MEEK’S CUTOFF

US, 2010, 105 minutes. Colour.
Michelle Williams, Bruce Greenwood, Will Patton, Zoe Kazan, Paul Dano, Shirley Henderson, Neal Huff, Tommy Nelson, Rod Rondeaux.
Directed by Kelly Reichardt.

There is no denying that Meek’s Cutoff is a fine piece of film craft.

However, the director, Kelly Reichardt, belongs to the contemplation rather than action school of film-making, an approach that makes demands on the attention and patience of its audience so that they remain focused in their contemplation and reflection. Which means that her films (like the dog friendship story, Wendy and Lucy) are not for the easily bored and, especially, not for the quickly bored. ‘No sense of adventure’ was one complaint that missed the point of the film,

It is no real surprise at the end of the film to read that Kelly Reichardt also edits her films. Which means she is in complete control of how the film looks and how it is paced.

Almost any image taken from the film would make a beautiful contribution to a book of such stills. Each one is composed so a viewer could gaze on it for some time in some wonder and admiration. Her camera does not move a great deal. The movement is generally within the screen frame. And she holds the camera for much longer than the contemporary attention span usually manages. There is time for appreciation. There is time for reflection.

The story of Meek’s Cutoff is that of a small pioneer group making their way west to Oregon in 1845, taking a shortcut on the advice of their guide. There are three couples, one of whom has a young son, and their guide, Meek (who is not meek at all). Along the way, they encounter an Indian and capture him. Meek is a grizzled veteran of the west with no tolerance of Indians, full of vicious stories about Indian vicious behaviour. The group hope that the Indian, to survive himself, will lead them to much needed water.

The film opens with the wagons and the women wading through refreshing water. Without words for some time, the film reveals to us the people, their situation and how they are dealing with it. We come to realise that these are very ordinary people, walking on (and they walk and walk behind the ox-pulled wagons), hoping for their future but still uncertain of their present, coping with the mundane detail of meals, rationing, broken axles and trusting in Meek. The journey takes its toll physically and mentally, especially when racist superiority, much of it unconscious, begins to emerge in their fear of the Indian.

This is the material of a short story rather than a novel-like narrative. It is a glimpse of the pioneer treks and hardships. Sterling performers like Michelle Williams, Bruce Greenwood, Will Patton, Paul Dano and Shirley Henderson create credible and vulnerable characters (even Meek). Ron Rondeaux is the Indian who speaks no English, whose attitudes and behaviour, including his prayer, baffle the pioneers. With the realism of the vast plains and hills of the American northwest and the meticulous composition for each frame, from close-ups to the wagon procession in the far distance, this is a film of great beauty as well as an exploration of human nature under stress.

Winner of the SIGNIS award at the Venice Film Festival, 2010.

1. The reputation of the director? Her visual style? Slow and contemplative? Time for reflection?

2. The Oregon settings, the plains and mountains, the lake, the water? The landscapes and the style of photography?

3. The photography and the stills, the slight movement, the long shots, medium, close-ups? Action within the frame? Personal interactions? Riding and walking? The focus on the Indian? The wagons falling? The musical score and its reflective style?

4. The cumulative effect, the audience being in the situation, the locations? Identifying with the characters, their experiences? The fact that there was no conclusion?

5. The American pioneers of the West, ordinary people, the wagons and their possessions, the oxen? The men and their hopes? The women, the bonnets, the pregnant woman, the children? The hard life, walking, wading the rivers, the need for food, the need for water, washing? Gathering firewood? Sharing the meals?

6. The religious dimension? Genesis II and Adam and Eve? The focus on their going out of Eden? Working? The reading of the Bible? The biblical texts? Prayer? Christian prayer and the Indian, his own prayer and rituals?

7. The title, Meek and his character? Not meek? As employed guide? His shortcut, the cutoff? His story of the scalping? His talking to Jimmy and telling stories? The role of the men? Hiring him? His word? Their trusting in him or not? The men and their discussions, their decisions? Meek and his attitude towards the Indian? Violence? Wanting to kill him? His changing, and obeying Tetherow? Solomon and Emily Tetherow? Their formally calling themselves Mr and Mrs? Their journey? Solomon as leader? His decisions, his wisdom? His attitude towards the Indian? The need for water, the decision to go north? Emily, dutiful, yet strong-minded, wife, knitting, cooking? Yet her interrogation of the Indian? Her fears, her respect, her observations of his prayer? Mending his shoe? His taking of the basket? Her support of Glory?

8. Will and Glory, her pregnancy, the man of prayer, their love for Jimmy? The Bible reading? The family unit? Will and his thirst, collapse? Glory and her friendship with Emily, their discussions, mutual support?

9. Thomas and Millie, young and earnest? Millie as devoted wife? Her fear of the Indian, becoming hysterical? Thomas, his supporting the decisions of Will, helping? Antagonism towards the Indian?

10. The Indian, Emily’s encounter, the disappearance? The men giving chase, capturing him, tying him, making him walk? The issue of whether to kill him or not? His character, dress, his own language, his prayer, the drawings on the rock, knowing where water was, Emily repairing his shoe, observing the wagons going down the cliff? Watching? Taking the basket, keeping it? His finally walking into the distance at the end? To find water or not?

11. Meek and the Indian, his recounting the history of the Indians, his stories, his racist attitudes, describing them as barbaric? His own fears?

12. The issue of water, the initial scenes of water, washing, cleaning, cooking? The need, the rationing, the barrel breaking? The lake and its having undrinkable water? Continued hopes?

13. The drama of the wagons going down the cliff, the destruction of the wagon?

14. Themes of human nature, decency, limitations and fears, the traditions of men and women, relationships? American pioneers of the 19th century?