Jeremiah Johnson (DVD)
APPROX. 116 MINS. - PROD. YEAR: 1972 - MPA RATING: PG
" ...notwithstanding its requisite violence, the film is essentially gentle and poetic.
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Robert Redford had reached the height of his popularity when he made this 1972 adventure film. Ecology was always a serious part of Redford´s personal philosophy, and he could well afford to explore and develop this story of a mountain man´s love for the great outdoors. "Jeremiah Johnson" is a very personal film, to say the least.
The movie also owes a part of its success to its suitability for the day. The late sixties and early seventies were a period when as a people our consciousness was being raised on environmental issues. Thoreau´s advice of a century before to "Simplify, simplify" was being taken to heart by millions of people who were making "Walden" a reality.
Redford, screenwriters John Milius and Edward Anhalt, and director Sydney Pollack were well attuned to America´s growing awareness of its surroundings, and in simple, elegant words and images brought this changing world, metaphorically, to the screen. Filmed entirely on location in Utah, the film makes a dramatic impact on DVD.
The movie begins in the mid 1800s with a clean-cut, young soldier, Jeremiah Johnson (Redford), leaving military service after the Mexican-American War. The narrative implies that Johnson is fed up with seeing firsthand humanity´s inhumanity, as he heads for the purity and grace of the wide-open spaces. Or perhaps like Ishmael in Melville´s "Moby Dick," he just feels the need for a change, a longing in his soul for new challenges in places far away from the presence of Man.
Along the way Johnson undergoes a series of hardships and adventures, which constitute the plot of the story. However, do not expect a lot of plot to get in the way of the natural beauty of the photography and the excitement of the events. This is practically a one-man show, with Redford front and center. Will Geer shows up as an old-timer who teaches him the ways of the mountains, along with a few other colorful characters, including a lovely young woman, played by Delle Bolton, whom Johnson reluctantly marries. But in all, it is an unhurried and unpretentious story told with grace and simplicity.
