Reviewed as part of London Film Festival 2010
Now Showing as part of Glasgow Film Festival 2011: Wed 23, Thur 24 Feb @ Cineworld 16.
Kelly Reichardt/ USA 2010/ 104 min/ tbc
In 1845 U.S. President James Polk announced that he would embrace the previously dismissed 1823 Monroe Doctrine, which bluntly stated that any interference from Europe with the states in the Americas would result in American intervention. It followed that at the same time he aggressively pursued settlement in Western America himself, invoking the concept of Manifest Destiny. This period of American history changed the landscape of politics and saw emigrants fuelled by the original American Dream fleeing to the South along treacherous trails cocooned by desert and death. Here myths were born in the dust, and the tales passed on from generation to generation have formed the America we see today. Meek Cutoff was one such wagon trail that went through what is now the state of Oregon, and Stephen Meek (Bruce Greenwood) acted as a kind Charon, the ferryman of Greek mythology, leading people across the bleak land.
Kelly Reichardt’s latest feature follows Meek and a small trio of husband and wife pairs, with one child and one baby on the way. As they trek endlessly in the blistering heat the lack of water, the presence of a Native Indian and the increasing feeling that they have turned the wrong way leave our group in a desperate situation.
Reunited with Michelle Williams after Wendy and Lucy, Reichardt’s penchant for complex female leads is felt once more. The small ensemble, including Paul Dano and Tommy Nelson, capture the agony of the journey with their drooping bodies. With the minimal script from Jonathan Raymond it’s a credit to all involved that every moment in this feature is as engrossing as the last. Too often women directors feel the need to compensate for their femininity by creating pieces drenched in masculine influences (Hurt Locker) or, worst of all, a feeling of deep insincerity (Third Star). Whilst the Wild West is a world that is dominated by men, by simply filming the tired faces poking out from the heavy bonnets leaving the men, off-screen, to discuss the future of their journey Reichardt manages to expose something we don’t see in Westerns: a genuine feeling of entrapment on behalf of the women who never articulate their objections. Capturing the warped American landscape with such poetical power and allowing the history of this vast land to ooze from the screen with every shot is a rare and welcome treat.