hey say he wanted to be a mountain man.” Beginning with an overture to highlight a sweeping score (by Tim McIntire and John Rubinstein), the premise is set up with essentially no introductions. Without a past laid out, the loner Jeremiah Johnson (Robert Redford), running away from unnamed troubles, heads out into the Colorado wilderness to live off the land (set during the mid-1800s). But in his extreme isolation, he has no guidance when his goal of hunting bear and beaver (and other such critters) turns fruitless. He even struggles to fish, to start a fire, and to keep his horse and mule alive, winding up wet and freezing amid snow-covered terrain. And when he runs across the frozen corpse of a likeminded hunter, Hatchet Jack, it’s surely an ill omen.

Some two months into his mostly unsuccessful survivalist expedition, Jeremiah runs across the elderly, white-haired Bear Claw (Will Geer), a grizzly hunter who is fortunately more gracious than both the elements and the various Indian tribes who might want to scalp the newcomer. In no time at all, with tutoring and guidance, Jeremiah becomes a curiously adept tracker and skinner, prompting him to head out on his own once again, armed with better equipment and sharper skills. “You sure are cocky for a starving pilgrim.”

With humor and good-natured misadventures, the film begins in a comical, whimsical manner. But it grows darker when Johnson meets up with a crazed woman (Allyn Ann McLerie) whose family, including children, were slain by Indians. Her trauma, alongside that of a petrified-into-silence boy named Caleb (Josh Albee), is alarming and tragic; this sequence’s realism is unequivocally not a laughing matter, aided by gravely convincing performances. Interestingly, Jeremiah’s tribulations aren’t actually a matter of continued aloneness; he keeps running into idiosyncratic, unique personas, expanding his surrogate family unit. These additional roles are superb, including Delle Bolton as a Flathead woman called Swan, as well as the shifty mountain man Del Gue (Stefan Gierasch).

Directed by Sydney Pollack, the pacing is unhurried, yet nonetheless regularly engaging. He may not cover the premise with much expediency, but the characters are sensational; it’s clear that developing the leads is more significant than the specific encounters and conflicts. A particular tone and feeling are superior to a strong narrative. But even when little is happening, it’s difficult not to be enthralled by how likable and sympathetic Johnson and his clan become. As seasons change, Johnson is recruited into a series of hazardous missions, spread out over an undisclosed period of time (punctuated by an intermission and entr’acte, which are both curious for a film that runs less than two hours), creating something of an epic feel, covering all manner of standard Western events, including cavalry-related incidents and run-ins with hostile Indians.

Despite the toned-down nature of many of the perils, the film is still a marginally incongruous blend of lighthearted interactions and darkly morbid vulnerabilities; existing in the wilds is depicted as both playful and unforgiving, which results in a contentious clash. It’s a betrayal of sorts when guards are let down during moments of levity, only to be drastically overtaken by sudden violence and mayhem. But the ordeals are quite cinematic (an obvious precursor to the more graphic and bloody “The Revenant”); much is conveyed through expressions and actions, what with the limited dialogue and inability of most of the characters to communicate with one another via language.

There’s a beauty and freedom in the mountains, too, contributing a visual uniqueness. But as the film draws to a close, Jeremiah must brave countless ambushes by lone Crow warriors seeking revenge; he’s legendary (based on the real-life Johnson) and his tale is larger-than-life, yet the mere act of subsisting isn’t always satisfying. Even in the finale, which resolves one component of Johnson’s crucible, it’s evident that charting his adventures is more important than completing his story – perhaps fitting for a legend but irresolute for a movie. “Would you happen to know what month of the year it is?” “I truly wouldn’t.”

– Mike Massie