Sydney Pollack
Jeremiah Johnson

"His mountain. His peace. His great hunts. His young bride. With all that, it would have been different."

Some say he is dead... others say he never will be."

Loosely based on the life of John Johnson, known as Liver-Eating Johnson, "Jeremiah Johnson" is a film considered crucial for American western cinema. Sydney Pollack brings to life the story of a former soldier determined to leave civilization behind to live in the Rocky Mountains as a fur trapper. In a world that seems to have no boundaries, he finds a hard formative journey dictated by the timeless laws of nature and those of the Indian populations to whom Jeremiah’s trampled land belongs.

The essential, concrete cinema of Pollack finds here one of its most vivid realizations thanks also to the masterful performance of Robert Redford at the height of his artistic splendor. The times are dictated by the slow passing of the seasons, from the melting winter snows to the warm summer sun; the narrative is fluid, silences prevail over useless speeches; the West is for rugged people, on the margins of civilized society yet so in touch with the most intimate meanings of life and death. The expressive power of Redford's face, hidden by a flowing beard, is an extraordinary element of the film. Pollack directs his favorite actor for the second time after "This Property Is Condemned," managing to exalt all the characteristics of alienation and humility that would later define the American actor as the common hero, a character overwhelmed by events and perpetually with a destiny in the balance. Finally, the relationship with the Native Americans is observed in a different light; to the violence of human nature tested by a life at the edge of survival, Pollack also brings the intimate relationship of a people with their land, their beliefs. The Indian is no longer seen as a hostile enemy opposing civilization; he is an element placed in a reality of his own that has always existed. Jeremiah does not bring his law, he adapts to theirs. 

Released in theaters in 1972, in Italy it is unfortunately known by an ugly and misleading title, "Corvo Rosso Non Avrai Mai Il Mio Scalpo" ("Red Crow, You'll Never Get My Scalp").