It would be interesting to make a list of movies that are well underway before the first word is spoken. Meek's Cutoff would score high on that list. The first, silent, minutes are captivating. We see a group of settlers crossing a river. They lead their horses through the water, oxen and wagons follow, a fully dressed woman wades across, carrying a bird's cage on her head. It looks like a documentary about the early settlers traveling west. When, at last, the first lines of dialogue are spoken, they turn out to consist of words from the Bible, read aloud by a boy.
It's clear that this is not a mainstream western. The viewer follows the desperate trip of a group of settlers across the desert-like prairie. They are lost, their water supplies are diminishing fast, and the slow trek across the endless prairie soon becomes a nightmare. They hired someone to lead the way, but this person, Stephen Meek, turns out to be an unreliable bragger. The settlers decide to follow an Indian they have captured along the way, without knowing if he will lead them to a river or to a hostile tribe of 'heathens', as Meek calls them.
Director Kelly Reichardt makes the fear, desperation and exhaustion of the group almost palpable. Also, the many scenes of slow moving wagons through the landscape give the viewer a feeling of how long and tiresome those treks must have been.
The slowness and lack of real action (apart from the occasional argument between Meek and one of the women) make this film special. You get drawn into the story, it's almost as if you're part of the traveling group. On the other hand, Reichardt creates some sort of suspense (will they find water?) that ends in an anticlimax.
Personally, I found the ending unsatisfactory, although many IMDb-visitors apparently think otherwise. I also learned on IMDb that Reichardt rather freely interprets the historical events the movie is based on. But of course, that's her good right. After all, this is not a documentary.
It's clear that this is not a mainstream western. The viewer follows the desperate trip of a group of settlers across the desert-like prairie. They are lost, their water supplies are diminishing fast, and the slow trek across the endless prairie soon becomes a nightmare. They hired someone to lead the way, but this person, Stephen Meek, turns out to be an unreliable bragger. The settlers decide to follow an Indian they have captured along the way, without knowing if he will lead them to a river or to a hostile tribe of 'heathens', as Meek calls them.
Director Kelly Reichardt makes the fear, desperation and exhaustion of the group almost palpable. Also, the many scenes of slow moving wagons through the landscape give the viewer a feeling of how long and tiresome those treks must have been.
The slowness and lack of real action (apart from the occasional argument between Meek and one of the women) make this film special. You get drawn into the story, it's almost as if you're part of the traveling group. On the other hand, Reichardt creates some sort of suspense (will they find water?) that ends in an anticlimax.
Personally, I found the ending unsatisfactory, although many IMDb-visitors apparently think otherwise. I also learned on IMDb that Reichardt rather freely interprets the historical events the movie is based on. But of course, that's her good right. After all, this is not a documentary.