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Richard Pearce’s movie ‘Heartland‘ is a heartwarming story that throws light on the life of a timid young widow. The movie is based on a true story. It revolves around the rancher and the widow that gets married to him at the end in hopes of leading a better life. After she completes a long and tedious journey to the West with her daughter, all she wants is to work as a housekeeper for the rancher. And like she suspected, she was often puzzled by the rancher’s attitude, responding with I can’t talk about anything with that man. As the story goes, she finds herself stuck in a battle with the seasons, land and most importantly, the banks. Quite the shocking ending, don’t you think?
Playing the widow Elinore Randall is Conchata Ferrell, who is new to acting. She’s a big-boned, clear-eyed, wide-hipped woman of about thirty who makes us realize that most of the women in Western films look like they are on the verge of collapsing from exhaustion. Her reasoning is pretty straightforward. She is prepared to put in the required effort for the amount paid, but is now fed up with being employed and would like to be a landowner in the future. Speaking about her thoughts and goals is not something she engages in, for this film has few words, which is why Heartland is such lacking depth. This is due in part to the nature of Clyde Stewart’s character (Rip Torn), the rancher she accepts a job with. Very little. He is a hard man and a realist who understands that his back can be broken by the ungoverned western land. But he is not cruel, and in the scene where he does eventually propose to her, there is a subtle sharpness in his choice of words that even good-natured people like us would find funny.
Everything about this film is life-affirming. It may explain why Heartland can examine death with such severity.
People looking to move to the American West weren’t the type to sit around knitting or baking peach cobblers which may come off as shocking to some audiences since this movie depicts several graphic scenes. Some include a slaughtered pig, dead cattle, a horse succumbing to starvation amid a blizzard, and a birthed calf.
Much like the rest of the movie, Heartland captures the essence of its setting on a beautiful ranch located in Montana. (The true story revolves around a settler known as Elinore Randall Stewart.) It uses wonderful visual touches to go beyond mere dialogue, such as saying for the lack of speech putin not. The dying nature of the frontier is concealed in little snippets, such as one concerning a family who could reach this point, but no further, and lives cramped in a tiny wagon. One moment that stands out in its peculiarity is right after the wedding, with the bride, Ferrell, coming to the grim realization she got married in her working apron and boots. Another moment, very fresh and restoring, is when she is in labor and her husband sets off riding into the storm to the next farm to get the midwife.
We settle back here while we wait for the expected moment where the midwife comes in and immediately instructs everyone to start boiling lots of hot water, but this time we’re shocked. The husband comes back alone; the midwife is not at her farm. Such subtle changes assist in shedding light on the burden of clichés that smothers the majority of Westerns.
The best part of Heartland by far is Conchata Ferrell’s voice, she makes the movie captivating. It is powerful, confident, and naturally melodious. It is a remarkable voice; in Heartland, we always have to, but she brings so much authenticity to everything she says proving that she easily passes the test. She draws every word out over the screen. That voice puts this movie to the test to see if we think sounded phony and contrived. In Heartland, we never have to.
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