This remarkable film takes full advantage of the medium to tell a story with an absolute minimum of dialogue. The use of camera and music elevates a simple story of a love triangle to the level of epic myth.



The opening sequence of the film uses still shots and music to transport the viewer back to 1916 America. And then the brief sequences of the factory and the train to the farm demonstrate urban and rural life in the new industrial age.



Sam Shepard and Richard Gere are quite convincing in portraying, with almost no dialogue, the conflicting emotions and suffering of the rivals for Brooke Adams' affections. Adams also is well cast as the beautiful girl from humble circumstances who is at once corrupted and the source of all truth. And the narration by the child is a wonderful touch that adds an ironic perspective to the tale. Leo Kottke's guitar on the soundtrack is yet another perfect touch.



The story itself is a bit thin. Though it may well be that the elemental themes of love and jealousy and the social context that undercuts relationships are best portrayed in a mythic and epic fashion that abstracts from the individuals involved.



The movie is entrancing and one of the great films of the 1970s.