A Western that captures the immense hardships and strange, frightening lands faced by early pioneers—a far cry from the macho world of John Wayne. Three families, guided by the enigmatic Stephen Meek, are lost along the Oregon Trail, facing hunger, thirst, and exhaustion. When a Native American wanderer crosses their path, the group is torn between their untrustworthy guide and a man they see as their natural enemy. USA, 2011, 104 min.
A Screenwriter’s Perspective: Join a post-film discussion with JD. Zeik, who
has worked on original works and as a script doctor with all the major studios. His
credits include the original screenplay for Ronin, starring Robert DeNiro. JD teaches
Dramatic Writing at the Conservatory of Film, Purchase College.
CRITICS’ PICK! “A tough, quiet revelation of a movie. . . . Bracingly original.” – A.O. Scott, New York Times
“Michelle Williams is incandescent. An artfully surreal western. . .evoking a landscape of the mind. A haunted dream of a movie to get lost in. – Peter Travers, Rolling Stone
“Meek’s Cutoff confirms Reichardt as one of America’s leading indie directors. . . .She, like the film’s hearty pioneers, follows her own drummer.” – V.A. Musetto, NY Post
Kelly Reichardt’s marvelous, minimalist epic amounts to a master class in the power of observation. -– Joe Morgenstern, The Wall Street Journal
In the tough and sparely beautiful neo-Western Meek’s Cutoff, the uncompromisingly independent filmmaker Kelly Reichardt uses landscape and natural sound to convey American restlessness and uncertainty. Grade A. – Lisa Schwarzbaum, Entertainment Weekly
Indie director Kelly Reichardt always brings an artistic eye to her films, though never more so than in the minimalist beauty and stark realism of Meek’s Cutoff. Hers is an unforgiving Old West pared to the bone — a lyrical poem for some, like watching paint dry for others. I’d argue for embracing the poetic, a rare commodity in American films these days. -– Betsy Sharkey, Los Angeles Times
A deceptively small piece of onscreen art that resonates afterward with such insistence that I felt positively nagged by it. -– Mary Pols, TIME
Related articles:
Manohla Dargis and A. O. Scott in The New York Times, on Meek’s Cutoff, “slow films,” and “cultural vegitables,” 6/3/11, HERE.
Which erupted into a debate that the Times covered a week later, HERE.
