Nonureva Really Surprised!

Helloturia I have absolutely never seen anything like this movie before. You have to see this movie.

Bessie Smyth Great story, amazing characters, superb action, enthralling cinematography. Yes, this is something I am glad I spent money on.

Allissa .Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

Tommy Daytona A total waste of 2 hours. Scenery was awesome, characters were pretty cool, but the photography/directing was horrible. The story had a chance, the location and characters gave it their best, and with a little direction and normal use of photography it could have been a good movie. Mad at myself for watching it all.

jormatuominen This is a powerful little film about faith and the lack of it. It is somewhat thinly disguised as a historical western. Although quite poetic in it's expression it is firmly anchored in true historical events. As far as westerns are concerned, director Reichardt certainly breaks all the rules. John Ford and Howard Hawks wouldn't like Meek 's Cutoff, but Ford would understand from the opening scene what it 's all about. It's about people of faith, the pilgrims traveling to the west with no clue about their surroundings, destination let alone destiny, pressing on against the odds pretty much on faith alone.It is a film about leadership crisis. The hired guide of the small wagon train he leads, Stephen Meek, is unsure in a landscape which has dried up since his last visit. He tries to hide his self-doubts by bragging about his past exploits but only makes things worse. The pilgrims begin to see him as a liar and a cheat. Is it a good idea to follow him deeper into the desert or should they turn back to the regular Oregon trail? As water supplies diminish the question becomes one of life and death and inevitably starts to divide the settlers.Here is a film where the characters pray a lot, read the Bible all the time and face temptations and doubts in the desert. Yet none of the reviews here I have read mention religion at all. Really no bells ringing? When the settlers capture a native American who has tracked them, they face the question of what to do with their fellow man. Will they succumb to prejudice or do the Christian thing? Yes it is a film about Christian values as well.Some reviewers complain about lack of character development. Maybe they saw a different film. Michelle Williams convinces as Mrs. Tetherow, a young wife who begins to find her voice to openly challenge Mr. Meek and his set of values. When Meek loses it and intends to kill the Indian prisoner, the viewer will be surprised to see her counter move. "I'd be careful" is a line of hers from that powerful scene that stays in my mind at least. In a film of very sparse dialogue Michelle Williams manages to communicate her thoughts with looks and expressions, great directing and acting here and I would say a lot of character development.The films changes after the capture of the Indian with even more Christian motifs and leadership challenges. Should the settlers follow the unreliable and unsympathetic Mr. Meek or the unknown Indian who doesn't speak their language but knows the land, and should they listen to a woman? Everyone, the native included, now has a lot more to fear in this alien wilderness. Oh yes, this is a film about fear, real fear of unpleasant death hanging very close.I find it very difficult to understand why so many reviewers complain so much about the abrupt ending of the film. Well I was surprised, too. Having never heard of the Meek cutoff I too expected to see what finally happened to the lost wagon train. After all, for once I was watching a western that could end in disaster, death by starvation or native attack, settlers killing the guide, guide killing the settlers, a happy end... anything. Instead you got the end credits all of a sudden! The hints in the final scenes gave some clues. The settlers seemed to have found at least the beginning of the end of the trail. But to make sure I simply looked it up after the film (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meek_Cutoff). After all, I can read. Hey, it is not a secret what happened to the wagon train, to Meek and even to the Indian after the events of the film. Yes, in real life! The film follows, limitations of a small budget withstanding, those historical events fairly faithfully after all. However, I would not look the events up before seeing the film, as history contains spoilers in this case. Some people have seen all this and yet they feel nothing happened in the film. I am sorry but I have to disagree. I was on the edge of my seat a lot and enjoyed it a lot. Few films have a sense of time and place like this. So it's slow, but if a film tells the story of folks walking with their wagons through a highland desert and the timing is realistically right the film just has to be slow. Just adapt to it, after all you are sitting comfortably and have nothing to complain about compared to the people in the desert.

The Couchpotatoes It's not the traditional western with the usual villains and good cowboys, with the shooting, the saloons etc. But it's a story about the first settlers on their way to Oregon. It's nice to see the rough life they had like 150 years ago. It was for sure not a trip for the weak with the constant struggle and searching for water. The movie is nicely shot and along with the good actors it makes the movie enjoyable and realistic. If you are looking for a western with the traditional shootings then this one is not for you. There is not a lot of meaningful conversations but it all adds up to the story. I only gave it a six just because of the ending that I didn't like that much. For the rest I enjoyed the movie.

dedmanzoe My family all love Westerns, so when we bought this on Amazon (surprisingly cheap - that alone should have warned us of what was to come) we thought it would be a great way to spend an afternoon together.We then proceeded to wait for 2 HOURS for the film to begin, only for it to abruptly end with no actual meaning behind it! The characters were empty, there was no plot, by the end of it I just wanted them to die of dehydration already and put us out of our misery!I can understand why arty film-goers will love this film - the long, dragging scene shots were beautiful, but there were just far too many for me. It had such good potential as a film, but there was no action or plot that we usually expect from a film. Needless to say, we promptly threw it away.