Rent Jeremiah Johnson (1972)

Beautiful & Riveting American Drama - Jeremiah Johnson review by GI

Visually captivating with it's scenes of the wilderness this was made at a time when the western was undergoing radical revision and yet this is more an historical drama about isolation, survival, death and ultimately revenge and myth. It tells the tale of Jeremiah (Robert Redford) who, after a stint in the military and fighting in the war against Mexico, heads for the mountains of the Rockies to seek a life of peace and solitude in the wilderness. Unprepared for the harshness of the terrain, weather and nature he has to learn very quickly aided at one point by an aging mountain man (Will Geer). But eventually through events in the narrative he seeks revenge on a band of Indians who in turn attempt to kill him yet hail him as a powerful enemy. The film has a famous ambiguous ending that works exactly to the perfection for this story. There's a clash of cultures overarching theme that has been told many times before and yet this film still feels fresh and is quite captivating. Redford is excellent here, carrying the film almost entirely alone. It's a wonderful film that is worthy of rediscovery.

Frontier Western. - Jeremiah Johnson review by Steve

Hollywood biopic of a real life mountain trapper in the time of the Frontier Wars. A look around the internet suggests this is a fairly approximate account; there’s no suggestion of his cannibalism of Native Americans! Robert Redford represents a very ‘70s idea of the old west which is liberal and inclusive.

So it’s a revisionist western. What we get is a tribute to the stoic resilience of the isolated pioneers who endured the cold of the Rockies, gloriously photographed on location around snowy Utah. And though the politics are updated, the impression of their hardship and native tribal customs is persuasive.

There’s a rugged star performance from Redford who leads a strong ensemble cast of unfamiliar character actors playing the sort of eccentrics who can’t tolerate human society and so seek out the most inhospitable surroundings. It focuses on the psychology of those living on the edge of the extreme frontier.

Occasionally it gets a bit whimsical, particularly the soundtrack of acoustic ballads and the folksy voice over. But mostly, this an intelligent and fascinating insight into a very alien existence. There was a minor wave of frontier survival westerns in the early '70s- like A Man Called Horse (1970)- and this as good as any.