Jeremiah Johnson

This extraordinary Western results to be a slice of life about a hermit man and a hostile environment .The picture narrates the odyssey of an adventurer that one time dreary of civilization goes to Rocky Mountains becoming into mountain man , a young who is part of the wildlife of the landscape.He early develops his senses from his first feeble and failed attempts at survival to an expert hunter who shoots efficiently his preys and turning into an exciting new myth , the great Jeremiah Johnson . When he trespasses holy land is continuously pursued by Indians and vice versa, because he seeks vengeance , going on a relentless chase. Meanwhile the Indians attack his farm. Crow Indians set out to track down the mountain man on savage raids until an inconclusive final .

Solid western with interesting events , violent fights , emotions , thrills and spectacular outdoors . From the initiation until the final are proceeded continuous battles against nature and a survival fighting versus wintry wilderness , enemy trappers and savage Indians, among others . The story is a crossover of various films, the battle against nature of ¨Man of a wilderness land¨ and Indians as ¨ Man called horse ¨ and the obstinacy and stubbornness of relentless enemies who fight with no rest such as ¨The duelists¨. The magnificent cast is starred by an excellent Robert Redford , a simple man who has no taste for cities and becomes a tough and two fisted mountain man obsessed a bloody revenge . Supporting cast is featured by various actors in brief performances as Jack Colvin , Matt Clark , Charles Tyner and special mention to Will Geer as feisty old trapper . Splendid cinematography in Panavision and glimmer Technicolor by Duke Callagham as is reflected on spectacular outdoors filmed in sighting, rousing natural parks from Rocky Mountains. Lively and evocative musical score by usual secondary actor John Rubinstein and beautiful songs by also actor Tim McIntire . The motion picture is stunningly directed by the recently deceased Sidney Pollack (Yazuka, Three days of the condor, Way we were, Out of Africa). Rating : Better than average . This outstanding film will appeal to Robert Redford fans and landscape lovers .

Sydney Pollack's return to the western four years after THE SCALPHUNTERS was to be a completely different experience. Following the trials and tribulations of a deserter of the Mexican War who disappears in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado to become a mountain man, JEREMIAH JOHNSON eschews the conventions of the western as a genre in such a way as was only made possible for American cinema in the tumultuous era of early 70's with such visceral movies of frontier survival as MAN IN THE WILDERNESS and A MAN CALLED HORSE paving the way.

As Jeremiah Johnson (Robert Redford) wanders the mountains like a fugitive stricken by disaster, a solitary figure against awe-inspiring backdrops of massive rock formations, steep ravines and expansive mesas, you can tangibly feel the film, like the hero, transcending the specific time and place and breaching out vision to become an all-encompassing spiritual journey where the individual characters - fur trappers, bear hunters or Indians - are merely the unwitting parners in a dance of death.

Some viewers may be put off by the lack of straight-forward plot, the episodic, repetitive nature of the movie or the long stretches of silence, but it's from those exact things the movie takes its power. JJ comes unto its own in those small moments of quietude, in Johnson's silent encounters with indians, in the barren, unforgiving wastes of the craggy mountains that reflect so well the psychology of characters wandering in their shadow, in the subtle, heartwarming interactions Johnson has with the Indian woman he's taken for a wife and the mute boy he's taken for a son. There's hardly a word uttered between this peculiar family the entire movie but the ways they learn to overcome the barriers that separate them is a touching sight to behold.

There is some dated montage, a corny soundtrack; how much of this will affect your enjoyment will boil down to your affinity with how cinema was in the 70's. Still, what is left is this beautiful parable of broken humans learning to be whole again. Equal parts visceral, savage and heartwarming.

Text: This story is about mankind. When you look out over the rivers, the hills, and the far horizon with a profound sense of your own littleness in the vast scheme of things, and yet have faith, hope, and courage - which is the root of every virtue. When you know that down in your heart every person is as noble, as vile, as divine, as diabolic, and as lonely as their own self, and seeks to know, to forgive, and to love your fellow humans.

When you know how to sympathize with people in their sorrows, yea, even in their sins - knowing that each person fights a hard fight against many odds. When you have learned how to make friends and to keep them, and above all how to keep friends with yourself. When you love flowers, can hunt the birds without a gun, and feel the thrill of an old forgotten joy, when you hear the laugh of a little child.

When you can be happy and high-minded amid the meaner drudgeries of life. When star-crowned trees, and the glint of sunlight on flowing waters, subdue you like the thought of one much loved and long dead; when no voice of distress reaches your ears in vain, and no hand seeks your aid without response.

When you find good in every faith that helps any man to lay hold of divine things and sees majestic meanings in life, whatever the name of that faith may be. When you look into a wayside puddle and see something beyond mud, and into the face of the most forlorn mortal and see something beyond sin.

When you know how to pray, how to love, how hope. When you have kept faith with yourself, with your fellow man, with your God; in your hand a sword for evil, in your heart a bit of a song - glad to live, but not afraid to die! Such a person has found the only real secret of life, and the one filmmakers continue to try to give to all the world.

Thank you kindly. I remember from allegories, conferrals, and degrees of work among actors, crews, and more importantly, writers!

Summary: What you do for yourself alone will die with you, what you do for others and the world will remain and be immortal. When warranted because of quality of story and significance of filmmakers and actors, I recall memories of beautiful stories portrayed on stage with trusted people to my side helping everyone equally as best they could. Jeremiah Johnson is a stand out film in my opinion only expressed here hopefully among trusted film lovers. Needed now more than ever before. 1 / 6 / 2021. *I am still alive after Covid-ruptured gallbladder 08-18-2022. SMIB.

This one of a kind movie seems to be a love or 'not sure' experience - my audience thought it excellent. It's at times slightly off the wall but mostly on the money for depicting the vast challenges facing a war damaged city dweller (deserter), who's attempting to survive hiding away from 'civilization' in some of the worlds harshest country. Being based on two works (by different writers) it depicts a true-life legendary mountain dwelling character with a stark background - telling of a surprisingly gripping battle to survive - not just the challenging landscapes and animals, but some deadly Crow natives whose home this land was.

Its curious screenplay is the result of two vastly different writing styles (as were the original books) Semi-classicalist, Edward Anhalt (known for Becket '63) and young-gun of the time John Milius (collaborative writer on Apocalypse Now '79) J. J. is visually stunning all the way with striking Alberta location cinematography by Duke Callaghan. The accompanying music score is a result of the unique collaboration of Tim McIntire (also vocals) and actor/composer John Rubinstein (son of Arthur) capturing the drama, warmth, and humanity.

This is superior movie making that almost creates its own genre. It's different in a good way so, if you don't warm to this curious story the first time round, go back for another visit - the Christian Indian Tribe is another curious aside. WB has treated this to an excellent quality DVD release.

A film which is glibly categorized as a `western' but goes somewhat deeper than that. The Pollack/Redford combination works well, and the photography of those magnificent mountains of Utah is spectacular. With all that beautiful scenery in Montana, Nevada, Colorado, Utah, I am surprised that the US government never does very much for saving it and cleaning up all that contamination ……..

Thirty years on and after several viewings, I find this story grows on you, like the aging of fine wine in oak casks, such that another recent viewing gave me as much – if not more – pleasure. Precisely because it is not the standard `western' formula. One gets a little tired of John Wayne getting saddle-sore, killing indians and wooing women; at times watching `Jeremiah Johnson' I cannot help comparing a little with `Dances with Wolves' (qv), not because of any story similarity but more from certain situations being played out.

Robert Redford has given us numerous films in which his characterization is pretty good in general, but in this film I rather fancy he was inspired, even to the point of throwing off that silly category so beloved of those suffering Hollywooditis. Most notable in `The Sting' (qv), `All the President's Men', `Out of Africa', and `A River Runs Through it', without forgetting his excellent directing of `Ordinary People', one of the best true-life dramas I have seen.

`Jeremiah Johnson' is now one of the classics of the genre and even of cinema as a whole: always worth another viewing.