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Written by: Vardis Fisher (novel "Mountain Man"), Raymond W. Thorp and Robert Bunker (story "Crow Killer"), John Milius &
Edward Anhalt (screenplay by)
Directed by: Sydney Pollack
Starring: Robert Redford, Will Geer, Delle Bolton
Rated: GP [PG]
Watch the trailer
Plot
A mountain man who wishes to live the life of a hermit becomes the unwilling object of a long vendetta by the Crow tribe and proves to be a match for their warriors in single combat on the early frontier.
Verdict
It's a different kind of western. Johnson wants to live in the wild, finding help and trouble along the way. What guides him is the desire for peaceful interactions. That pushes him to help when he shouldn't as well as undertake dangerous missions. That desire ultimately leads to violence with Native Americans, and that event creates a symmetry point as we see the Johnson before that battle and the one after, changed due to his experiences, and the people he's encountered along the way.
It depends.
Review
Jeremiah Johnson wants to live off the land in the mountains. It's tough terrain, and we're not sure how suited or trained he is as he struggles. He meets a bear hunter that's nice enough to teach him a few things. After that Johnson sets out on his own, encountering plenty of adventure in the wild. There's a cabin in the woods where a family has just been attacked. The mother convinces him to take her son. Johnson is always willing to help to a fault. While caring for a child is certainly a burden with the way he lives, he can't refuse the request.
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| Robert Redford plays Jeremiah Johnson |
Johnson and the boy stumble across a trapper buried up to his neck by Native Americans. He frees the man, though he probably shouldn't, and then goes with him to sneak into camp and reacquire his pelts. It's another instance where Johnson should probably mind his business, but he never refuses to help anyone. The trapper opens fire during the raid in what could have been a peaceful mission. The trapper takes his pelts back and steals the tribes horses.
When they're surprised and captured by another tribe, Johnson's peaceful nature proves beneficial. He gives the tribe the stolen horses. Per the tribe's customs and to maintain honor, the chief has to give Johnson a better gift. He betroths his daughter to Johnson.
With a kid and wife he never intended to acquire, Johnson creates a life in the wilderness. He builds a cabin and makes a living off the land. That's upended when a military detachment intending to save a stagecoach asks him to guide them. It's another case where he should refuse, but Johnson reluctantly agrees to help. That ends up being a mistake. The soldiers want to shortcut through a Native American burial ground. Johnson refuses before relenting. The detachment is going through the burial ground no matter what, and he doesn't want them to get lost. Due to the transgression it creates a feud. The tribe attacks his family, and he attacks back. They send one warrior after another. I don't know why they only send one at a time, whether it's a matter of honor and singular combat. Maybe they assume he's a lesser warrior and don't expect him to win as he does.
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| Delle Bolton, Robert Redfrod play Swan, Jeremiah Johnson |
There's a symmetry to this movie. Johnson goes into the wilderness, encountering several people along the way. That culminates in a war with the Native Americans, and as he returns he encounters the same places and people he did in the beginning. It folds almost perfectly, but they have a different meaning after what he's experienced. He went into the woods to live off the land by himself. Through his benevolent nature he helps several people and even finds a family, but it's also that helpful nature that puts him at war with the tribe. He knew going through the burial ground was a mistake, and he paid for it.
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