Meek’s
Cut
Rated PG-13. Our Ratings: V -3; L -1 ; S/N –1.
Running time: 1 hour 44 min.
 |
It is Emily Tetherow, not Solomon Meek, who is
the central character in this tale of a westward trek. © 2010 Oscilloscope |
Do not put your trust in princes,
in mortals, in whom there is no help.
When their breath departs, they return to the earth;
on that very day their plans perish.
Happy are those whose help is the God of Jacob,
whose hope is in the Lord their God…
Psalm 145:4-5
Director Kelly Reichardt’s film, set in 1845, is about a wagon
train of three families traveling along the Or
egon Trail to start a new life in the Pacific Northwest. However, this tale
is no Wagon Train filled with
fast-paced action and thrills. The director at first uses so many long and
medium shots of the travelers trudging along the dusty trail that it is almost
15 minutes into the film before we see their faces. The film portrays the
misery and boredom of the long trek, rather than its thrills. For those opening
minutes and indeed, for much of the film, the group, rather than the individual,
is the focus.
Mountain man Stephen Meek (Bruce Greenwood) is their leader, and he has made
a fateful decision to attempt an untried short cut over the mountains. As
the days pass and their water supply runs short, the traveler’s trust
in him wavers. Are they lost? Meek replies, “We’re not lost,
we’re finding our way.” Hardly reassuring. Emily (Michele Williams),
married to Solomon Tetherow (Will Patton) grows especially suspicious that
their leader does not really know the country. One day while she is gathering
wood, she is startled to look up and see a Native American standing over
her. He runs away without harming her, but she and the others grow frightened
of an Indian attack.
Later the men capture “The Indian” (as he is called in the credits—played
by Rod Rondeaux). Meek wants to shoot him, but the settlers are divided.
We have seen that some of them are devout, one frequently reading his Bible.
Emily is the strongest in objecting to such brutal treatment, partly because
of the possibility of his leading them to water. Meek grudgingly goes along
with the majority, but warns them of the Indians’ treachery and cruelty,
which he claims to have witnessed personally. Two other travelers Thomas
(Paul Dano) and his wife (Zoe Kazan) also fear that the Indian might be leading
them into an ambush.
The trek continues, day after hot day, the Indian now leading the way, followed
by the two wagons (the third is lost during a difficult trip down a steep
incline), the women trudging behind the men, and still no sight of water.
Meek knows nothing of the Indian’s Cayuse tribe, nor apparently of
the wide spread sign language, so they are unable to communicate with him.
By words and gestures they try to get him to understand their desire for
water.
This is a minimalist film, the dialogue probably requiring no more than two
or three pages, and the actors’ delivery is such that it is often difficult
to comprehend it. We never learn anything about “the Indian,” and
very little about the travelers. What Kelly Reichardt seems to be showing
is the slow shift of power in the group. At first it is Meek who is in total
control, with the travelers accepting his decisions without question. Next
in the chain of command are the women, who always walk behind the men. When
camp is made at night and the men rest, it is the women who gather the firewood,
prepare the meals, and work far into the night mending clothes. Then, when
their confidence in Meek has lessened, it is Emily who tips the scale during
the argument over what to do with the captured Indian. We see her innate
kindness when she notices his torn moccasin and stitches it up. Her husband
is as surprised as the others by her quiet assertion of leadership. By the
end of the film it is not Meek who is out in front of the wagons, but the
Indian striding toward the distant horison.
This film accepts with a vengeance the old adage about “it’s
not about arriving, but it’s the journey that is important.” The
ending reminds me of a short film called The Pump (still available from Vision
Video), also set in a parched land. A man lost in the desert comes to an
old shack and a pump. There is a bottle of water with a note attached. A
previous traveler warns the finder not to drink the water, that the bottle
contains just enough to prime the pump. The little film concludes with the
parched finder of the note torn between satisfying immediately his thirst
and using the water as a means to gain more. Meek’s Cut also ends on
a note of ambiguity concerning the placement of trust. To what is the Indian
leading them? Into an ambush, or a stream or spring of life-giving water?
This question of trust is an important issue to people of faith, so I commend
this obscure film to those willing to seek it out.