“We’re not
lost. We’re just finding our way.”
— Stephen
Meek, “Meek’s Cutoff”
Meek’s Cutoff is a 2010 western by Kelly Reichardt, an
acclaimed independent director. The film was co-writen by Reichardt and a novelist
Jonathan Raymond. The action takes place somewhere on the Oregon Trail in 1845
with a group of settlers desperately trying to find their way in the eerie and
inhospitable northwestern landscape guided by the eponymous Meek.
Reichardt’s characters are outsiders in many respects.
The three families are given no background, we do not know where they come
from, what pushed them to come west. However, little glimpses of their old
lives: a caged bird, a clock inherited from a deceased relative provide a sense
of displacement and utter incongruity. Furthermore, women are outsiders in the
sense that they are completely excluded from decision making. Scenes where all
three of them are trying to read body language and eavesdrop on the men
debating the course of action from the distance are frequent. Lastly, there is
an Indian. The feared other who for the characters (Meek incites hatred with
stories of Indian atrocities) epitomizes the savage heathen, murderer deserving
to be killed.
I mention this film and the issue of the
outsider/other as I find its treatment of the woman and the Indian characters
interesting, especially in light of a role-twist in conclusion of the film.
According to the Washington Post critic, Ann Hornaday
“The
director Kelly Reichardt deconstructs, de-mythologizes and thoroughly redefines
the American western with Meek’s Cutoff, a mesmerizing cinematic journey that
is often as arduous and spare as the lives of its hard-bitten protagonists.”
I believe that some of this redefining happens in the
way that the film shifts from the traditional narrative structure (the axis of
activity and passivity according to feminist film theorist Laura Mulvey) where
the male character is the active one, the agent of dramatic action and the
female (or in this case other/the Indian) is the passive, powerless one. As the
events unfold and the bleak prospect of death from dehydration becomes obvious
Emilly (Michelle Williams) remains
level-headed and openly confronts Meek (there is a firearm involved to
support her argument) and saves the captured Indian’s life. As a consequence of
her decision group’s survival is entirely in the hands of the Indian. Which is
an interesting way of concluding the film with the character assumed to have
neither power nor humanity (as believed by the white setters) wielding control over his captors’ lives and leading
them through a barren land. (I wonder if anyone else has got Moses association
here)
While the film is slow paced and has little dialogues,
which might deter some people, I recommend watching it. Bare landscapes and
minimalist aesthetics of Meek’s Cutoff result in a haunting viewing experience.
On a side
note, while googling books on film theory that might be useful in my research I
have come across a book that immediately made me think of Magda’s B.A.
"This
is a seminal study of how Native Americans have been portrayed in film since
the start of the film industry in this country. . . . This is much more than a
book for film buffs; it's about how stereotypes of Native Americans were
created. As the book treats the evolution of film images of Native Americans,
the reader may begin to appreciate it as a history of how white people have
dealt with Native Americans, including how they have created popular
stereotypes of them. . . . An elegantly thoughtful book."—Kliatt
