Country

A sensitive performance by Jessica Lange as a strong wife and mother who fights to save the family farm. A strong cast of fine actors includes: Sam Shepard, Wilford Brimley, Matt Clark and Therese Graham. This film is realistic,especially for the time in which it was released, 1984. You feel the sense of desperation thanks to outstanding performances.

"Country" was filmed in 3 miles north and 1 mile west of Dunkerton, IA. A deserted farmstead was selected for the film because it was a surprise that Iowa had modern farm homes. I lived 8 miles from the farm used on a farm of my own. I knew at least 8 of the extras in the movie, so I'm fairly confident of my facts. A number of the farmers in the movie were in fact retired farmers. Reagonomics was the cause of nearly of the the farmers problems. The FHA and bank had encouraged farmers to expand their farm operations. Shortly after they had made huge financial commitments grain and livestock prices dropped drastically. Neither the FHA or banks were overly sympathetic to their plights. The relationship of the Ivy family is very believable and touching, as is Jewels attempt to rally support from among the neighbor farmers. The auction has a basis in history referred to as the "nickel" auctions. During the 30's as farmers were foreclosed on the neighbors would bid a nickel on a piece of equipment and when winning the bid return it to the farmer as a gift. It was their way to support those that supported them. Oh, by the way the guy yelling who gets the money is my dad, and he and his dad went to these nickel auctions. If I can answer and further question about the area etc., contact me at, stoutwood50@aol.com Tag it Country questions.

The best of the farm disaster movies of 1984/85 - which included Country Places Of the Heart, and the River, it features Jessica Lange and Sam Shepard as a husband and wife struggling not only with their livelihood as farmers but also with their marriage. A well acted insight into the farming crisis of the mid 80s. On a scale of one to ten.. 8

A sobering look at farms in crisis. Shows how farmers tried to hide herds from government lenders, the human cost of financial strain, the hopelessness shown by families who have reached the end of their financial rope. Sam Shepard and Jessica Lange anchor a strong and capable cast that effectively portrays the plight of U.S. farmers in the mid-1980s. Cinematography well done, with Kansas and Nebraska location shooting. Auction scene is heart-wrenching, as a farm held by generations of one family is auctioned to satisfy debtors. To watch the bidders converge on the equipment lined up for sale is a powerful image, repeated many times throughout the Plains states during that period.

Country was filmed in Dunkerton, IA. My grandpa owned the farm before and after the movie was made. There was a L shaped 120 acres around it. My dad's 1977 F-150 pickup was even in the scene when Gill goes to the FMHA office. We have a lot of news articles that people gave to us and what my grandma collected during that time. The movie was made long before I was born, but it's interesting to hear stories from my dad and my grandma. We have a video of my dad and grandpa burning down the house in the Spring of 1989. I live just a mile and a half from where the site is. All that is there is just the well from the house. Went up there and a took a brick that was laying on top with a pile of rocks.(probably from the barn)Its a great movie for todays generation to show how horrible these times were in the 1980s, that is wasn't all fun. A lot of farmers dissapered in these yrs......