Friday 15 April 2011

Meek's Cutoff (again)


O pioneers! Out today in the UK, Kelly Reichardt's awesome Meek's Cutoff. Reviewed here.

5 comments:

  1. Do we know why Kelly Reichart elected to shoot in this screen ratio? I was chatting to a friend who saw it with me and we believe it might be to subvert our expectations of the Western genre and to focus on the claustrophobia of the sky above bearing down on the deep earth below with nothing to the sides?

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  2. Yes, and it's in reference/homage to Robert Adams’s photos of the West, apparently. And Reichardt also says that the ratio is intended to echo the limited viewpoint of the female characters wearing those bonnets...

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  3. I cannot WAIT to see this film...we're still anticipating its imminent release stateside. Looks marvelous, and I'm a big fan of Kelly Reichardt's Wendy & Lucy and Old Joy.

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  4. Definitely a mesmerizing experience. I was totally engrossed by the atmosphere of this film, and by how every deliberate movement across the hardscrabble desert landscape is used to build suspense for the viewer. A stunning achievement, as well as an interesting commentary on the point in American postcolonial history at which the communal became proprietary.

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