FREE ON CINEGEEK.DE THE BEST MOVIES IN OUR VIDEO STORE! Kelly Reichardt - Meek's Cutoff 

This is the very first Western to realistically demonstrate the train to the West. That must have been how they were, the wagon trains into an uncertain future. Gruelling, dirty, ice-cold. The greatest dangers came not from Indians, but from accidents and illnesses. Those who have seen many westerns - like me - think of these wagon trains as adventurers singing at the campfire in the evening. Not here. Kelly Reichardt's strategy is to isolate her characters in the vastness of Oregon. The wilderness seems to dominate the individual personalities. The train consists of three families. Slowly they realize that they are lost. Their leader Stephen Meek (Bruce Greenwood) brags to them about his achievements, but everyone feels that he is progressing blindly. He is followed by Emily Tetherow (Michelle Williams) and her husband Solomon (Will Patton), the young couple Millie and Thomas Gately (Zoe Kazan and Paul Dano) and a few other sad characters. They carry few household appliances and clothes. A birdcage, strangely lost in the vastness of the West (reminiscent of the domesticity they left behind), stands on a wagon. It seems pathetic. The men retreat to discuss their distrust of Meek. But Reichardt identifies with her female figures, who try to eavesdrop on the men. Then we meet the first Indian behind a rock. He is portrayed quite differently than in any other western. Mysterious, self-contained. We don't know what he is thinking while he watches the arrivals. Why should we? In 1845 these two cultures were completely different. The settlers, on the other hand, appear tiny in the vastness of the landscape. One immediately understands their plight. Imagine the feeling more than 150 years ago of rocking off with an ox cart in search of rumours. Their faces are hardly recognizable. The women are stuck in hoods (not like in the classic Western that you can still recognize the faces of the stars). The men wear wild beards like deep shadows. Reichardt is really interested in these settlers. People, completely untrained for such a journey. People who eventually die hopelessly. Merek's Cutoff is based on a true story. But that should be clear.