MEEK’S CUTOFF directed by Kelly Reichardt, written by Jonathan Raymond, with Michelle Williams, Bruce Greenwood, Will Patton and Zoe Kazan. A Kino Smith release. 104 minutes. Opens Friday (May 13) at the TIFF Bell Lightbox. See listing.
Kelly Reichardt isn’t sure she’s ready for a retrospective just yet.
“I try to get people not to use that word, because it just doesn’t seem like a large enough body of work to me, and it makes me feel old,” she laughs. “But it’s nice to have them play the films. I’m sure the River Of Grass print must be beat to hell. It’s funny – they showed all the films at the Museum of the Moving Image in New York City, and they asked me about River Of Grass – you know, what’s in the film – and I couldn’t remember. I was like, ‘Uh, I really haven’t seen it since 1995.'”
This week, Torontonians get the chance to see River Of Grass along with Old Joy, Wendy And Lucy and her rarely screened short feature Ode when TIFF Cinematheque celebrates the NYC-based filmmaker in its New Auteurs series. It’s tied to the release of Reichardt’s latest feature, the atypical period drama Meek’s Cutoff, which wowed critics at the Toronto Film Festival last year.
Count me among the wowed. Inspired by the actual diaries of pioneers who found themselves lost in the middle of 1845 Utah, Meek’s Cutoff is an incisive look at group dynamics, personal politics and the terror of the unknown. Rare among period films, it’s also brutally honest about its era, watching its characters struggle with their daily chores in something approaching real time.
“You know, you put on a boot and you’re just like, ‘Wow, imagine having to lace up all 50 runs before you go outside,'” Reichardt says. “I was really interested in what a short period of time it’s been from 1845 until now, and how our relationship with time has changed so much.”
Just as Old Joy and Wendy And Lucy commented quietly on America’s changing social landscape, Meek’s Cutoff can be read as an allegory about the American adventure in Iraq.
“You have this braggart leading a bunch of people into a desert without a plan to get them out,” Reichardt says, “and completely suspicious of the native people and not understanding their culture. That was certainly something that made the Meek story interesting and enticing in the first place, but it’s not something you can keep concentrating on. I mean, you start focusing on these individuals in this predicament and let the other stuff fall where it may.”
To ensure her cast could pass for 19th-century pioneers, Reichardt and production designer David Doernberg devised a pioneer boot camp. “They learned how to load up their wagon and how to lead the oxen – which was pretty key, because they’re actually all driving the oxen – and how to build a fire without matches and put up their tents. They did these exercises every day in their clothing for a week before we shot so that all that stuff would feel really comfortable in their hands.”
Accuracy and authenticity were the production’s watchwords, right down to the period knitting needles provided to co-stars Michelle Williams, Shirley Henderson and Zoe Kazan – partly because the pioneers were constantly knitting their own garments, and partly to give the actors something to do during long shooting days.
“Michelle said, ‘I’m not gonna fuckin’ knit. I hate knitting.’ And I was like, ‘All right, but we’re gonna send you these knitting needles.’ She was so adamant about it: ‘I’m not knitting.’ And then you looked up and half the crew had scarves from Michelle around their necks.”
Interview Clips
Kelly Reichardt on pioneer dynamics:
Reichardt on casting real-life partners Paul Dano and Zoe Kazan as a couple:
Reichardt on how research led her to the movie’s tone:
Reichardt on her decision to shoot in the antiquated 1.33:1 aspect ratio:
normw@nowtoronto.com
