A lonely farmer takes in a pregnant woman and looks after her. After she gives birth, tragedy strikes.
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CinemaSerf
7
By CinemaSerf
“Sarah” (Olga Bellin) is pregnant and alone when she encounters “Fentry” (Robert Duvall). He is a subsistence farmer with little but the clothes on his back, but he takes pity on this woman and invites her to stay. Gradually, there is a bond that begins to develop between the two and a fondness is soon evident as he takes greater care of her whilst asking nothing in return. He enjoys having her around and promises to marry her and help her bring up the child. Now childbirth was no easy thing and though he manages to keep to the first part of his bargain, a tragedy means his plans for the second part must be carried out differently than he’d anticipated - but he still finds an unexpected joy and fulfilment from this scenario until yet more tragedy comes his way. The building blocks of the story here all play well to a personable performance from a Duvall whom I’ve rarely seen so effective. There’s a minimum of dialogue, just some characterful acting that takes us on the most unlikely emotional journey set amidst the simplicity and isolation of their backwater Mississippi home. It’s that paucity of traditional cinematic tools that adds to the intimacy of their relationship and makes this drama all the more poignant. It’s a slow burn and the ending is maybe a little too rushed, but this is an enjoyably considered human story that’s worth a watch.
