What a beautiful review of this stunning film. I would only add that the most important information and emotion of this film comes from its silences and spaces, not its dialogue. I don't know another film that does this more eloguently.It's as if nature itself is telling us the story.
In fact, Jeremiah can't understand much of what's said by anyone. He relies on other frontiersmen to translate the Indian's speech, both when its in native tongues or in French. Mountain men like Bear Claw speak sparsely anyway. The boy he picks up, Caleb, is mute. The one word he teaches his squaw Swan is "Yes." It's almost as if relationships are easier and clearer without the clouding of language and civilization.
All the real information is in the eyes and the pauses. When Crazy Woman tells Jeremiah "Take him," meaning that Jeremiah should take her son with him and leave her to her despair, an entire conversation occurs between them entirely done with their eyes and masterful film cutting. Her glance shows determination, unbelievable suffering, the touch of insanity and a complete nervous breakdown. His eyes insist this is an unfair burden. Her eyes insist that she can't take care of him anymore, the tragedy of what the Indians did to her family and her was too great. His eyes communicate his fear of the responsibility and inadequacy to the task, and not less anger at this crippling of his independence by placing such a heavy obligation. Her eyes say there's no other choice.
What's incredible is that Pollack made the whole film work like this! We don't know much of Jeremiah's previous history, but that we don't need the specifics. His actions and behavior tell us clearly that he was tremendously wounded by earlier experiences in life, especially as a soldier. He is still in dull emotional pain from whatever evil and death he was part of before the film begins.
We witness his journey to earn peace and self reliance. We see him reluctantly open his heart to Caleb the boy and find love (again?) with Swan the Flathead Indian. We watch him lose all when he discovers them both murdered we suffer his disillusionment along with him as we too experience the raw amorality of nature. All this without any dialogue. Just silences, glances, spaces of panoramas and travel, and actions. We feel Jeremiah's rage and also emptiness as he takes revenge on the Crow tribe one by one. Again, no real words. Just a grim determination to assert his right to exist in his chosen land.
The film's mythic quality derives partly from its cyclic effect. The end reverses the encounters from the beginning.
The trapper Del Gue reappears. Del Gue is delighted to see Jeremiah, clearly enthralled with his growing legend as a killer of Crow Indians. But Jeremiah has grown far beyond Del Gue and seems eager to make their encounter brief. Next is an encounter with his first and only real mentor, the mountain man Bear Claw (more on this below). The film ends with a third encounter—the Crow Indian warrior he first saw when first embarking into the wilderness. No words are spoken. Just long silences across a vast space and, finally, a hand salute signaling acceptance and an end to struggle and feuding, thus closing off the cycles and signaling Jeremiah's arrival as a bonafide part of the nature and men he has struggled against the entire film.
The penultimate scene of the film with Bear Claw is, for me, the pearl of the film. High up in the mountains at the end of what was apparently a long hard winter Bear Claw appears as Jeremiah is huddled near a small fire and a spit of rabbit. Now both men are on parity as wilderness survivors. Almost like creating haiku, they struggle to pack as much information in as few words as possible, even just an occasional grunt. It is all hard-won dignity and respect for each other's space and silence as full mountain-men individuals. Bear Claw doesn't even get physically close to the fire as if that would be an intrusion on Jeremiah's fierce independence. Jeremiah throws him a scrap of rabbit meat at a distance as the two embark on this brief stunning conversation of mostly silences and understanding. Bear Claw in a couple of words describes the loss of his cabin and mule from an avalanche. Jeremiah can't even articulate the bitter journey he has had including the murder of his family and his long revenge. But words aren't necessary. Bear Claw has heard all the news from encounters with others,and the few words Jeremiah offers confirms everything. His poetry is a struggle to find a few words that convey his admiration for Jeremiah's courage and pride in his independence without weakening (embarrassing) him in the slightest.
All but such few words that the two exchange would callously shatter the dignity and reverence—and even the full understanding— of the moment.I think this scene with its silences remains in our memory long after the film ends.
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