Cinematography will make history

Rating: 9/10 (25 May 2016)

Westerns have their own vocabulary, with their swelling brass-heavy orchestrations, expansive sky shots, and the campfire code of rugged, manly suffering in silence. Those of us who don't care for all this aesthetic grit would usually avoid an offering like this, but this piece is absolutely unmissable.
Yes, there are a lot of Western tropes--the hero who transcends culture by taking a Native American wife and speaking her language, the mute respect between fellow hardy travelers, and of course the (exceptionally gruesome) shootout at the end (which is this case is performed with hacking instruments)--but the filming at some points is unlike anything I've ever seen. The bear attack includes, among the standard close-up shaky hand-held shots, mercilessly steady middle shots and terrifying deep-focus angles as the bear runs up. Likewise, the Native American attack in the beginning has the same revolutionary filming that stops your heart by putting right in the middle, an effect achieved through genuine artistry rather than just by tacky 3D. These two scenes alone make the movie worth watching on the big screen.