If ever there was a film about a brave woman trying to survive in hard places (the wilderness) and hard times (the Great Depression), this is it. This movie received good review when released -- Roger Ebert cited it as a exemplary film at the time -- but it's disappeared. Some of this is likely due to its Canadian production; if a U.S. company makes a film in Canada, it's easy to find, but domestic Canadian films often get lost in the shuffle.
Ellen Burstyn is marvelous in the lead role; she gives a performance that keeps the film tipping over into a standard Lifetime TV potboiler, albeit in the pines. She tries, she adapts, she grieves, but all in a realistic way that life will go on, and she'll go along with it.
Ellen Burstyn is marvelous in the lead role; she gives a performance that keeps the film tipping over into a standard Lifetime TV potboiler, albeit in the pines. She tries, she adapts, she grieves, but all in a realistic way that life will go on, and she'll go along with it.