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| Emily Tetherow (Michelle Williams) in Meek's Cutoff. |
By Don Simpson
The opening title -- which, hand-stitched in embroidery, establishes the intricately crafted nature of Meek’s Cutoff -- informs us that the characters of this tale are on the Oregon Trail in 1845. A small caravan of three families with covered wagons tediously crosses a river, first by walking the contents of their wagons across, then returning for the wagons and animals.
Outfitted in the shabby worn-out clothing of 19th-century emigrants, the characters concentrate intensely on the difficult task at hand and do not utter a single word. In fact no one speaks for the first several minutes of Meek’s Cutoff, that is until we hear the voice of a young boy (Tommy Nelson) reciting a Biblical passage about Eden from the Book of Genesis.
The incredibly harsh and barren landscape of Oregon Country is far from Eden; for these characters it must seem like a living hell. They are apparently lost, somewhere in the Great Basin, and water has become increasingly scarce. Stephen Meek (Bruce Greenwood), the guide who was hired to lead the caravan across the Cascade Mountains, is a grizzly (and not very meek) old man and, despite his unyielding sense of self-confidence, he appears to be a clueless leader who shepherds his clients towards an increasingly hopeless future. Apparently acting without thought or consideration of the possible consequences of his actions, Meek arrogantly trusts his initial assumptions and expects the caravan to follow him faithfully into oblivion with no questions asked.
This is a world where the men cast every deciding vote (the women -- all with opinions of their own -- are available for consultation). While their wives cook, clean, sew and take care of the sick. As with the embroidered title card at the onset of the film, director Kelly Reichardt obsesses on the menial and tedious handiwork of the characters -- from the scrubbing of bowls to the stitching of moccasins to the kneading of dough to the repairing of wagon wheels.
As with Reichardt’s Old Joy and Wendy and Lucy, Meek’s Cutoff is an artfully poetic representation of the most minute laborious details of the working-class fight for survival. They are not on this journey to become rich. These are not lazy or greedy characters. They obviously do not have a problem with getting their hands dirty. They probably just desire to no longer face the day-to-day struggle for survival.
Co-starring Michelle Williams as Emily Tetherow.
