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Amazon.co.uk Review
Kelly Reichardt's fourth feature, and the third to take place in the Pacific Northwest, arrives in the guise of a Western. On the Oregon Trail in 1845, three couples travel in covered wagons with slippery guide Stephen Meek (an unrecognizable Bruce Greenwood), but days pass, and water remains elusive. Emily (Michelle Williams, who anchored Reichardt's Wendy and Lucy) laments that "he's gotten in over his head." Meek insists that relief lies around the next ridge, but that's never the case, until an alkaline lake appears. Unfortunately, it's unsuitable for drinking, so they push on. About Meek, Emily's husband (Will Patton) wonders, "Is he ignorant or is he just plain evil?" (The fine cast also includes Zoe Kazan, Paul Dano, Shirley Henderson, Neal Huff, and Tommy Nelson.) The group's bond frays further when a Cayuse Indian (Ron Rondeaux) locks them in his sights. Meek attempts to squeeze information out of him, but he doesn't understand English. On the assumption that he's equally lost and scared, Emily tries to gain his trust by sharing food and mending a moccasin, but he keeps his distance, leading to a showdown with an unexpected result (and one of Williams's finer performances). Always attuned to the rhythms of nature, Reichardt has produced a meditative take on the genre that feels more enigmatic than most--with the possible exception of Jim Jarmusch's Dead Man--even if the period details always look right. With her focus on faded calico dresses and vast aquamarine skies, Meek's Cutoff offers a beautiful vision of harsh times. --Kathleen C. Fennessy
DVD Description
Academy Award nominee Michelle Williams (Blue Valentine, Shutter Island, Wendy and Lucy) stars alongside Paul Dano (There Will Be Blood) and Bruce Greenwood (Star Trek, I’m Not There, Capote) in a tense, subtle drama set during the earliest days of the Oregon Trail. The year is 1845 and a wagon team of three families is setting off across the sparse terrain of the Oregon desert. They become lost and have to put their faith in a Native American not knowing if he will lead them into an ambush, or water.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
35 of 41 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
This won't be to everyone's taste. Slow burning and bleak but if you're willing to submit to it, very absorbing with a subtle power all of it's own.
No revenge type plot common to many westerns, this is a window on a moment in history and the people therein. The premise is simple enough ; a small wagon trail lost on the barren plains in an increasingly desperate search to find water.
Natural and realistic in it's tone, more like a social drama with a refreshing but substantial emphasis on the female point of view. There is also a delicate, almost eerie edge that builds gradually, spell-like, throughout the film. Ultra authentic with great attention to the details of wagon life. The actors were even forbidden from washing their clothes.
The direction is handled with great precision, but not obviously so. We are teased at times, eavesdropping on mumbled conversations during times of panic. We are made to feel helpless as their helplessness becomes apparent. Plenty of time and space are given for the characters and for the situation to develop. There is evidently a great respect for the subject.
Despite being set on the vast plains, there is a real sense of claustrophobia which creates emphasis on the characters and their predicament. The film therein resembles great intense single situation movies, such as Sidney Lumet's 'Twelve Angry Men', Polanski's 'Knife in the water' and certainly 'The Blair Witch Project'. At times it does feel more like a subtle, psychological horror film than a western, though the menace is entirely unseen. Unlike most westerns, it is shot in tv style 4:3 ratio as opposed to panoramic widescreen, thus emphasising characters and emotion with little relief from scenic splendour.
Overall it is a small, brave and highly effective film, superbly handled with a atmosphere that lingers long in the mind. It has a unique and welcome place in the history of the western. Just make sure you have a bottle of water handy when you watch it.
No revenge type plot common to many westerns, this is a window on a moment in history and the people therein. The premise is simple enough ; a small wagon trail lost on the barren plains in an increasingly desperate search to find water.
Natural and realistic in it's tone, more like a social drama with a refreshing but substantial emphasis on the female point of view. There is also a delicate, almost eerie edge that builds gradually, spell-like, throughout the film. Ultra authentic with great attention to the details of wagon life. The actors were even forbidden from washing their clothes.
The direction is handled with great precision, but not obviously so. We are teased at times, eavesdropping on mumbled conversations during times of panic. We are made to feel helpless as their helplessness becomes apparent. Plenty of time and space are given for the characters and for the situation to develop. There is evidently a great respect for the subject.
Despite being set on the vast plains, there is a real sense of claustrophobia which creates emphasis on the characters and their predicament. The film therein resembles great intense single situation movies, such as Sidney Lumet's 'Twelve Angry Men', Polanski's 'Knife in the water' and certainly 'The Blair Witch Project'. At times it does feel more like a subtle, psychological horror film than a western, though the menace is entirely unseen. Unlike most westerns, it is shot in tv style 4:3 ratio as opposed to panoramic widescreen, thus emphasising characters and emotion with little relief from scenic splendour.
Overall it is a small, brave and highly effective film, superbly handled with a atmosphere that lingers long in the mind. It has a unique and welcome place in the history of the western. Just make sure you have a bottle of water handy when you watch it.
19 of 24 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
This is my favourite film of 2011 so far (along with Malick's Tree of Life).
It's a strange film - a slow-burning, mesmerising, almost hypnotic depiction of a group of travellers lost on the Oregon Trail. Led by Stephen Meek, the group has taken a short-cut and lost their way in dry, inhospitable country. Low on water and losing confidence in their apparently incompetent guide, they stumble from setback to setback in what seems like a grueling, agonisingly slow trek towards death.
While the whole cast is superb, Michelle William performance as Emily Tetherow, the one person holding the tenuous group together, is outstanding. As the social cohesion in the group begins to unravel, Emily's toughness, resilience and fortitude seems to provide the only hope.
Beware though. This is a very slow moving film. There is little plot and little action. Those expecting a Western romp with gun-slinging and whiskey drinking will be sorely disappointed.
Another thing to be aware of is the aspect ratio. When I saw the film in the cinema, it was projected in Academy frame ratio (1:33-1) making the film look deliberately old-fashioned. At first I wondered about this. Why would the director choose to make an almost square framed film rather than a wide-screen film, which would at first seem perfectly suited to the beautiful landscape. I think therein lies the reason. By shooting in a square format, the viewer is not distracted by the country; attention if focussed firmly on the characters themselves, their faces, their reactions.
Overall, I loved this film and can't wait for the DVD release.
It's a strange film - a slow-burning, mesmerising, almost hypnotic depiction of a group of travellers lost on the Oregon Trail. Led by Stephen Meek, the group has taken a short-cut and lost their way in dry, inhospitable country. Low on water and losing confidence in their apparently incompetent guide, they stumble from setback to setback in what seems like a grueling, agonisingly slow trek towards death.
While the whole cast is superb, Michelle William performance as Emily Tetherow, the one person holding the tenuous group together, is outstanding. As the social cohesion in the group begins to unravel, Emily's toughness, resilience and fortitude seems to provide the only hope.
Beware though. This is a very slow moving film. There is little plot and little action. Those expecting a Western romp with gun-slinging and whiskey drinking will be sorely disappointed.
Another thing to be aware of is the aspect ratio. When I saw the film in the cinema, it was projected in Academy frame ratio (1:33-1) making the film look deliberately old-fashioned. At first I wondered about this. Why would the director choose to make an almost square framed film rather than a wide-screen film, which would at first seem perfectly suited to the beautiful landscape. I think therein lies the reason. By shooting in a square format, the viewer is not distracted by the country; attention if focussed firmly on the characters themselves, their faces, their reactions.
Overall, I loved this film and can't wait for the DVD release.
Format:DVD
This is a film where the devil is in the detail. There can't be many westerns that so effectively convey the hardship, tedium and unrelenting tension of migrating across the frontier. The acting is naturalistic, the cinematography brings dead landscapes alive, the editing, especially the slow-fades, lulls the viewer into a near hypnotic state, and the haunting ambient music is a perfect counterpoint to the shuffling of the oxen and the axle that squeaks interminably throughout. As for the ending, it may come as a surprise, but it's of a piece with the minimalism of the whole.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Worst western I've ever had the misfortune to see
I recently saw this film on TV. When I heard it described as a "Art House Movie" I should have known what to expect having previously seen "The Assassination of Jesse James by the... Read more
Published 18 days ago by Peter J. Bellamy
Not a true representation of life on the trail.
I am a pasionate traveller of the Oregan Trail having travelled it many times (8) from Independence Mo to Oregon City Oregon. Read more
Published 1 month ago by RAFJOHN
PAINFUL
A movie about a small group of immigrants on the Oregon trail; the costume and characters looked and sounded right ... Read more
Published 1 month ago by Colin Powis
Interesting journey, but a cheat of an ending
This film had me mesmerized for about 92 of its 96 minutes. Yes, it's slow. Monotonous squeaking wagon wheel, relentless wind, clothing getting dirtier by the minute. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Dr. K. E. Patrick
Towards civilisation - was it?
All you may not have read about The Trail....the drained colour, the monotony, the lurching uncertainty, the continual challenge to trust and to think logically in movement which... Read more
Published 2 months ago by TdeL
Disappointed
This film was not nearly as good as I had anticipated.
Sound quality is unclear for the first 30 minutes.
Sound quality is unclear for the first 30 minutes.
Published 2 months ago by E. Ross
Muck
This has to be one of the worst Films ever made.
It is so slow, I would rather watch a Snail crawling on the ground for two hours. it would be more exciting.
WIDE BIRTH.
It is so slow, I would rather watch a Snail crawling on the ground for two hours. it would be more exciting.
WIDE BIRTH.
Published 3 months ago by Nigel Boucher
Boring
This film started in the middle of nowhere and ended there too. Mumbled dialogue, no depth to the characters and although they tried to make the situation authentic it was mostly... Read more
Published 3 months ago by IR
Meek's Cutoff
This is the first film I have seen which has no beginning and no end. The middle just appears much like most lives we stumble across. Read more
Published 4 months ago by marionq
Hopelessly awful film
This is without doubt the worst film I've ever seen.
It's hard to express the complete nothingness of this film; you almost have to watch it in order to appreciate how... Read more
It's hard to express the complete nothingness of this film; you almost have to watch it in order to appreciate how... Read more
Published 4 months ago by Caractacus
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