Welcome to the land of Garrison Keillor. This is a very subtle and beautiful film about a topic that my mother would have been extremely aware of. Being of German descent (a family that began farming in the late 1800's), she and her brothers put up with a lot during the war. They had to make the decision at that point to not speak German, even among themselves. While they weren't put to the test as much (since their community was mostly German), it was always an issue. I think what makes this film is that there is little like it in the film world. The people at those Lutheran, soft-spoken, men-of-few- words farmers who go about their business, trying to stay ahead of the bank. The specter of socialism scares the banker because he can divide and conquer and take the land away from them without much effort. There's a lot of the same fear going on these days and people are awfully forgetful about what brought us here and awfully trusting of the potentially oppressive financiers. This film is so quiet and yet has such an edge to it. It's about true love and trust and how we pass our heritage on to others.
I will add a totally irrelevant note. I had the pleasure of actually working in theatre with two of the minor characters during my college days in the 70's. Also, some fine work by Guthrie Theatre alums. See this film. You won't be disappointed.
I will add a totally irrelevant note. I had the pleasure of actually working in theatre with two of the minor characters during my college days in the 70's. Also, some fine work by Guthrie Theatre alums. See this film. You won't be disappointed.