This Sydney Pollack Western Starring Robert Redford Is a Sobering, Violent True Story of Survival and Change

Sydney Pollack is not always given the respect that he deserves as being one of the greatest filmmakers in history, and that may be because he has worked with such a diverse number of genres. Between a Best Picture-winning historical epic (Out of Africa), a haunting paranoia thriller (Three Days of the Condor), a classic adventure romance (The Electric Horseman), an all-time great comedy (Tootsie), and a brilliant courtroom thriller (Absence of Malice), Pollack was able to dip his toes into a variety of different filmmaking styles. Although it may be a challenge to identify recurring motifs within his work, Pollack’s filmography was distinguished by his frequent collaborations with Robert Redford. Pollack directed Redford to bring out one of his best performances ever in the survival thriller Jeremiah Johnson, which doubled as a subversive Western adventure.

What Is ‘Jeremiah Johnson’ About?

Based on an incredible true story, Jeremiah Johnson stars Redford as a legendary Mexican-American war veteran who decided to isolate himself from the rest of society by becoming a mountain man in the Rocky Mountains. While America had become a more expansive nation through the acquisition of new territories, few had been settled with legitimate governments, which gave men like Johnson the opportunity to explore without risk of disturbing local law enforcement. Johnson is taught his trade by the established mountain man Bear Claw Chris Lapp (Will Geer) and later falls in love with the Indigenous woman Swan (Delle Bolton), whom he marries. However, the life of his young family is soon put in danger when a feud with a rival tribe threatens to put them all in danger and forces Johnson to return to the violent ways he had thought he had left behind forever.

Jeremiah Johnson was an integral film for Redford’s career, as he had previously proven himself to be more of a heartthrob thanks to his charismatic performances in Downhill Racer and Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. While Redford does excel in some of the film’s more intimate scenes between Johnson and Swan, where he is able to show his romantic side, his performance is quite grim and examines the taxing effects that age has on a man. Even though Johnson was relatively young when he first made his expedition, the film emphasizes that being a veteran in such an ugly conflict has discolored his perception of what humanity is capable of. Although being able to become a husband and father was able to revive his sense of optimism, the danger he met during his encounter with the Crow Natives served as a reminder that danger will always rear its ugly head. Redford’s ability to play such a dark, wounded character was certainly important as he began making more serious films in the next decade, including The Candidate, All The President’s Men, and The Great Waldo Pepper.

‘Jeremiah Johnson’ Is a Story of Survival and Humility

Although the eventual battle with the different tribe provides the film with its most exciting action set piece, Jeremiah Johnson succeeded by showing the nuances of survival and how taxing it could be both physically and mentally. While being separated from the cities and communities that represented his past was important in Johnson’s ability to cope with his severe post-traumatic stress disorder, he was also a stranger who had to fight each and every day to preserve his own life. The film was able to explore the complexity of his mindset; although it took considerable effort to search for resources, build shelters, and defend his territory, Johnson benefited from the sense of independence that he earned from being a mountain man.

Jeremiah Johnson was an important film within the revisionist Western movement, in which films attempted to ground themselves in reality and paid attention to key moments of historical context. The film was also noteworthy in its depiction of Native Americans; although the Blackfoot clan is depicted as being villainous, Jeremiah Johnson goes out of its way to indicate that not all indigenous tribes were the same. While its moody atmosphere and downbeat tone may have made it less accessible, Jeremiah Johnson may be the crowning achievement within Pollack’s series of collaborations with Redford.