Civlizations in conflict - an a metaphor for life itself - in Meek's Cutoff

"Meek's Cutoff" is an entirely thoughtful and from first shot to last an entirely captivating low-budget movie that could only an Indie director with a cast of little-knowns (except for Indie queen Michelle Williams - who is terrific in this movie) could have made. The story is about a 19th-century stage crossing, a group of three families (two couples, and one a couple with a young son) crossing toward Oregon with a grizzled guide (Meek) who gets them good and lost. The dramatic tension comes when they capture an Indian whom Meek believes is going to bring a tribe with him to kill, torture, rape, or kidnap - he wants to kill the Indian immediately, but others in the party have different ideas: barter with him, befriend him, ignore him - various ways to get him to lead to desperately needed water. It is never clear (until perhaps the very last shots) who is right - is the Indian a victim, is he truly leading them to water, or is Meek right and the Indian is leading them to certain death? The movie subtly explores all the different ways civilizations in conflict respond to one another (the Indian has choices, too: should he help them when their wagon is stuck?, for example). It's also in some ways metaphor or allegorical, without being heavy handed: the crossing in some way represents a life course each of us takes, in partnership with others and perhaps with a guide, who may be faithful or cruel or indifferent. Movie seems to be shot in 4:3 scale (unless my Blu-Ray was being weird), unusual for a film with the great vistas of the West. Williams is great - what a beautiful speaking voice. She alone among the characters sounds natural - the others, a bit stilted, with their archaic dialog. The film intentionally blurs some of the conversations (many are virtually unintelligible, in some cases because we are meant to be with the women, closed out of the men's serious discussions and decisions). Ending to some may seem abrupt and too ambiguous, but if you think about it for a few seconds you will know exactly what becomes of these travelers.