Wednesday, December 21, 2005
FRONTIER
There are no shortcuts taken in today's film about a homestead family in Wyoming ca. 1910. A NYTimes Best Film,
was virtually unnoticed when it was released but is now a staple of 'best' lists.
The plot is simple. A woman and her daughter go to the territory to be the housekeeper for a man with a small 'ranch'. It is a lot rougher than she expects, but she quickly realizes that she wants to be a homesteader as well.
As the two jockey back and forth forming a relationship, we get a genuine a look at how life was then.
I think it is. I wasn't there.
It sure seems real.
Nothing is spared in the detail of daily life from gathering eggs to slaughtering hogs and branding cattle. The scenery is magnificent. It is an eye feast.
It is a quiet film. As peaceful and as rough as the frontier life we are watching.
Feelings run deep as the two people experience a year together. Terrible winters. Devastation. And, the renewal of life in the spring.
It is a document of a lost life. We wonder how they managed. But, they do. They did.
The people are wonderful. Rip Torn as the homesteader and Conchata Ferrell as the housekeeper with an ambition. We just saw Lilia Skala in House of Games. What a nice surprise. All the supporting cast are wonderful.
This is a real find. When I started this 'best' list thing, I hoped to find films that had escaped my notice and that has happened over and over. This is a prime example.
A 5 out of Netflix5.
The 'box' art is terrible, incidentally. If I saw it I would not pick the film up. Too bad.
