Legends of the Fall

SPOILER ALERT! The plot will be discussed.

Since I recently did a post on The Edge, I thought I would do an analysis of this other collaboration between Anthony Hopkins and Bart the Bear. Make no mistake about it though, this movie focuses on Brad Pitt’s character, and it is his symbolic relationship with the bear and its association with the forces of nature that matters. This film centers on the bonds that bind a family, with elements of Greek tragedy involving uncontrollable forces such as fate, sex, and love that can tear a family apart. The movie also takes a dim view of the actions of national governments.

The story takes place in Montana, and the scenery is gorgeous. But, living there and dealing with the elements is challenging. One Stab (Gordon Tootoosis), a Native American, narrates the story, but his comments share time with spoken letters from the other characters, as well as regular narrative action. He says, “Some people hear their own inner voices with great clearness, and they live by what they hear. Such people become crazy or they become legends.” Too much self-knowledge may be too much to take for these persons. But, if they can survive such truth, they live legendary lives, and stories, like this one, are told about them. Tristan Ludlow (Pitt) is such a man, and he seems almost otherworldly in this tale.

Tristan was born in a year of a terrible winter and his mother almost died giving birth. Strong forces surround his life from the beginning. His father gave him to Stab, initiating him immediately into the spiritual and primal world of the people connected to nature. Stab taught Tristan the art of the kill, of basic survival, but which is also connected to the spiritual. Tristan as a youth cuts out the heart of the creature he hunts and sets its spirit free its spirit, according to a Native American belief. The scene is an ironic foreshadowing of what is to happen to his brother.

Stab says that Colonel Ludlow (Hopkins) considered Tristan his favorite son, perhaps because of the boy’s independent ways. The Colonel has become a fierce individualist, wanting nothing to do with society and governments. As a commander in the military, he wanted to help the Native Americans, but was frustrated by the forces of U. S. Federal Government. In a flashback scene, we see him throw down his sword in contempt for his orders, and Stab says he went his own way, which is the major theme of the film. Stab says the Colonel, “wanted to lose the madness over the mountains.” But, in the end, it is difficult to escape human madness. Alfred (Aidan Quinn) is the oldest brother and Samuel (Henry Thomas) is the youngest. Stab says that the brothers would do anything for Samuel, and guarded him like a “treasure.” This statement is also ironic as the story shows that in the end, nothing can be protected against certain forces. Their mother, Isabel (Christina Pickles), left the Montana ranch. She could not handle the winters and was afraid of the bears. Stab says, “She was a strange woman, anyway.” People like him can’t understand living any other way, disconnected from the land and the forces and creatures of Nature.

Tristan’s world revolved around Stab as he grew up. The Native American applied markings on Tristan’s face, anointing him as part of a tribe connected to the wilderness. Stab says that “Every good warrior hopes a good death will find him, but Tristan couldn’t wait.” The youth early on was daring to the point of being recklessness. He seeks out a grizzly bear, as if to escape whatever confines him in the human world. He touches the sleeping bear, as if wanting to connect with it, but it awakes and attacks. The bear wounds him with his claw, but Tristan takes a part of the bear’s power with him, cutting off one of the animal’s sharp nails. The Colonel chastises him, but also joins Stab in his admiration for his courage.

Stab is an old man telling this story, and hands over letters sent between the Ludlow family members, passing them on to an unseen man (the author?) to write about the legend. The Colonel writes that he may not have made the right choice to raise their sons in such a wild place, since he knows nothing about children. But Isabel writes that the boys are willful, like their parents, and will lead their own lives. This correspondence implies that trying to shape outcomes may be fruitless. The boys have grown up into young men at this point, and Isabel says that Samuel fell in love with a woman named Susannah (Julia Ormond), to whom he is engaged. Samuel brings her back to meet his father and brothers. When Alfred sees her, the look on his face reveals that he is immediately attracted to Susannah, which is the beginning of the one of the fractures that will threaten to break apart the solid foundation of the family. Tristan is off somewhere when they meet, showing his separateness. Isabel wrote that the loss of Susannah’s parents at an early age has left Susannah feeling very alone, and possibly made her fragile. This fact may be why she clings to the different brothers as she seeks release from that loss.

Samuel is concerned about the politics and war going on in Europe, but his father says not to use the word “civilized” when talking about the affairs of countries. In contrast, they talk about Stab, a model of individuality. He won’t “lower” himself to speak English, reversing the idea that Native Americans are “savages,” because Stab believes the truth, like the Colonel, to be quite the opposite. He does understand the language, though, showing his knowledge.

Tristan greets them on their way to the house. He looks ruggedly handsome, riding with the majestic mountains framing his arrival. He does not speak at first as he looks at Susannah, possibly also taken with her beauty. The brothers horse around (an appropriate phrase here), amicably wrestling after Alfred says that Susannah’s dog has better “breeding” than Tristan, emphasizing Tristan’s unrefined character.

Whites join with the Native Americans here, probably as a result of the Colonel’s preferring “Indian” culture to his own. The hired hand, Decker (Paul Desmond), is white but his wife, Pet (Tantoo Cardinal) is a Native American. Their daughter, who at this point is thirteen, is called Isabel Two, showing her connection to the Ludlow family. She tells Susannah that she will marry Tristan in the future, showing her wanting to continue being intertwined with the Ludlow family. But she is drawn to the one that has the most in common with her native side. This vow from her is a prediction of what is to come. Susannah says to her that then they will be sisters, since she is engaged to Samuel. This prediction comes true, but in an unexpected way. Alfred joins the two females, but the Colonel says that he should come inside and stop “mooning” over Susannah. Alfred dismisses his dad’s comment, but the Colonel has hit upon the latent attraction that Alfred has for his brother’s fiancée.

At dinner, Samuel talks about the German Kaiser’s unacceptable behavior, and he notes that England is mobilizing to join the fight. The Colonel wants no talk of war in his home. When it is mentioned about their feeling removes from concerns about these events that shape the world, the father’s response is that they are lucky to live at a distance from the world’s problems. In response to Samuel’s remark about how the Colonel wouldn’t want them to shirk their duty, he says, “Don’t I?” Thus, here is discussed an issue that continues to be debated in America. On the one hand there is immediate safety offered by isolationism, since it means not joining a war effort. There is also the belief that the nation should not interfere in the affairs of other countries. In contrast is the feeling of responsibility to reach out beyond one’s borders to help others.

After dinner, Samuel sings as Susannah plays piano. The other men listen, enchanted. But the words to the song that Thomas sings are an omen as they talk of love for someone that loves another. In a letter, the Colonel writes about how strange it is to have a cultivated woman in the house again, since these men are cut off from civilization in the wilderness. The Colonel says it is “intoxicating,” which is an apt word to describe Susannah’s effect on the men. For the Colonel, he is glad to have his sons under one roof, and says the situation, “fills me with such a deep, quiet satisfaction that I thank God.” He doesn’t seem to appreciate that Samuel’s talk of world politics and the impact of Susannah will undermine any sense of joy.

Susannah learns to ride, rope, and shoot as the men admire her as she adapts to the rural surroundings, exposing her wild side. In tandem with her transition, a wild horse runs by and Tristan goes after it. He is later thrown in a coral from that same horse that he was able to bring back. But, he does the horse whispering technique, and is able to bond with the animal, since he is closer to the natural world than the human one. More trouble can be seen brewing as Susannah looks at Tristan adoringly from her bedroom window. There is a scene which clashes a civilized activity, in this case playing tennis, with a rustic one, as Tristan rides the wild horse he has connected with. He wittily comments on how the others seem out of place there in their fancy clothing by saying they look like “ice cream cones.”

Samuel wants to talk to Tristan about Susannah who he says has his mind “spinning,” which implies that she may be too much for him to handle. He says to the experienced Tristan that she is passionate, Tristan gets right to the point, asks if they are both virgins, and if they will wait until they are married to have sex. Samuel is reluctant to talk so frankly, but that is Tristan’s way. Samuel talks about wanting to “be with Susannah,” whereas Tristan uses profane language which is in keeping with his primal nature.

Two brothers, John T. O’Banion (Robert Wisden) and James O’Banion (John Novak), who own a new mercantile store, show up with the Sheriff Tynert (Kenneth Welsh), looking for Decker, who they say is wanted by the law. The Ludlows protect him, saying he was around several years prior and left for Hong Kong. The family’s providing sanctuary for Decker illustrates the animosity that the Colonel has for the authorities. The O’Banions seem to have control over the law as they won’t divulge what Decker is wanted for. The men say it’s of a private matter, but the Colonel rightly says that the Sheriff holds a “public” office, showing he sees the corrupt nature of what is happening.

Samuel reads a newspaper and finds out that the British are losing to the Kaiser’s army. Samuel says that with his fluent German he can be an officer. Alfred is also upset, noting that they lost two cousins in the war. Their father says they didn’t even really know the dead men, which shows how narrow he has drawn the circle around whom he cares about. The Colonel loudly declares that there will be no more talk of war. Tristan is quiet here, not really connected to the affairs of men, in part because he is like his father, but more so because of his preference for the wilderness. Samuel announces he is going to Canada to enlist, and Alfred says he will go with him, since America is not in the war yet. Samuel has not informed Susannah of his decision, and she is surprised and upset at the announcement.

Alone, Tristan tells Susannah about a book his father wrote to try and convince the government to change its policies involving the territories and the Native Americans. The implication is that the book was not taken seriously since it is still with them. Later, alone with Tristan, Susannah says Samuel won’t change his mind, but Tristan tells her to change it for him. She starts to cry, and hugs Tristan, at first for consolation, but their embrace lingers as do their hands on each other, and their staring into each other’s eyes reveals their shared attraction. Alfred enters, and without saying anything, his face registers outrage as Susannah and Tristan look embarrassed.

The Colonel says in a letter to his wife that he has tried to shelter their sons from the world’s “madness” and they now, by enlisting in the military, ironically, go to “seek” it. Tristan goes to help protect Samuel. Isabel Two hugs Tristan, not wanting to lose him. The Colonel does go out to say goodbye, hugging his sons, and the Colonel tells Tristan to take care of Samuel, which he promises to do. The fact they he won’t be able to adds to the sadness of the promise.

That the Colonel and Susannah eat dinner alone seems pointless to the Colonel, and they join Decker’s family eating in the kitchen. Susannah tells Isabel Two that in the ancient tale Tristan’s love was named Isolde. The story of the two characters is one of tragic adulterous love, and is fitting in this film which depicts a woman promised to two brothers while loving another of the siblings. The Colonel and Susannah promise to teach Isabel Two, to enrich her life. They must homeschool her, because as Decker points out, society would reject her as a half-breed, which shows the narrow moral views of the time.

It is 1915, and engaged in the war in Europe shows Samuel being of two minds. The horror of the loss of men is overwhelming and not what he, in his admitted naive way, imagined. Yet, Samuel still wants to fight for personal glory, to distinguish himself in battle like his father did, although the Colonel now disavows that distinction. He does admit despair about the loss of human decency in times of war. Alfred is wounded in a charge and requires convalescence. Samuel says in a letter to Susannah that his brothers seem estranged, and he does not realize that it is due to Alfred surprising Susannah and Tristan. The sad fact is that Samuel and Susannah didn’t consummate their love before he left.

Tristan leaves Samuel to do some translating and he visits Alfred who will receive a medal and be sent home because of his leg wound. Alfred says he should be with his men, being an officer. Tristan calls Alfred’s commitment to the military “horseshit,” which reflects how Tristan mirrors his father’s feelings about the armed forces. Again we have the opposing ideas presented concerning allegiance to a country and whether that devotion conflicts with the welfare of individuals. The brothers learn that Samuel volunteered to take the place of a wounded man at the front. Alfred blames Tristan for leaving Samuel alone, and Tristan charges off to look for his brother. Samuel is gassed, which happened to soldiers in that war, which causes him to be blinded, which symbolically stresses how war can also affect moral vision. German soldiers use a machine gun to shoot Samuel after he becomes tangled in barbed wire, again implying how patriotism can turn into a snare (a scene which is echoed later in the film). Tristan arrives a moment too late to save his brother. He cuts out his heart, to free Samuel’s spirit, as Stab taught him.

Tristan saves the heart and uses the blood as war paint. The spiritual plane where Tristan seems to be able to inhabit is shown by having Stab seem to sense what is happening to Tristan thousands of miles away. Tristan looks like an Indian brave instead of a soldier as he goes off and kills and scalps the enemy for tribal, not patriotic, reasons. The loss of Samuel devastates Tristan, and he appears to be in a trance when Alfred talks to him. Tristan writes that he has been discharged from service, but cannot come home. He will go out to sea, which shows he is adrift mentally at present. He sends the heart home with Alfred to be buried. Susannah says that despite what Alfred saw before they left, she reassures him Samuel was the one she loved. Alfred does not seem reassured as she hesitates when he mentions that Tristan will return some day.

Susannah was supposed to leave, but again circumstances beyond her control force her to stay because of the harsh winter. The Colonel says the house was too empty without his other two sons, and his home was still her home. Stab says the Colonel should have let her go, but he did not know what was to happen. There is almost a Greek tragic feeling of humans struggling against predestined fate here. Stab says that Susannah “was like the water that freezes inside a rock and breaks it apart. It was no more her fault than it is the fault of the water when the rock shatters.” She may not want to do any harm, and not look capable of destruction, but danger can inadvertently come in many shapes. Alfred talks to Susannah at Samuel’s grave, and says that even though he loved Samuel, he is in love with her, and wants to know if she can “learn” to love him, so that they could have a “happy” life. Alfred’s approach is more pedestrian, practical, and can’t compete, unfortunately, with the strong passions that can rule a person’s heart. She says she doesn’t think they can be together because she will only cause him “pain.” She does warn him, but he says he will be the judge of that, being in denial.

Stab, because of his connection to the land and to Tristan, can hear his return before Decker can. Tristan rides up over the hill, and the Colonel and the others are happy for his arrival. Susannah is mesmerized at his appearance. When Alfred joins her at the door, she can’t look at him, and leaves because she wants to hide her affection for Tristan. The next scene has Tristan crying at Samuel’s grave, the pain of loss is so great that he presses his head as if it will explode. Susannah comes to him, and he cries as he says he couldn’t save his brother. She consoles him. Alfred makes a sarcastic comment at dinner, asking Tristan if he had a nice ride earlier, since he saw him with Susannah. Tristan angrily leaves dinner, but is joined by Susannah, and they release their sadness by capitulating to their passions for each other.

Alfred and Tristan have an angry confrontation the next day. Alfred says Tristan must marry Susannah, but Tristan, sarcastically, asks if that will make “an honest woman” of her, according to society’s dictates. Alfred and Tristan are on opposite sides throughout most of the movie as to rules of behavior. Tristan says he will marry her if she will have him. Alfred asks if he loves Susannah, which Tristan does not actually answer. Alfred says it was very convenient for Tristan now that Samuel is not there. Tristan strongly warns him, because he knows that Alfred loves Susannah, that only “once” can Alfred say that, or else they no longer will be brothers. He tells Alfred that he will try to make Susannah happy. Alfred says with finality in his tone, “You will fail.” He knows his brother’s history of putting his individualism first.

Alfred can’t remain and tells Susannah he is leaving. Alfred moves away from the rural ranch to the now modern city of Helena, a populous place, almost in revolt against the Colonel’s withdrawal from society, and the presence of his favorite son, Tristan. He writes his mother that there he thinks he has found his place in the world. He makes many acquaintances, as opposed to his father’s isolationism, and starts his own store, building a reputation for fairness and hard work. She can understand his disappointment in love, as she has also experienced it. But, he says he prays for the ability one day to be able to forgive Tristan.

Tristan continues to be haunted by Samuel’s death. He comes across a calf that is entangled in fencing, reminiscent of what happened to Samuel, an innocent entwined in something beyond its control. He can’t free the suffering animal, and shoots it to end its earthly agony, but it just reminds him of his brother’s death. Tristan looks like he is in a trance, as Susannah talks about having children together, and that she loves him and that he will “tolerate” her. Already, their union appears doomed.

While cutting wood with his father, the Colonel mentions how Tristan’s mom said that Alfred is doing well in Helena, but, he comments, apparently he can’t be well with them on the ranch. Tristan owns all the blame, for the loss of Samuel and now that of Alfred. The Colonel says that Samuel’s loss was in God’s hands, but Tristan doesn’t want to submit to the idea of being the victim of destiny. Decker and Stab say that there is a grizzly around, and Tristan asks if it’s “his” grizzly. Stab says that they spilled each other’s blood, and legend has it that when that happens, the two became one. So, when given the chance, Tristan can’t shoot the creature, because it would be like killing a part of himself.

Tristan’s bear-like wildness rears itself in a bar scene where the bartender won’t serve Stab. The Colonel warns Tristan not to antagonize the man because he has a club under the counter and will beat him to death. The Colonel calmly demands the beer for Stab and then Tristan gets the upper hand on the bartender and beats the man with his own club. His father looks alarmed at the recklessness he sees in his son. Stab says that it was the bear in Tristan “growling in dark, secret places.” Tristan rides his horse wildly near the cliff where Samuel is buried, almost trying to dare himself to go over the edge, physically as well as mentally. In bed together, Susannah touches Tristan and he pulls out a knife, almost stabbing her before recognizing her. He saddles up to leave. Susannah says that she can make it better for him, and he says that even having a child would not make a difference. She says she will wait for him (which doesn’t turn out to be true). Stab says he will return. Isabel Two runs after him, the other female in love with him, seeing him go off again.

Tristan travels to exotic, distant places, and sends back a necklace with ancient writing on it, as he seeks the primal. We see him making trades with natives. Susannah writes that cattle prices are falling, and there has been a never-ending winter. Alfred is expanding his business and is involved in other financial matters that extend to cities as far away as Chicago. Isabel Two won’t go away to school, waiting for Tristan to return. Susannah writes the letter to herself, since she has no knowledge of Tristan’s location.

It is now 1919, and Tristan writes to Susannah, saying he has become a hunter and has killed animals so exotic as not to be found in imaginative writings. He says he has killed them all, seeming to try to release the spirits of all animals as he did in accordance with Native American tradition. Or, he may be surrendering to the animalistic, predatory side of himself. After seeing a heart is taken from a zebra, we see Tristan engulfed in mental anguish, still torn apart by the death of his brother. He writes to Susannah that he is dead and she should “marry another.”

Alfred visits the ranch with other men and asks for his father’s blessing to run for Congress. The Colonel asks what do these men want in return if they get his son elected. He is cynical about the workings of politics and says that Alfred should not believe that these men support him purely out of patriotic feelings. He says he worked for the government when it dealt with the “Indians,” and he says that there is nothing “so grotesque as the meeting of a child with a bullet.” He says the natives were slaughtered as they slept. He says that there is nothing that shows that government has changed in gaining wisdom, common sense or humanity. Alfred smooths things over, but with an edge in his voice. He says that as his father’s son he will attempt to bring wisdom and humanity to Congress. He says sarcastically that he deeply respects his father out of that respect for him, he will run for office,  and thanks the Colonel for his blessing. He obviously hoped his dad would have been happy for him, and is very disappointed.

Alfred goes out on the porch and sees Susannah crying. He says that Tristan was always wild and that is probably why she loves him. She reluctantly agrees, since she is drawn to his literal animal attraction. He consoles her saying that Tristan does love her, and wipes tears off her face. The Colonel sees this affectionate gesture, and yells that he should back him off since she is to be Tristan’s wife. Alfred counters by saying that the Colonel might remind Tristan of that. Alfred yells that Tristan abandoned her and his father, and he implies that he also abandoned Samuel. The angry Colonel accosts Alfred, saying that it wasn’t Tristan’s fault. He tells Alfred that Samuel was a soldier and soldiers die, sent to their deaths by governments, which were run by “parasites,” like Alfred. The Colonel tells Susannah to be damned, too, probably because he feels that Tristan’s love for her caused him to run away out of guilt after what happened to Samuel. But Alfred argues that maybe the Colonel’s angry at Alfred because he also loves a woman who doesn’t return that love. He declares that Tristan stole Susannah from Samuel before he went off to war. He hands him the letter that Tristan wrote saying Susannah should marry someone else. Alfred says that he loved Susannah and still does, saying she deserves to be happy. As was stated by Clint Eastwood's character in Unforgiven, “deserving” has got nothing to do with it, and this is a tale of loss and sadness. Susannah is physically beaten down by this confrontation which paints her as the instrument that drives a wedge between the forces that bound this family together, and she collapses to the ground in uncontrollable misery.

Stab says that after this confrontation and reading Tristan’s letter, the Colonel suffered a stroke, his hair turning white overnight, due to the pain that came from the wrenching turmoil in his family. Tristan wrote no more letters. Stories came to them, “strange stories,” says Stab, about Tristan going to places where no white man had ever ventured. Stab’s words almost sound mythic, like a hero being challenged, needing to go into the wild to be tested and purged of his sins. Years went by, but Stab felt that the bear inside Tristan would go silent and he would return.

After much time has passed, Stab, always connected to the land, hears something. Tristan comes back riding with a stampede of horses, the symbols of masculinity in art, and showing his majestic merging with nature. But his father can hardly walk, and writes on a small chalkboard to communicate. He scrawls that he is happy and wants to have a drink to celebrate. Tristan says he is happy too, as Stab calls out a Native American chant. Tristan gives them gifts, a significant one to his father, a rifle, that will figure later in the story. He says he has other gifts, including something for Susannah, who he discovers has married Alfred, now a Congressman, and lives in Helena. Tristan says that it is as it should be. Decker informs Tristan that they lost everything with cattle prices collapsing and the Colonel gave up hope. But now with Tristan back, some of his old passion returns. Decker says that Alfred voted for Prohibition, so Tristan sees that his father wants him to be a bootlegger in defiance. The Colonel, giving the “finger,” says, “Screw the government,” and Tristan agrees.

Tristan visits Susannah and she is looks like an angel in white clothes, almost foreshadowing her fate. She sees him, and says that “forever” turned out to be too long to wait for him. She wants to give back a bracelet, but he heard it was magical and protects who wore it, which turns out to be another irony. He says Alfred probably would not want to see him, and offers his congratulations to him. Tristan goes to the barn on the ranch, and now finds a grown-up Isabel Two, very beautiful, and educated, as she knows that the ring he brought her is from Crete. She puts on the jewelry, it looking like an engagement ring, but small, as she points out, meant for a little girl, since that is how Tristan remembered her.

Tristan starts to get into the bootlegging business, and Stab says that Tristan was now in the quiet time of his life, the bear part of him sleeping. He is more amenable to dwelling in the human sphere of existence. Alfred tells Susannah that he heard that Tristan is back, and she reveals that she knows since he came to visit. He reveals that Tristan is to marry Isabel Two, which seems perverse to Alfred since she was like a sister to them. Susannah is shaken, but hides it. She writes to Tristan that it seems that it was always meant to be that he should marry Isabel Two, named after his own mother. There is almost a suggestion of Greek tragic incest here, a sort of inbreeding among the principal characters. Her words are spoken as we see the Colonel’s wife making a surprise return visit to the ranch, offering her wedding gown to Isabel Two. It seems fitting that Tristan should marry a “half-breed” since he himself seems to be part Native American in spirit, and wedded to the land. Tristan works on the ranch as time passes and he and his wife welcome a boy, Samuel, who represents a way for Tristan to carry on his brother’s legacy in the family. Susannah in a letter offers her congratulations, but reveals that she and Alfred can’t have children, which adds to her feelings of losing out on what she wanted with Tristan.

Alfred and Susannah meet Tristan and his family, which now consists of an additional child, in Helena, where Tristan is conducting his bootlegging business. There is a feeling of reconciliation between the two brothers because it seems as if they have found their respective happiness. But it is an illusion, since Susannah’s depression is eating at her, as she talks to little Samuel, who reminds her of the man she was to marry. The boy says that he can have Uncle Samuel’s gun when he is older, but it just hits home to her of how he died. And the men who supported Alfred did want something in return, since they are making a lot of money at bootlegging as the result of Prohibition. They threaten Tristan for muscling in on their business. While they talk to Tristan he has his knife out to show his defiance as the men tell Tristan that he is alive only because of his brother.

The O’Banions see Tristan making new transactions, and they hypocritically confront him with the police to arrest him for violating the Volstead Act that prohibits transporting whiskey. The criminal element is in league with the authorities, again backing up the Colonel’s view of government. The police shoot off a machine gun at the side of the mountain, causing the bullets to ricochet and kill Isabel Two. This sideways act of destruction symbolically shows how fate intervenes to destroy human plans for happiness, and how the evil forces of government cause collateral damage. But, it also illustrates that by association with Tristan, others suffer the domino effect from the forces he can challenge, but which others cannot survive. They bury Isabel Two next to Samuel’s grave, depicting how the losses are increasing. The Colonel won’t even talk to Alfred because of his governmental association with the those who brought about Isabel’s death.

Tristan beat and almost killed one of the policemen, and Alfred says he must serve thirty days for the assault, or else things will be worse for him and his family. To show how the government fails to dispense justice, the man who actually shot the machine gun is not punished. Tristan restrains himself for now and agrees to serve the time. Susannah visits him in jail, and breaks down, holding Tristan through the bars, implying they could never be together as husband and wife. She says that she dreams of having children with him. She says maybe she secretly wanted Samuel and Isabel II to die, which shows the power of selfish human passions. Her guilt over these feeling is devastating for her, as it was for Tristan concerning Samuel’s death. He tells her what was told to him by his father, that she had nothing to do with the deaths of Samuel or Isabel Two, and she should go home to Alfred.

After his release from jail, Tristan and Decker plot the deaths of the men who brought about the death of Isabel Two. Decker shoots the policeman who fired the bullets that killed his daughter. Tristan ambushes one of the O’Banion brothers in the warehouse where he keeps his booze. There are intercutting shots of young Samuel’s face painted by Stab as the Native American chants, adding a ritualistic, hunter’s feel to the happenings, and a sense of primal justice being carried out. In the fight at the warehouse, Tristan impales O’Banion on a pitchfork, the man ironically dying in the place which houses the liquor that made him his money at the expense of others. Also intercut at this climatic part of the story are scenes of Susannah cutting her hair, a sure sign in films that there is to be a change in a woman’s situation. Her despair resulting from her guilt and not having Tristan overtakes her. She picks up a gun and ends her life.

The other O'Banion brother finds his dead sibling and goes to avenge his death. Tristan knows that they are after him and is ready to leave. But, he gets a telegram from Alfred that says, “You have won her. I am bringing her home.” Susannah can only be with Tristan in death, which again stresses the danger of existing within Tristan’s sphere of existence. They bury Susannah at the same spot as the others. Here the story stresses its theme when Alfred says to Tristan, “I followed all of the rules, man’s and God’s. And you, you followed none of them. And they all loved you more. Samuel, Father, and my … even my own wife.” The film seems to have an admiration for the individual who breaks the rules, and presents how we may have a perverse attraction to the anarchist in us all.

Tristan says to his father as he is ready to leave that he has damned himself and others around him. But his father adamantly says that he is “not damned.” The Colonel does not see Tristan as a force for evil, just a force. O’Banion and the police arrive and say they say they are not there to arrest him, which means an execution is about to occur. The Colonel comes out and has that rifle that Tristan brought him and kills O’Banion and a cop. Crooked Sheriff Tynert is ready to shoot the Colonel as Tristan jumps in front of his dad. But Alfred is there, and kills Tynert. Alfred has returned to the fold, putting family above corrupt governmental forces. The Colonel now embraces his Alfred, welcoming him back. Tristan must leave and asks Alfred to take care of his children. Alfred says “Brother, it would be an honor.” The family regains its unity despite the adversities.

In an emotionally effective ending, Stab sums up what made Tristan who he was. He says he thought that when Tristan was a boy, because he was so daring, that he “would never live to be an old man.” As the graves are viewed, Stab admits to being wrong. Tristan was almost superhuman in his durability. Stab poetically says, “It was those who loved him most who died young. He was a rock they broke themselves against, however much he tried to protect them. But, he had his honor and a long life, and he saw his children grow and raise their own families.” (Stab must have been really old if he saw Tristan age). Tristan died in 1963. His grave is unmarked since he “always lived in the borderland, anyway, somewhere between this world and the other,” somehow inhabiting an almost supernatural dimension. He died fighting his grizzly, and Stab says, “It was a good death.” The film ends in a tableau shot, man and animal in a frozen image, looking like a sculpture, to exist for eternity. It is a mythic end, one that lends itself to legend.

Next time, Oscar picks and preferences.

Frozen River

SPOILER ALERT! The plot will be discussed.

Similar to another cold-titled movie previously discussed, Winter’s Bone, we have in this 2008 film a view of how those living in oppressive poverty may turn to illegal means for relief when there is no legitimate help on which to rely. The story here distills this theme down to the lives of a struggling wife, Ray (Melissa Leo), and a single Mohawk mother, Lila (Misty Upham).

The first shot is of the frozen river of the title. It provides a means of crossing over the border between New York state and Canada. The idea of connecting is presented here, as the two main characters must eventually span the cultural divide between them. As Lila says later, there is no boundary when it comes to Mohawk territory, and that statement takes on metaphorical meaning, as borders between people must be obliterated in order for them to help each other out, since poverty knows no ethnic or cultural boundaries. We see a new trailer home on the road, which suggests the happy arrival of a new house being delivered, and on which Ray has pinned her hopes for her family. We have a sign that announces the location as Messina, “The Gateway to the Fourth Coast,” implying that we are not in the pick of the litter of locations. The next shot is that of a child’s merry-go-round, but it is not a happy sight, since there are no children playing on it (we in fact find out that it is broken), and the area appears cold, snow-laden, and pretty much inhospitable. We see Ray’s run-down trailer home and Ray is outside , in the cold, alone, crying. She has put a deposit down on a new double-wide, but her gambling-addicted husband took the money for the first installment and ran off.

When the trailer delivery man arrives, Ray tries to get him to leave half of the trailer. It is the second time he has come out and his frustration and Ray’s mirror each other, only, literally, from different sides of the “coin.” The struggle for money is the consuming preoccupation of these people living on the edge of America’s physical and fiscal outskirts. Even the name of the store where Ray works, the “Yankee One Dollar,” emphasizes the importance of the need for a bargain to save some cash. Ray has been employed there for two years, and she was promised that she would be given full-time status after six months. But her boss, despite her the length of time there and always being on time, considers Ray to be a short-timer who is not commited. Her employer just wants to exploit her. For Ray, living by society’s rules has only short-changed her. When Ray stops for gas, she can only find $2.74 in her pocket, and is thrilled when she discovers an extra $5 in her clothes. For dinner, her children eat Tang and popcorn. She rummages through the sofa to find loose change for her boys’ lunch money. Her young son, Ricky, (James Reilly), asks what will happen to their old trailer once they get the new one. She tells him that it will be flattened, sent to China, and made into toys that she will probably sell at the Yankee One Dollar. This little tale shows how Americans are exploited in the world of commerce as they will wind up paying for the same objects twice, once when they are new and again when they are discarded. It also points out how marginal is their existence. Such is the deprived world in which Ray and her family live.

Her son, T.J. (Charlie McDermott) tries to fix the merry-go-round, not so his brother, Ricky, can enjoy playing on it, but so that he can sell it to make money. He is fifteen-years-old, and wants to get a job to help out. But his mother refuses because she doesn’t want him to have to grow up too quickly and lose the chance at enjoying his youth before taking on the burdens of a grown-up. T.J. uses a blowtorch to try and fix the children’s ride, but Ray chastises him about the danger involved (a bit of foreshadowing of what is to come). The runaway dad gave the torch to his son, and he wants to use it, because it is his way of holding onto the hope for the return of his errant father. T.J. yells at his mother for getting on his father too much about turning over his paycheck to her and going to rehab meetings. She reminds him that her husband is an “addict” when it comes to gambling, but his affliction also points to an attempt at finding alternate means to get money when it is so difficult to get ahead financially.

Ray goes looking for her husband and finds his car at a Mohawk bingo parlor, where Lila works. Lila has poor vision which makes it difficult to read the playing cards. She can’t do a good job taking phone messages at a Mohawk reservation office because nobody can read her writing. This physical problem infringes on her ability to earn a living and thus limits her independence. Ray does not find her husband at the bingo tables, but sees Lila drive off in her husband’s car. Ray follows her to Lila’s home, which is also a trailer, one even more dilapidated than Ray’s, since Lila’s doesn’t even have heat. (We hear the man on her radio talking about how it is going to get much colder, with a new storm coming in, which basically stresses how dire her world is). Ray wants the keys to her car, and threatens Lila, shooting a hole in her trailer. Lila gives her the keys, and when Ray says how her husband left his family, Lila tells Ray she saw a man abandon the car and leave on a bus. After Ray is unable to tow the car, Lila says that she can take her to someone who will buy the automobile. It is a trick, because Lila wants to use the car to smuggle illegal Chinese workers into the U. S. Lila gets a hold of Ray’s gun, and forces Ray to go along with the scheme, but offers Ray half of the money she receives. Ray asks what if the police stop them, but Lila says, “They’re not gonna stop you. You’re white.” And, sure enough, they drive right past a trooper, who ignores Ray’s car. These scenes stress the racial profiling in the law enforcement system.

Lila shares the fact that she lost her husband, who drowned (people say they are “drowning in debt,” and perhaps, given the emphasis on the lack of money here, Lila’s husband symbolically died of poverty). Lila’s baby son was taken from her by her mother-in-law, which shows Lila’s sense of helplessness. Her dependence can be seen in the fact that she needs Ray’s car, and her good eyesight to count the money. When they cross the frozen river, and Lila tells Ray not to worry about crossing illegally into Canada, because the whole area is Mohawk territory, we are reminded how the whole continent at one time belonged to Native Americans. But, the whites came and divided the land up, confining the original inhabitants to small reservations. Driving over the river now implies crossing the line between legality and unlawfulness, and when we see the sign that warns of “Danger,” it not only indicates the possibility of cracking the ice, but also of breaking the law. Despite the fact that Lila echoes Ray’s lack of money, and loss of a husband, the two do not get along at this point. Lila has taken her husband’s car, and fooled her into committing a crime. Lila says she isn’t used to working with whites, so the historical animosity divides them. After they conclude their journey, Lila doesn’t pay up, and they struggle, with Lila escaping.

Christmas is coming and Ray doesn’t have enough money to put gifts under the tree. T.J. warns his mother about how their TV is going to be repossessed. (He later runs a scam on an elderly Mohawk woman on the phone, stealing her credit card number, hoping to pay the installment on the television. The company only accepts cash, sparing him the “crossing the line” scenario. But, the scene shows how poverty can corrupt young people, forcing them to lose their innocence, and initiating them into a life of crime). Ray tells T.J. to put up the Christmas tree, because she is going “Christmas shopping.” Ray wants what many American families want, but the irony here is that the only way she knows how to get it is to become a criminal. She again confronts Lila, and this time volunteers to be her smuggling partner.

The people that they are bringing into the U. S. are looking for a better life. But, in order to get to America, they become indebted to people Lila calls “Snakeheads,” (a Satanic reference?), people who pay $40,000 to $50,000 to get them into the country. The illegals basically become slaves, working seemingly forever to pay off that debt. (The nasty Canadian smuggler takes the illegals’ shoes from them before they hide in the car trunk so they won’t run away). Instead of being a land of opportunity, their new country becomes, instead, a place of bondage. So, America, in this film, impoverishes and thus restricts the freedom of original Americans, those who descended from immigrants, and new arrivals who are unable to afford the time and money to become legal citizens.

Ray gets enough money from the smuggling to stop the repossession of the TV. But, T.J. is suspicious. Ray, who is trying to keep her son on the straight and narrow, ironically, get the money illegally, and then lies to her son, saying she got a promotion at work. She says she will get them their “double-wide” home for Christmas, but she says to T.J. not to say anything to his brother, “just in case.” T.J. cynically repeats those words, stressing how he expects nothing to turn out alright. So, despite his mother’s efforts, he has become jaded, having been disappointed so many times before. But, Ray does acquire enough money to get the trailer park dealer, Versailles (Jay Klaitz), to schedule another delivery. There is a brochure for the trailers that says, “Live the Dream,” which seems like an enormous compromise of the American Dream. However, when Ray describes the new home as having several bedrooms, a Jacuzzi, and most of all, insulation to keep the literal, and figurative, coldness at bay, for these people, it is a wish they want to come true. That is why Ray, on the phone to her son, Ricky, says Santa Claus is coming, because the hope is still there, even if it derives from her criminal actions.

On one of their runs, Ray and Lila smuggle a Pakistani couple, who have a bundle that is placed in the back of the car. Ray, who already showed her prejudice when she judged the Mohawk harshly for not celebrating Christmas, now fears that the Pakistanis could be terrorists. On their journey, she throws the bag out of the window, just in case it contains explosives. When they deliver the couple, the woman is screaming, saying her baby was in the bag. Ray and Lila, both mothers, race back to find the baby, who does not seem to be responding. Lila is immediately pessimistic, mirroring the loss she feels about her boy being taken from her. However, they bring the baby into the car, turn on the heat, and revive the child.

T.J. uses a friend to get Ricky the toy he wanted, but when Ray returns, she chastises him for associating with his friend, who she believes stole the gift. It is ironic that Ray tells her son to steer away from criminals when she is one herself. Earlier, T.J. used the blowtorch to defrost frozen pipes, but started a fire in the process, that he was able to extinguish after damage was done. The blowtorch represents how the son, in a way, is carrying a “torch” for his father’s affection, but it also shows the destructive effect of his father’s gambling and absence. He finally breaks down and acknowledges how his father has hurt him, saying what kind of dad runs off and leaves his family right before Christmas, a time when people come together to celebrate their families.

Lila now has glasses, and is able to work at the bingo hall again, which shows how she now wants to be independent. The incident with the baby has shaken her up, and she does not want to do any more smuggling. But, Ray wants to do one more run, and she promises Lila that she can have Ray’s car and gun afterwards. This job goes badly. When the Canadian tries to shortchange them, Ray pulls out her gun, and gets the money from him. But, she is nicked by a bullet as they escape. Troopers chase them, and Ray and Lila must abandon the car as it cracks the ice when they try to cross the river, literally and figuratively ending their crime spree, and signaling the climax of the story. Lila, Ray, and the illegals flee to the Mohawk reservation. The troopers follow them there, and say they need the return of the illegals and Lila, who was known to them before for smuggling cigarettes. The council decides to expel Lila for five years, which means she will not be able to see her son start to grow up. At first Ray says she has to leave, and is sorry about what is happening to Lila, but says at least someone is taking care of her child, while she is the only one who can provide for her kids.

On her way home, Ray looks at the river. The temperatures have moderated and that is why her car fell through the ice. Symbolically, now she must “break the ice,” that separates her culture from that of the Mohawks. In the end, just like in the the TV series Big Little Lies, despite differences, the women here share their sisterhood, and must help each other out. Ray is white, with no criminal past. She offers herself up as the smuggler so that Lila will not be exiled from the reservation and sent to jail. The trooper says that Ray will probably only receive a sentence of four months. Liberated by Ray’s action, Lila now feels empowered and marches into her mother-in-law’s house and takes her child (and her confidence in herself) back.

Ray not only takes the fall for Lila, she entrusts her children to her, saying she can live in the new trailer with her child and take care of Ray’s sons while she is in prison. The two women have broken down the barriers, geographical and historical, that separated them, and have embraced inclusiveness, as they are linked by their common needs and wants. The ending is hopeful, as T.J. has fixed the merry-go-round, allowing the “merry” to be prefixed to this Christmas, as we see the children ride together, with the grim Lila finally smiling, and the new trailer home being transported to its destination.

The next film is Thank You for Smoking.

The Revenant

SPOILER ALERT! The plot of the movie will be discussed.

I decided to discuss a more recent film for a change. This 2015 movie, which won director Alejandro G. Iñάrritu his second consecutive Oscar, and Leonardo DiCaprio his first, for Best Actor, presents many themes, including loss, love of family, but especially humankind’s place in this world and its relationship to a higher power.

The first scene is a dreamy shot showing us the family of Hugh Glass (DiCaprio), who sleeps beside his resting Pawnee spouse and his son. The peaceful shot switches to the violent one of the burning image of their teepee and Glass holding the body of his wife. We hear Glass’ words to his son which are repeated in the movie and which convey the basic survival instinct of all animals in in their pure, primitive state: “You don’t give up, you hear me? As long as you can still grab a breath, you fight. You breathe … keep breathing.”

We then come out of the dream and we see and hear the flow of a river, the water being the source of all life on earth. But then we see a man’s footsteps, making its imprint on creation, and he carries a gun, a weapon of extreme destruction, making its impact on nature. The man carrying the gun is Glass and he is hunting with his son, Hawk (Forrest Goodluck). Native Americans many times have names which show their connection to the natural environment, as is the case here. And, despite the use of a gun, Glass is only trying to do what all animals do, which is acquire food to live. But then we have an escalation of humans out-of-sync with nature in the form of the group of trappers who kill animals not for survival, but for their pelts, for profit. There follows an ambush on their camp by Indians known as the Ree, and we see that Glass is actually working with the trappers as a guide. He goes to the camp and helps fight off the attackers. He is almost killed himself, but one of the trappers saves him. Those who survive take the pelts they can gather and escape on a boat.

First off, the remarkable cinematography of this fight scene should be noted. The camera is right in the middle of the action, and the audience feels as if it is literally one of the participants, spinning around and being part of the battle. Another point is that Glass is a man moving between worlds, and goes back and from one to the other, similar to Dustin Hoffman’s character in Little Big Man. He is a white man who had a Native American wife, and has a son with her, who has, in a way, been dragged into his father’s situation. Later when asked why he left the Native American world, he says he became tired of the quiet, which shows how he doesn’t seem to fit in well in that life. Or, possibly it was too difficult for him to be in a culture that reminded him of the loss of his wife. From the start, Glass inhabits a magical realism type of space between dreams and reality. And, as we see later, he goes between the realm of the living and that of the dead. He is a character who transcends narrow boundaries of perceiving the world. His character is based on a real person named Hugh Glass, but it is interesting that the name is appropriate for the story, since he reflects the various facets of life around him. Ironically, despite his name, he certainly is not breakable.

The chief of the Native Americans who attacked the trappers is named Elk Dog (Duane Howard). White men have taken his daughter, Powaqa (Melaw Nakehk’o) and he is searching for her. The importance of family that is essential to Glass is mirrored here in the Native American people. Elk Dog wants the pelts so he can trade them for horses to find his child. He goes to a camp of Frenchmen to trade for the horses. The French are just as unscrupulous as the other white men. They put on a pretense of being religious by praying, but they are there to plunder the land, and, hypocritically call the Indians savages. They originally do not want to live up to their exchange with the Ree, but relent. The whites call the Indians “savages,” but the Ree violence is a reaction to what the whites have initiated. Elk Dog says they may have taken the pelts, but they are not like the Americans, who “have stolen everything from us. Everything! The land. The animals.” One of the Frenchmen admits, in a way vocalizing a theme of the movie, that when it comes to survival and protecting one’s family, “We are all savages.”

The character of Fitzgerald (Tom Hardy) is Glass’ nemesis. When Glass returns to the camp to help fight off the Ree, he shouts out that they should forget the pelts and just leave. His attitude is one of basic survival for his comrades. But, Fitzgerald’s priority is protecting the pelts, not the men. His selfishness is immediately evident. He is at odds with Glass on how they should continue, wanting to stay on the river, while Glass knows that the Ree are more dangerous there, and wants to go on land. Their leader is Captain Andrew Henry (Domhnall Gleeson), who sides with the experienced Glass. Fitzgerald also has suffered a loss, which is not that of the loss of others. His animosity to Indians comes from his being partially scalped once. So, his loss is restricted to himself. He accuses Glass, having been married to a Pawnee, of tipping off the Ree, and suggests Hawk, being a “savage,” may have conspired against the white trappers. Fitzgerald brings up a rumor that Glass once killed an Army officer. In a later dream flashback, we realize that it was American soldiers that killed Glass’ wife and threatened his son. He tells Henry at that point in the story when, again, asked if he killed an officer, that “I just killed a man who was trying to kill my son.” For Glass, the distinctions between the two worlds do not matter, since he deals with individuals, not groups, based on the immediate situations, and therefore, prejudicial thinking is alien to him. After Henry orders Fitzgerald to cease his accusations, Glass rebukes Hawk for speaking up against Fitzgerald’s words. He says, “They don’t hear your voice. They just see the color of your face.” Glass wants his son to understand how to exist in the place he finds himself, and among the whites, that environment is one where bigotry lives.

While in the woods hunting, a bear attacks Glass, clawing and biting him. Gravely wounded, he shoots it, which does not stop the grizzly, but he still has the stamina to knife the creature, finally killing the animal. Yes, humans in the wild (it’s called that for a reason – it is not basically a tame environment) many times have to fight to continue living. But, let’s not forget that the bear had its cubs nearby, and rightly saw the human as a predatory threat. Doesn’t the animal have as much right to fight for survival? And, the idea of caring for a family is an inter-species concern, not just a human one.

Hearing the gunshot brings the other men. Fitzgerald, again only thinking of himself, says Glass shouldn’t have fired the weapon, since it would bring more predators. Henry knows a bit about medical treatment since his father was a doctor, and he does his best to patch up Glass, who is close to death. Henry attempts to carry Glass back to an outpost, but the trail is too arduous. Urged on by Fitzgerald, the captain almost decides to put Glass out of his misery, but relents. He promises a reward for those who stay behind with the wounded man until the others can send help. Hawk and a young man named Bridger (Will Poulter) volunteer and forfeit their share of the reward. Fitzgerald wants his share and those of the other two men for him to stay behind. Bridger (whose name suggests he is like Glass, living between two places) wants to protect Glass. He gives him his canteen which has a spiral drawn on it. Later, he leaves food for an Indian woman, which shows his sense of caring for humanity as a whole. When Fitzgerald is alone with Glass, he says that he should let Fitzgerald put him down for the sake of Hawk. He tells Glass to blink his eyes if he agrees. Glass holds his eyes open as long as he can, and when he closes them, Fitzgerald allows his conscience to try to suffocate Glass. Hawk comes by and tried to stop him, but Fitzgerald stabs him to death as Glass grunts in outrage, since his wounds prevent him from speaking. Fitzgerald hauls Hawk’s body off into the woods, and convinces Bridger that he saw Ree braves close by, that they probably killed Hawk, and that they have to leave Glass behind and quickly escape. Fitzgerald pulls Glass into a shallow grave he had been digging already to dispose of Glass’ body.

As was mentioned above, Glass travels between the world of the living and the dead. The title of the film refers to someone who comes back from the dead as a ghost or spirit. His wounds should have killed him, but Glass pulls himself out of his grave, resurrecting himself, and drags himself along. He finds Hawk’s body, and says he is with him, which are the first words of the story. It’s possible it is his desire for revenge against Fitzgerald that keeps him going against all odds. He uses his skills to keep alive. He finds a bear pelt for warmth. He uses brush and sparks from striking rocks to start a fire. He ignites gunpowder to seal a neck wound. He catches and eats raw fish, and consumes a tiny bit of meat off of an animal’s skeletal carcass. He then encounters a Pawnee, Hikuc (Arthur RedCloud) who has killed some buffalo. Since in his condition Glass is not a threat, speaks Pawnee, and tells Hikuc that men have killed his son and left him to die, the Native American gives him food.  Hikuc, too, has lost his family, to a rival Sioux tribe. But, he says, “My heart bleeds. But revenge is in the Creator’s hands.” He allows Glass to ride on his horse with him. As they sit together, catching nature’s nourishing moisture on their tongues, they seem at peace and one with their surroundings for a brief time. Hikuc applies Native American medicine to Glass’ wounds and builds him a sweat lodge.

When Glass emerges from the womb-like shelter, again it is like he is reborn, leaving death behind once again. The Indian is not there but left him provisions. He starts to travel, and comes across the body of Hikuc, who has been hanged by French fur trappers. He has a sign hung on him that ironically labels him a savage. The man who has mercifully helped Glass, was killed savagely by so-called civilized men. Glass comes across the Frenchmen’s camp. They are the ones who have abducted Powaqa, who Glass sees is being raped by one of the Frenchmen. Glass helps her escape, takes a horse, and rides off. After setting up camp, he is attacked, ironically, by the Ree, who are searching for Powaqa. He rides over a ledge. Again, he survives by having his fall broken by trees, but his horse dies. Glass cuts open the dead horse, removes its organs, and climbs inside (remember Han saving Luke in The Empire Strikes Back?) so he can weather the blizzard around him. So, we have another womb symbol here, and Glass emerges resurrected here, too. He also has visions of his wife and his son. In a sense, they are also revenants, experienced by Glass as he travels between the living and the dead. That is why Glass says he is with Hawk, because for him the dead are always with him. His state of being does not restrict him into only one state of being, and that way of existence makes him strong. The dream spirit of his wife urges him with her words that his son repeated to him and which Glass has said to Hawk: “As long as you can still grab a breath, you fight. You breathe. Keep breathing. When there is a storm and you stand in front of a tree, if you look at its branches, you swear it will fall. But if you watch the trunk, you will see its stability.”

On their journey to the fort outpost, Bridger discovers that Fitzgerald lied about Ree closing in on them, justifying leaving Glass behind. Fitzgerald talks about his father: “He weren’t a religious man, you know? If you couldn’t grow it, kill it, or eat it, he just old didn’t believe in it.” He says after a hunting trip went wrong, and Comanche attacked his group, he was alone and told his son he found God, who for his dad, was in the form of a fat squirrel. For him, the animal represented the “glory and sublimity of mercy.” He killed and ate the animal. Fitzgerald inherited this limited vision of the universe, which Glass, Bridger, and Hikuc transcend because they look beyond basic selfish wants to the need to care for others. 

Bridger feels guilty about leaving Glass behind, and goes along with his companion’s story about moving on after Glass died when the two arrive at the fort outpost. A French fur trapper from the camp Glass attacked shows up at the fort and has the canteen Bridger gave Glass, and which Glass lost at the French camp. Captain Henry now knows Fitzgerald lied about Glass, and uses the Frenchmen’s directions to search for Glass, who his men find, bring back to camp, and have the doctor tend to. Fitzgerald has escaped with money from the fort’s safe. Glass backs up Bridger’s story, saying the young man didn’t know about Hawk or Fitzgerald’s deception about the Ree. Glass wants to go after Fitzgerald. He likens him to an animal, not a man, because he is afraid and will, like a scared elk, run deep into the woods. “I got him trapped, he just doesn’t know it yet,” he says.

Glass and Captain Henry go looking for Fitzgerald. Unfortunately, the fugitive kills Henry, and Glass comes across his body. We now have another example of a type of resurrection. Glass cuts off a large split branch of tree and uses it to prop up Henry on his horse. It makes it look as if he is alive. In a way, Glass symbolically brings him back to life in order to fulfill the destiny of these characters. Glass, looking dead, lies astride his horse, pretending to be Henry. When Fitzgerald shoots at the already dead Henry, and approaches, Glass, again coming back to life, shoots and wounds Fitzgerald. A brutal fight ensues between the two, with Glass poised to end Fitzgerald’s life. The latter says, “You came all this way for your revenge, huh? Did you enjoy it Glass? ‘Cause there ain’t nothin’ gon and bring your boy back.” At this point, Glass seems to understand what Hikuc said. Glass answers, “No. Revenge is in God’s hands. Not mine.” He then throws Fitzgerald’s wounded body into the river, as if leaving it up to God to exert his will. Which He seems to do, as Elk Dog and his men come along with his daughter, Powaqa. The chief grabs Fitzgerald’s body and he finishes the scalping on him, killing him. Glass is spared for doing his good deed of rescuing the chief’s daughter.

Earlier there is a shot of an immense stretch of snow-covered plains bordered by giant mountains. Glass is just a speck moving along, as are we all, on creation’s giant canvass. There are many camera views from the ground up toward the treetops and the vast sky above. It’s as if this film is reminding us of the small parts we play in an unfathomable interlocking story.

The next film is Full Metal Jacket.