The story in this movie was an Edward Albee stage play. For the most part the movie looks like a stage play, with static camera shots and characters with loud exposition and bold movement. It was set in rural Georgia, we can tell by references to going up to Atlanta, but it was actually filmed near Austin, Texas on the ranch owned by singer Willie Nelson.
Vanessa Redgrave is Miss Amelia who seems to practically own the town. She runs the local store and makes and sells good moonshine in this depression era. When a family gets behind in rent she goes into their house at night, takes their sewing machine, and leaves.
Things begin to change when a hunchback dwarf, Cork Hubbert as Cousin Lymon, shows up claiming to be her cousin, and he recites the family connections to back up his story. Amelia takes him in and treats him almost like a long lost son, doting on him, feeding him, letting him lounge when she is working in the heat of the day, showing him her moonshine operation.
Trouble starts when Keith Carradine as Marvin Macy shows up. He is just out of prison and a flashback shows us that he some time earlier had asked Amelia's hand in marriage and she accepted, but them she threw him out for no apparent reason. When she heard he was headed back their way she announced in her crowded café that she didn't want any part of him.
The theme of the movie is obscure because much of what we see doesn't make sense, so we must rely on what is explained at one point by Rod Steiger as Rev. Willin. Love takes two people, the one who loves, and the one who is the be-loved. Being the be-loved is difficult, and that is what Amelia experienced. Marvin Macy wanted to love her, but she was not able to be his be-loved, so her rejection turned Marvin into a criminal. When he returned to that town he was out to destroy her, which he did in a sense.
Not my favorite type of movie, but it has some interesting elements.
Vanessa Redgrave is Miss Amelia who seems to practically own the town. She runs the local store and makes and sells good moonshine in this depression era. When a family gets behind in rent she goes into their house at night, takes their sewing machine, and leaves.
Things begin to change when a hunchback dwarf, Cork Hubbert as Cousin Lymon, shows up claiming to be her cousin, and he recites the family connections to back up his story. Amelia takes him in and treats him almost like a long lost son, doting on him, feeding him, letting him lounge when she is working in the heat of the day, showing him her moonshine operation.
Trouble starts when Keith Carradine as Marvin Macy shows up. He is just out of prison and a flashback shows us that he some time earlier had asked Amelia's hand in marriage and she accepted, but them she threw him out for no apparent reason. When she heard he was headed back their way she announced in her crowded café that she didn't want any part of him.
The theme of the movie is obscure because much of what we see doesn't make sense, so we must rely on what is explained at one point by Rod Steiger as Rev. Willin. Love takes two people, the one who loves, and the one who is the be-loved. Being the be-loved is difficult, and that is what Amelia experienced. Marvin Macy wanted to love her, but she was not able to be his be-loved, so her rejection turned Marvin into a criminal. When he returned to that town he was out to destroy her, which he did in a sense.
Not my favorite type of movie, but it has some interesting elements.