Kelly Reichardt’s eloquent “Meek’s Cutoff” is a West ern, but any similarities be tween it and, say, a Gene Autry or Hopalong Cassidy shoot-em-up are nonexistent.
Think of Reichardt’s flick as more like Gus Van Sant’s “Gerry” (2002), in which two young men find themselves on foot and lost in the desert.
Reichardt’s follow-up to the praised “Wendy and Lucy” and “Old Joy” is set in 1845. Three families become lost as their ox-driven wagon train crosses through Oregon.
Blame Stephen Meek (Bruce Greenwood), a braggart guide who persuades the settlers to take what he calls a shortcut.
“Is he [Meek] ignorant or is he just pure evil?” one of the women, Emily — played by bonnet-wearing Michelle Williams — wonders aloud to her husband, Solomon (Will Patton).
“We’re not lost, we’re just finding our way,” insists Meek, who looks like a ’60s rocker gone to pot, as the group’s water, food and patience run short.
The dynamics of the trek change when Meek captures a lone Indian (Rod Rondeaux). Meek is all for killing the captive, but other members of the group insist on keeping him alive.
He can lead them to water, they reason. Besides, they’re not bloodthirsty and racist like Meek.
Emily even shows a spark of human kindness, bringing the Indian food and water and repairing his torn moccasin.
To call “Meek’s Cutoff” minimalist would be an understatement. There are long wordless sequences (including the opening 10 minutes) as the settlers make their way under the unrelenting sun.
At times, the only action is women knitting. But Reichardt’s deliberate direction and editing, Jonathan Raymond’s barebones script and Christopher Blauvelt’s scrumptious camerawork hold viewers’ attention.
Without exception, the actors give understated but compelling performances. They also include Zoe Kazan, Paul Dano and Shirley Henderson.
“Meek’s Cutoff,” which screened at the 2010 New York Film Festival, confirms Reichardt as one of America’s leading indie directors. She could not care less about the box office or Oscars. She, like the film’s hearty pioneers, follows her own drummer.