Meek's Cutoff – Films – Visions du Réel

La Dernière piste

Kelly Reichardt
Vereinigte Staaten | 2010 | 103 min
Sprache : Englisch
Untertitel : Französisch

Gold spendet kein Wasser. Das ist nur eine der scharfsinnigen Beobachtungen in diesem Western, der die Porträts von drei Pionierfamilien zeichnet, die sich im Jahr 1845 in den Ebenen Oregons verirrt haben. Sehr schnell reduziert sich ihre Suche nach einem besseren Leben im Westen auf die simple Suche nach Wasser. Vor diesem Hintergrund strahlen die trockenen Prärien und die vom Wind gepeitschten Gesichter eine grausame Schönheit aus.

The film opens with a river crossing. Clothing and food must not touch the raging water; they should be carried with both hands above the head to keep them dry. Meek’s Cutoff tells the story of three pioneer families' journey across the Oregon plains in 1845, in search of a better life in the West. They hire Stephen Meek, a quick-tempered trapper, to lead them toward this future. As the journey progresses, the route becomes increasingly hard to follow. Lost, the group soon runs out of water. One day, the caravan spots a lone Native American man in the distance. The men of the group capture him. Does he know where to find water? How to gain his trust despite the power imbalance? The character of Emily, one of the three women in the wagon train (Michelle Williams in a masterful performance), becomes the voice that champions this man's rights to his land, and to what it holds. Based on a true story, this unorthodox western depicts the dynamics of a community grappling with a hostile yet breathtakingly beautiful nature.

Dimitri de Preux

1994 – River of Grass1999 – Ode2002 – Then a Year2004 – Travis2006 – Old Joy2008 – Wendy and Lucy2010 – Meek’s Cutoff2013 – Night Moves2016 – Certain Women2019 – First Cow2019 – Owl2021 – Bronx, New York, Novembre 20192021 – Cal State Long Beach, CA, Janvier 20202022 – Showing Up2025 – The Mastermind