Its 1845, and stephen meek bruce greenwood is a boastful, roughhewn wilderness guide who has been hired by three families who want to start new lives on the other side of oregons cascade mountains. An opening embroidered title card not only sets the scene its the oregon trail, 1845, but also establishes a sense of handmade tactility that runs throughout meeks cutoff, which revolves around a threecouple caravan directed by meek bruce greenwood, a guide with long scraggly locks and an even longer beard whos been hired to. Both movies have many long stretches in which seemingly nothing happens, and thats also the case with meeks cutoff. Rent meeks cutoff 2011 starring michelle williams and bruce greenwood on dvd and bluray. In meek s cutoff, michelle williams is a part of a group of pioneers lost in the barren desert of 1845 oregon. The bonnets in meeks cutoff bury faces deep in shadow, are hard to see into and must create tunnel vision. Apr 08, 2011 the first thing you see in meeks cutoff, after a handscrawled title card placing the action in the oregon territory in 1845, is a small group of settlers fording a river. Kelly reichardts impressive meeks cutoff is set in 1845 on the. Everything you need to know about meeks cutoff movie 2011. Meeks cutoff makes it clear that those earlier movies, in their way, were westerns too.
Like the feminist westerns i mentioned earlier, it is closely based on. Meeks cutoff film, a 2010 film telling the story of the party blazing the trail disambiguation page providing links to topics that could be referred to by the same search term this disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title meeks cutoff. With no clear sense of where they are going, tensions rise as water and food run low. Michelle williams finds new sadness for kelly reichardt.
To set aside its many other accomplishments, meeks cutoff is the first film ive seen that evokes what must have been the reality of wagon. Vast and mysterious, the american west of kelly reichardt and jonathan raymonds meeks cutoff is not quite like any other landscape. Synopsis the year is 1845, the earliest days of the oregon trail, and a wagon train of three families has hired mountain man stephen meek to guide them over the cascade mountains. Perhaps it knows that if it does nothing it cant be accused of doing anything wrong. Meek cutoff was a covered wagon road that branched off the oregon trail in northeastern oregon and was used as an alternate emigrant route to the willamette valley in the mid19th century. Oct 06, 2010 an opening embroidered title card not only sets the scene its the oregon trail, 1845, but also establishes a sense of handmade tactility that runs throughout meeks cutoff, which revolves around a threecouple caravan directed by meek bruce greenwood, a guide with long scraggly locks and an even longer beard whos been hired to. Meeks cutoff is a 2010 american western film directed by kelly reichardt. Moving at a contemplative speed unseen in most westerns, meeks cutoff is an. It feels like a copy of another movie ending, of several other movie endings, both artistic and. The year is 1845, the earliest days of the oregon trail, and a wagon train of three families. Meeks cutoff stands a little further back a century and a half, give or take. Wendy and lucy is the feature reichardt and raymond helmed prior to meeks cutoff. Meeks cutoff is more vivid and convincing when it eventually dials the atmospheric pondering down and sets about telling its ultimately conventional story. Kelly reichardts feminist western with michelle williams and paul dano.
Reichardts astonishing new film, meeks cutoff, broadens the scope and raises the stakes tenfold, expanding beautifully on the same themes of survival and the terrible, lifethreatening choices people have to make when their options narrow. If meek s cutoff is every inch a western, it s an artfilm mutant of the genre, inching along with intensely naturalistic obsession for detail that courts tedium even as it dares us not to pay. It s 1845, and stephen meek bruce greenwood is a boastful, roughhewn wilderness guide who has been hired by three families who want to start new lives on the other side of oregon s cascade mountains. Michelle williams is now the only dawsons creek cast member with a. Michelle williams is now the only dawsons creek cast member with a chatworthy film career. The journey was a particularly hard one, and many of the pioneers lost their lives. May 11, 2011 to set aside its many other accomplishments, meeks cutoff is the first film ive seen that evokes what must have been the reality of wagon trains to the west.
In wendy and lucy 2008, meeks cutoff 2010, and certain women 2016, williams characters have an autonomy that sets them apart from the rest of her filmography. Guided by mountain man stephen meek, they become lost and. Kelly reichardt is definitely a director focused on mood rather than plot. Over the coming days, the emigrants face the scourges of hunger, thirst and their own lack of faith in one anothers instincts for survival.
Two equally cool, contemplative and plot neutral films meeks cutoff and sofia coppolas somewhere competed for the golden lion. The story is loosely based on a historical incident on the oregon trail in 1845, in which frontier guide stephen meek led a wagon train on an illfated journey through the oregon desert along the route later known as the meek cutoff in the. The year is 1845 and a wagon team of three families is setting off across the oregon desert. It starts somewhere in the midst of meeks cutoff and ends with meek cutting himself off as the trail guide the group hired. Apr 15, 2011 the year is 1845, the earliest days of the oregon trail, and a wagon team of three families has hired the mountain man stephen meek to guide them over the cascade mountains. This riveting and captivating film boasts reichardt s incredible skill and abilities as a director, as she uses an authentic approach to create suspense and intrigue in this unique and artful historical piece.
In meek s cutoffbased on a true storythree families are guided westbound by the crude, mythomaniac con man stephen meek, who seems to have led them astray. Its a spare period piece about a band of pioneers lost in the wastelands of the oregon high desert. Guided by mountain man stephen meek, they become lost and their faith in their guide, and in each other. But despite the simplicity of the story, which seems almost purposefully inchoate, this is a powerfully resonant film easily the most stark, unsentimental. The pioneers are horrified at this native american, and by their own inability to understand anything about him. Kelly reichardts frontier drama meeks cutoff opens in the year 1845, on the wideopen plains of oregon, where a wagon team of three families has set.
Over the years from watching movie westerns, ive developed a composite image of wagon. This riveting and captivating film boasts reichardts incredible skill and abilities as a director, as she uses an authentic approach to create suspense and intrigue in this unique and artful historical piece. A title card tells us that the action is set in oregon, in 1845. There isnt a line of dialogue spoken in the opening five minutes of meeks cutoff, yet thanks to a masterful series of images and one simple word carved into a driedup tree, we already know the plot before anyone has so much as opened their mouth. Meeks cutoff director kelly reichardt says filming took. Over the coming days, the emigrants face the scourges of hunger, thirst and their own lack of faith in one another s instincts for survival. Its another minimalist tale of lone desperation in foreign circumstances starring michelle williams, but its actually got a great story with great dialogue, and characterization, and things of meaning happen in it. Like all of kelly reichardts films, meeks cutoff tests your patience, especially in the first half hour i have never seen so much darkness or incomprehensible grunting in a movie.
Meeks biblical beard and the deep shadow of his hat make him concealed and enigmatic. Meeks cutoff makes it clear that those earlier movies, in their way. Moving at a contemplative speed unseen in most westerns, meeks cutoff is an effective. Meeks cutoff programs its responses under the apparent guise of an objective depiction. Her movie old joy 2006 was about two friends who go on a camping trip, while wendy and lucy 2008 was about a young woman searching for her lost dog. Survival film, about the film genre, with a list of related films. In meeks cutoff a thoughtprovoking and suspenseful reworking of the usually macho western a group of such families begin to regret their decision to hire stephen meek as a guide when they end up lost in the middle of nowhere. The year is 1845, the earliest days of the oregon trail, and a wagon team of three families has hired the mountain man stephen meek to guide them over the cascade mountains. Meeks cutoff is, by her standards, far more eventful and covers a more hazardous journey that begins and ends in medias res. In kelly reichardt s muchlauded new film meeks cutoff, set in 1845, a small band of pioneers get lost in barren, arid plains on their way to the willamette valley. The year is 1845, the earliest days of the oregon trail, and a wagon team of three families has hired the mountain man stephen meek to guide them over the. Meek s cutoff is a 2010 american western film directed by kelly reichardt. In stagecoach, a stagecoach full of involving characters, superbly drawn and played, travels through dangerous indian territory. Some of the travelers start questioning meek s knowledge and leading abilities, and at that time a native indian appears on the horizon.
Apr 08, 2011 the west wasnt all cowboys and indians and shootouts at the ok corral, insists meek s cutoff, a realistic slice of pioneer life that offers a disquieting alternative vision of america s most. Director kelly reichardts meeks cutoff is an excellently helmed slowburn western film that is rife with realism and slowly mounting tension. The year is 1845 and a wagon team of three families is setting off across the. Meeks cutoff is a montage of seductive landscape paintings masquerading as a movie. Over the coming days, the emigrants must face the scourges of hunger, thirst and their own lack of faith in each others instincts for survival. Rent meeks cutoff 2011 on dvd and bluray dvd netflix. The three films form a loose trilogy in which the durable. The film was shown in competition at the 67th venice international film festival. Meek s cutoff film, a 2010 film telling the story of the party blazing the trail disambiguation page providing links to topics that could be referred to by the same search term this disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title meek s cutoff. The performances, photography and score are excellent.
Both men have played second fiddle on big films, but show their competence as. Apr 08, 2011 claiming to know a short cut, meek leads the group on an unmarked path across the high plain desert, only to become lost in the dry rock and sage. Presumably from the area, the families must decide if they want to put their trust in the indian to lead them to water, or if they should continue to trust meek since the indian may just lead them to danger. Claiming to know a short cut, meek leads the group on an unmarked path across the high plain desert, only to become lost in the dry rock and sage. May 06, 2011 meeks cutoff stands a little further back a century and a half, give or take. Even when it is entirely plain that they are lost, the water is running out and that he has led them astray, meek never admits defeat. In meeks cutoff, michelle williams is a part of a group of pioneers lost in the barren desert of 1845 oregon. An encounter with a knowledgeable native american could prove to be their salvation, but will they trust him. Thats not the case for her three films with writerdirector kelly reichardt. The road was named for frontiersman stephen meek, who was hired to lead the first wagon train along it in 1845. May 06, 2011 as in reichardts last two oregonset films, old joy and wendy and lucy, location determines plot in meeks cutoff, becoming a cruel character in itself. Finally reichardt was able to purchase really excellent equipment and to film outside of the portland area. Whats the story the year is 1845, the earliest days of the oregon trail, and a wagon train of three families has hired mountain man stephen meek to guide them over the cascade mountains. Reichardts precivil war oregon is a primordial, unconquered place.
The term antiwestern was also used for a while to describe movies that seemed. The west wasnt all cowboys and indians and shootouts at the ok corral, insists meeks cutoff, a realistic slice of pioneer life that offers a disquieting alternative vision of americas most. The worst part about it all is that its obvious reichardt is an incredibly gifted filmmaker. Meeks cutoff follows a couple of families as they follow a man named meek who promised them he could get them to the mountains quicker then the trail. The story is loosely based on a historical incident on the oregon trail in 1845. If meeks cutoff is every inch a western, its an artfilm mutant of the genre, inching along with intensely naturalistic obsession for detail that courts tedium even as it dares us not to pay. The first thing you see in meeks cutoff, after a handscrawled title card placing the action in the oregon territory in 1845, is a small group of settlers fording a river. Apr 16, 2011 meek s cutoff is, by her standards, far more eventful and covers a more hazardous journey that begins and ends in medias res. May 06, 2011 meeks cutoff director kelly reichardt says filming took place in remote locations. Apr 14, 2011 kelly reichardt s frontier drama meek s cutoff opens in the year 1845, on the wideopen plains of oregon, where a wagon team of three families has set out on a journey along the oregon trail. Reichardts astonishing new film, meeks cutoff, broadens the scope and. Apr 15, 2014 the year is 1845 and a wagon team of three families is setting off across the oregon desert.
Mar 30, 2020 director kelly reichardt s meek s cutoff is an excellently helmed slowburn western film that is rife with realism and slowly mounting tension. To set aside its many other accomplishments, meeks cutoff is the first film ive seen that evokes what must have been the reality of wagon trains to the west. As in reichardts last two oregonset films, old joy and wendy and lucy, location determines plot in meeks cutoff, becoming a cruel character in itself. In meeks cutoffbased on a true storythree families are guided. This mans presence is blazingly vivid in its alienness, almost extraterrestrial, and the movie itself shimmers on the brink of some kind of mass hallucination. A braggart meets his match in a courageous woman in this period drama from independent filmmaker kelly reichardt. A small group of settlers travelling across the oregon high desert in 1845 suspect that their guide, stephen meek, may not know the area well enough to plot a safe and certain route. Jan 01, 2012 all of reichardt s abilities and preferences work so well with the subject matter of meek s cutoff.
The year is 1845, the earliest days of the oregon trail, and a wagon team of. Chris hewitt was the pioneer press movie critic and then an arts and entertainment reporter from 1993. Meeks cutoff director kelly reichardt says filming took place in remote locations. All of reichardts abilities and preferences work so well with the subject matter of meeks cutoff.
The year is 1845, the earliest days of the oregon trail, and a wagon train of. Rent meek s cutoff 2011 starring michelle williams and bruce greenwood on dvd and bluray. A journey that was supposed to take two weeks, via what became known as the meek cutoff, stretches into five. Meek bruce greenwood is a callous, racist explorer of dubious intent and reputation whos been hired by the caravan to lead them across the oregon trail and through the cascade mountains. The narrative of meeks cutoff is very simple, and as the tension gradually builds to an inevitable, presumably climatic, conclusion, i was thinking to myself. Michelle williams in meeks cutoff 2010 meeks cutoff 2010 shirley. We join the story as three 19thcentury pioneer families are struggling along the desolate oregon trail. The year is 1845, the earliest days of the oregon trail, and a wagon train of three families has hired mountain man stephen meek to guide them over the cascade. As players of the oregon trail game, we thought it was a good movie depicting one of the less successful ventures.
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