Sometimes it can be truly astonishing how such simple films with so little going on can be so effective. This is the first film we watched by director Kelly Reichardt but it seems that her reputation for such minimalism is already well established so more of her work is definitely going onto the to watch list. I dislike the ending as it feels abrupt and I would like to imagine a happy ending for our two plucky heroes. Nevertheless this is an amazing film that immerses you fully in its setting.

In 1820, “Cookie” Figowitz is one of many trying to make a living in Oregon County. He joins a group of fur trappers as a cook but is bullied as he is diffident and quiet. While foraging for food, he comes across a naked Chinese, King-Lu, who is on the run from some Russians. He gives Lu some clothes and food and helps him escape. When Cookie arrives at the settlement, he meets Lu again who invites him back to his shack. They strike up a friendship and share each other stories. After hearing Cookie’s complaints about the hard biscuits they have to eat, Lu suggests stealing milk from the only cow in town. The cow was brought in by the British Chief Factor and is the sole survivor of a group of such cows they tried to have imported. The pair sneak in at night to milk the cow and Cookie uses the milk to bake a batch of biscuits. The next day when they bring the batch to the market, they are an instant success and sell out immediately as there is nothing else like this available nearby.

What stands out the most for me in the film is the all encompassing sense of authenticity that pervades every scene. By downplaying the cinematic aspect, such that there are no spectacular panning shots of the landscape, and highlighting mundane details such as sweeping the crude dirt floor of the shack or using a crude whisk made of sticks to mix batter, this very effectively transports you to its setting. From there, the next step is getting us to empathize with these very real characters with their very realistic hopes and dreams. Once that is done, even the simple act of stealing milk from a cow in the middle of the night becomes rife with tension as we very much hope that our two plucky heroes get again with it. This is a film of visceral sensations and feelings, all the more powerful due to how elementary they are. When the rough and dirty people of the fort snatch at the baked biscuits, you can almost taste them on your own tongue and feel the heat in your fingertips. When Lu talks about his travels all the way over from China and Cookie speaks about one day opening a hotel with a bakery, it’s a perfect crystallization of the American Dream. This is back to basics filmmaking at its very best.

Also great are all of the incidental details that form part of the background of the world. Lu’s story of his journey from the north of China down to Canton, then onto a clipper to London until finally settling in America is an incredible example of early globalization. It’s also so Chinese how Lu insists that there will be other cows arriving so this is a unique business opportunity for them that won’t last long. The way the fur trappers have more silver than they know what to do with shows how lucrative the fur trade was and the horrifying rate at which they were killing beavers all the while the British Factor insists that the beavers are endless and the trade will go on forever. The presence of Russians, Lu himself, and the cooperation of the Native American people and the visibly rich chief shows how this money pulled in fortune seekers from all around the world. So much thought and research must have gone in this little, modestly budgeted film.

As I noted, I do hate the abrupt, unsatisfying ending and I so wanted a happy ending for these two characters. But I suppose while real life goes on and on, a film only ever has so much time before it must end and this is how the director chose to end it. There’s is much more to this world and the people in it that I would love to explore but I suppose that this is why I am most definitely putting more of this director’s work on the priority watch list.