10.Why?Okay you have to catch what this excellent writing is up to.The twist at the end is pure and righteous symmetry.It's about justice and revenge, an atypical and furious interpretation of right and wrong. It's got a piece of The Unforgiven about it.It posits that some things just can't be fixed, and that the penalty does often indeed involve even more suffering of the innocent.All the acting is excellent. The direction is excellent.The writing is difficult, twisted, demanding, and wonderful, hard to grasp at first, hard to at first grasp, even at the end. But within it's own pained logic of warfare, just.The heroic transformation is really spectacularly fierce in that the delivery of justice and punishment requires such a high price to be paid by the destroyed innocent, and the hero, that it at first doesn't even seem like justice.... but it sinks in, that it is.Sure, it has deliberate echos of Deliverance, but it's actually much more sinister and indirectly more disturbing, not just to personal safety, but to our perception of right and wrong, and justice, punishment, and revenge.It reminds me in some ways of Death and the Maiden.It could have almost been a stage piece.If it wasn't low budget and foreign, with non-U.S.-well-known writing and directing, and with higher "production values", it would have made big stink here.Or maybe not. Us Americans are often so dull about clear winning and losing, that they get lost in movies like this. Our loss.Oh, and I want to thank Gary Oldman for taking a shot at this. I wouldn't have known about it or seen it with him, and I thank him for roping me in!God only knows what great stuff I miss from not having the time to watch everything! I wish I could clone myself and have them watch it so, I would have reviews I could trust! ;)

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lastliberal
2006/10/01

Compared to Straw Dogs or Deliverance, this thriller set in the Basque region of Spain adds that local charm that makes it worth watching.It features Gary Oldman (The Dark Knight, Harry Potter) and Virginie Ledoyen (8 Women, The Valet), and that's reason enough to watch. Add Aitana Sánchez-Gijón (The Machinist, The Whore and the Whale) and Paddy Considine (Hot Fuzz), and you should have a great movie. There are other very good actors (Lluís Homar, Andrés Gertrúdix, Álex Angulo) familiar to those who watch Spanish movies, and they add immensely to the pleasure.They find a little girl (Yaiza Esteve) locked in a cabin in the woods with lobster claw syndrome. They take her to help and immediately enrage the locals.During the hunt for the girl, one of the locals decides he wants some time with Ledoyen, but he didn't count on Norman (Considine) possessing some cajones. He couldn't shoot a rabbit, but you don't mess with his wife.A lot died before the chase through the woods was over.Featuring the great music of Leonard Cohen.

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