Summaries

Synopsis

Sick of betrayals the US government perpetrated on Native Americans, Colonel William Ludlow (Anthony Hopkins) leaves the Army, moving to a remote part of Montana. Along with One Stab (Gordon Tootoosis), a Cree friend, he builds a ranch and raises his family.Accompanying them are hired hand and former outlaw Decker (Paul Desmond) with his Cree wife Pet (Tantoo Cardinal), and daughter Isabel Two (Karina Lombard). William has three sons: Alfred (Aidan Quinn), the eldest; Tristan (Brad Pitt), the middle son; and Samuel (Henry Thomas), the youngest.One Stab teaches Tristan how to hunt. The boys grew up together and were strong. Alfred was the most mature and both Alfred and Tristan loved Samuel.

William's wife Isabel (Christina Pickles) does not adapt to the harsh Montana winters, so moves to the East Coast; Tristan vows never to speak of her. Tristan spent more and more of his time with One Stab.In 1913, at age 12, Tristan touches a sleeping grizzly bear. The bear awakens and injures him, but he cuts off a claw. The bear survives and wanders off.

Years later, Samuel returns from Harvard University with his fiance, Susannah (Julia Ormond). She finds Tristan captivating but loves Samuel. One Stab can notice the burning fire between Tristan and Susannah. Isabel-Two is 13 years old at the time and tells Susannah that she will marry Tristan one day.Before Samuel and Susannah can marry, Samuel announces his intention to join the Canadian Expeditionary Force and aid Britain in the fight against Germany in World War I. Much to their father's displeasure, Alfred also joins. William did not believe that war would solve anything, having being part of wars himself for several years. He only wanted his 3 sons to live under the same roof.Although Tristan does not want to join, he does so after swearing to Susannah to protect Samuel. Alfred sees Tristan and Susannah getting close to each other.After the boys are gone, William and Susannah take up the education of Isabel-Two.

In Oct 1914, the brothers find themselves in the 10th Battalion, CEF. Alfred, commissioned as an officer, leads a charge into no man's land in Feb 1915. The attack results in heavy casualties and Alfred himself is wounded during the charge. Samuel finally realizes that he was naive to expect that war would solve anything. The charge fails and the battalion is ordered back to their own trenches. Samuel also feels that while Tristan is near him, he would have no chance at any personal glory. Tristan would protect Samuel against taking any risks at all.While visiting Alfred in the field hospital, Tristan learns that Samuel volunteered for a dangerous reconnaissance mission. He rushes off to protect his brother but arrives too late as Samuel is blinded in a mustard gas attack and then mowed down by a German machine gun nest. Tristan holds Samuel until he dies, then cuts out his brother's heart and sends it home to be buried at the ranch.

Tristan raids the German lines all by himself and returns to camp with the scalps of German soldiers hanging around his neck, horrifying his fellow soldiers. He is discharged but does not go home. Alfred returns to Montana and proposes to Susannah, but she declines.

Tristan returns home, where Susannah finds him weeping over Samuel's grave. She comforts him and they become lovers. A jealous Alfred confronts Tristan before leaving to make his name in Helena. Alfred tells Tristan that he has to marry Susannah. Alfred indicates that Tristan wanted Samuel dead, so he could have Susannah all to himself.In 1915, Alfred reaches Helena and opens a Cattle and Grain trading company and prospers.One day, while hunting, Tristan has a clear shot against the Grizzly bear he had mauled as a teenager. Tristan doesn't take the shot and lets the bear live.Tristan is plagued with guilt over Samuel's death and feels responsible for driving Alfred away; he leaves Montana for several years. Tristan serves on-board a yacht and goes around the world. He visits New Guinea in 1918.

Susannah vows to wait for Tristan, but eventually receives a letter from him in Dec 1919 telling her to marry someone else. Alfred returns from Helena comforts her, and when William finds them together, it leads to a falling out between father and son.William later suffers a stroke, does not speak for years and the ranch deteriorates. Susannah marries Alfred, now a congressman. Alfred's business and politics cause him to get involved with the O'Banion brothers (John (Robert Wisden) and James (John Novak)), Irish bootleggers and gangsters.

Tristan returns during Prohibition, bringing life back to the ranch and to his father. He falls in love with Isabel Two and they marry and have two children. Tristan becomes involved in small-scale rum-running, finding himself at odds with the O'Banions. Isabel Two is accidentally killed by a corrupt police officer working for the gangsters. In a fit of grief, Tristan beats the officer nearly to death and is jailed.

Susannah visits Tristan, still having feelings for him, but he refuses her advances. After his release, he and Decker kill those responsible for Isabel's death, including one of the O'Banion brothers.

Unable to live without Tristan, Susannah commits suicide. The remaining O'Banion brother, along with the sheriff Tynert (Kenneth Welsh) and another police officer, come after Tristan. At the ranch, William and Alfred kill the attackers. Alfred reconciles with his father and brother.

The family realizes that Tristan will be blamed for the deaths, prompting him to ask Alfred to take care of his children. One Stab's narration explains that they buried the bodies and dumped the car in the Missouri River. He reflects that rather than dying young as One Stab expected, Tristan lived to watch his children and grandchildren grow. One Stab observes that it was the people Tristan loved and wanted to protect most that died young.

In 1963, Tristan, now an old man living in the North Country, investigates an animal carcass and is confronted by a grizzly bear. He draws his knife and fights it. As they struggle, One Stab narrates, "It was a good death."