Meek's Cutoff
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Synopsis
The year is 1845, the earliest days of the Oregon Trail, and a wagon train of three families has hired mountain man Stephen Meek to guide them over the Cascade Mountains. Claiming to know a shortcut, Meek leads the group on an unmarked path across the high plain desert, only to become lost in the dry rock and sage. Over the coming days, the emigrants face the scourges of hunger, thirst and their own lack of faith in one another's instincts for survival. When a Native American wanderer crosses their path, the emigrants are torn between their trust in a guide who has proven himself unreliable and a man who has always been seen as a natural born enemy.
Picture 10/10
Oscilloscope Laboratories presents Kelly Reichardt’s Meek’s Cutoff in a 1080p/24hz high-definition transfer in its original aspect ratio of 1.37:1 (yes, that is intentional) on a dual-layer disc. And do we ever get a stunner of a transfer here. The film is laced primarily with long shots of deserted landscapes and in all of these long shots you can really pick out the fine details right down to pebbles on the ground. Close-ups on the characters show every bit of dirt that they’ve picked up on their hands, faces, and clothes, and every little fine detail in the patterns on their clothing, along with every line on their faces, all come through with incredible clarity. And though it’s not a colourful film its colours still manage to pop, in spite of the fact they’re limited to browns and faded blues, grays and yellows. Blacks are inky and deep, which is a good thing in the case of this film; night sequences in the film look to be shot with natural lighting meaning most night scenes are near impossible to see. Because the blacks are rendered so well what details we do get to see still manage to come through cleanly without any smudging.
The film is newer so I wasn’t expecting much in the way of damage and I don’t recall seeing any sort of blemish. Matching that fact with its fairly perfect looking transfer and you get a stunning looking image, the best I’ve so far seen from the company.
Meek's Cutoff - Screen Captures
Audio 8/10
The disc also provides a very surprising DTS-HD MA 5.1 surround track. It’s sharp, dynamic, and fairly robust despite the film’s more simplistic, minimalist sound design. The distinct squeaking of the wheels on the carriages, the steps hitting the stones, the subtle winds and other ambient noises come through so clearly, and they’re spread out creatively throughout the speakers, with the most active presentation in a couple of scenes with rushing water that naturally surrounds the viewer.
Dialogue is a bit of a mixed case. Sometimes it’s clear and sometimes it’s muffled, near impossible to hear. As far as I can tell, though, this is the film’s sound design and it’s all intentional, not an all an issue with the disc’s presentation. But past this one issue it’s a sharp little soundtrack, far better than I ever would have suspected.
Extras 2/10
This is where the disc unfortunately falters: there isn’t much in the way of supplements. In the end all we get is a featurette called The Making of Meek’s Cutoff, which runs less than 10-minutes, and then a theatrical trailer for the film. The making-of is fine, simply digital video footage from the set. Interesting enough to view but interviews or something of the sort would have been welcome. Writer/musician Richard Hell also provides a short essay on the film, which focuses a great deal on the film’s aspect ratio and other odd choices Reichardt made for her film.
Closing
Though it has its moments where it gets incredibly frustrating it’s a strangely hypnotic film, and one of the most unique films I’ve seen in recent memory. Oscilloscope Laboratories’ Blu-ray edition (which also comes with a DVD version) really hits it out of the park in terms of its presentation, but really misses the mark on supplements. Still, just based on its presentation, the disc gets a very high recommendation for those looking to own the film. Doubtful it could get much better than what we get here.
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