Meek's Cutoff (2011)

MEEK'S CUTOFF  (2011)  ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢
    D: Kelly Reichardt
    Michelle Williams, Bruce Greenwood, Will Patton,
    Shirley Henderson, Paul Dano, Zoe Kazan, Neal Huff
This might be the first wagon-train movie in 90 years, or maybe ever, that does nothing to minimize or romanticize the harshness of the journey west. It's about a handful of settlers trying to make it across the desert of Eastern Oregon in 1845. There are some recognizable faces among them, but nobody in this movie looks like a movie star. They look like the characters they're playing: hot, grimy, exhausted, miserable, desperate and scared. Plus, they're lost and they're running out of water, and it's not clear that the guide they've hired to get them through the mountains knows where the hell he's going. Then they kidnap an Indian, hoping he can lead them across, or at least to the next water hole, but it's not clear where he's taking them, either. The film leaves you with a real appreciation for the insane bravery of those who took the wagons across the prairie (and for the agonizing amount of time it took to load a black-powder gun). The western landscape has never looked more desolate or spectacular, and Reichardt uses a lot of existing light. You don't always see real well, but you see what the settlers see, and you hear what they hear, sometimes just the endlessly repetitive sound of a creaking wheel, or the muffled words of a quiet conversation 50 feet away. There's no conventional story arc. You could question whether the picture even has a beginning or an end. It's more like you're with these people, driving the oxen or gathering fire wood, knitting or kneading bread, stealing a rare moment along the way to read, or sing, or laugh, or pray, and then moving on again, heading west, trudging forever across the plain.