the real dirt of farmer john [A+]

moviemcpeake snippet: The perfect way to start off the Oscar Cram. I can only hope it will get some sort of nomination. Heart warming documentary. Pulls at your emotions. Touching. [Insert Adjective] Think of every positive adjective that you could use to describe a film and it would go here. This feel good film tells the story of a sensitive man who goes outside of the norm of his rural Illinois community and struggles to keep his love, his family’s farm alive and breathing.

No matter where Farmer John goes or what he does he is unable to escape the family farm that is calling him. He was born to sculpt dirt. John is not your typical farmer. Creative and liberating, John loves surrounding himself among artists and eccentrics as he rebuilds the barns and the farm to become the “Midwest Coast” safe haven and creative inspiration for painters, film makers, writers, and friends. They paint, they field. They mediate, they plow. They create rumors.

In the meantime, the small rural community known for helping its neighbors begins to fear their neighbor. Farm John is too different, he upsets their cattle, he ruins his good family name. He describes the situation best. “Farming Communities create a floor and a ceiling. When you need help, they build a floor for you to stand upon, but when you want to do things differently than that same community, builds a ceiling to box you in.” (paraphrase). There are so many great things about farming and this film embraces them. It embraces the importance of the earth and a sense of self. You find yourself desperately needing him to be successful at this thing that keeps torturing him but also loves him. It is such a volatile relationship which makes his narrative real and the emotions fragile.

I can’t think of a better recent American documentary. This film is small, short, and to the point. I learned so much about organic farming, the CSA program (CSA allows us city folk to get weekly organic produce at an affordable rate), and how prejudices spread across all fields of life. In an hour and a half it took me on a soft ride of emotions over and around the universal theme. People are scared of what they don’t understand. Have the courage to see through the pain that comes with prejudices to be able to be free to pursue what you love. Farmer John stays with his calling without compromising his integrity, his character. Because of this courage, he has now created a wonderful world of organic farming that still provides a safe haven for liberation while producing organic products available to every day people living in all types of areas.

recommendation: must see