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
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