As voted for on our Patreon, we return to Kelly Reichardt with her 2010 Western, Meek’s Cutoff. 

Ben argues that no discussion of the American Western is complete without Reichardt’s film, Wilson highlights the film’s fraught production that miraculously led to its poetic ending, and Eli frames the film within the larger context of America’s problematic Manifest Destiny. 

We get serious, analytical and near-academic with Reichardt’s masterwork… all the way until you hear us try on our best impressions of Bruce Greenwood’s Stephen Meek as Wallace from Wallace and Gromit. (?????)

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Links:

Kelly Reichardt on WTF with Marc Maron

Sundance interview

Last of the Buffalo

American Progress

Timestamps:

00:00:00 Intro

00:04:42 Plot Summary

00:05:54 General reactions

00:09:22 Eli loves the ending

00:13:24 The film as a Western

00:15:53 Production context

00:18:20 How she got that ending

00:22:10 The Western is distinctly American

00:24:20 American mythology

00:28:21 As "feminist" Western

00:30:59 Stephen Meek

00:33:15 Not your typical Western

00:37:39 Chaos and destruction

00:39:41 Actors

00:40:36 Mishandling of Reichardt's releases

00:45:25 Cinematography

00:50:47 Why 4:3

00:56:33 What's in store for Reichardt

01:00:02 Outro