FARMARIN VAIMO

Juhannuspyhien myöhäisilloissa nähtävä koskettava dokumentti kuvaa nuoren nebraskalaisen maanviljelijäperheen arkea. Kolme vuotta jatkuneiden kuvausten aikana Juanitan ja Darrelin elämä muuttuu vakavaksi draamaksi. Rahahuolet, pelko maatalouden alasajosta sekä vastuu kolmen pienen tyttären tulevaisuudesta ajaa vanhempien keskinäisen suhteen välirikon partaalle.

Realistisen perhe-elämän kuvauksen lisäksi elokuva näyttää runsaasti myös Nebraskan upeita maisemia. Aurinkoa, vehreyttä ja viljavia peltoja. Hehkuvanpunaisten auringonlaskujen ja tummansinisten öiden joukkoon mahtuu toki paljon myös meille suomalaisille tuttua kuvaa rankkasateen pieksemistä savipelloista ja pihamaista.

David Sutherlandin dokumentti, Farmarin vaimo - The Farmer´s Wife, imaisee katsojan kuin mutainen pihamaa saappaan; syvälle sisälle perheen elämään, jossa rahaa tärkeimmäksi nousee kuitenkin avioparin välinen rakkaussuhde.

• Ohjaaja: David Sutherland
• Tuotanto: Frontline/WGBH, USA, 1998

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THE FARMER'S WIFE

Over three extraordinary night of television, the audience is privy to a disarmingly intimate, emotionally engrossing portrait of a passionate yet troubled relationship. In scene after scene, Juanita and Darrel fight a punishing series of battles - with the soil, with the weather, with their creditors, with the government, and with their own story, in their own words, without the intrusion of a narrator.

Filmmaker Sutherland combines an intense human connection to his subjects with a stunning technical virtuosity. The camera seems to be everywhere, yet is so unobtrusive it seems that Juanita and Darrel and their three girls are unaware of its presence. Radio microphones bring us so close to the characters that we can hear them breathing, sighing, groaning, and praying. My goal, says Sutherland, is to make you feel that you're living in their skin. What emerges is an epic story of faith, perseverance, and triumph, and an indelible portrait of a real American family's struggle to hold on to their dreams and to each other.

I wanted to explore not only the value of a dream, but the cost of that dream. I guess, for me, that's what the film is really about, says Sutherland. I always like to confront the contradictions. I wanted to ask what are we willing to go through and what are we willing to put the people we love through in order not to give up on a dream? I wasn't interested in making a valentine or an expose. I wasn't looking for a hero - but I ended up with two.

When Juanita married Darrel thirteen years ago, she wanted nothing more than to be a farmer's wife. He was twenty-three years old, with a romantic soul and a passion for the land. She was seventeen, with a catch in her voice and an indomitable spirit. Together, they shared a dream. She would be a stay-at-home mom, raising the six children they hoped to have. Darrel would farm their land and eventually take over his father's operation. Within a few years, they had three daughters. Then, through combination of bad business, drought, and falling farm prices, their dream threatened to turn into to a nightmare.

Juanita and Darrel Buschkoetter live on a small-scale grain and cattle farm near Lawrence, Nebraska, population 350. They farm, 1,100 acres of rented ground. Darrel grew up a few miles outside of Lawrence, on his father's farm. Juanita is what the locals call a city girl because she grew up in a town, the daughter of the superintendent of schools.

She is everything I was ever looking for, says Darrel. She was good looking. She was kind of daring like I am. If you wanted the perfect farm wife and perfect mother, you could see it when she was in high school. You don't see that combination is somebody very often. She's my everything.

• Director: David Sutherland
• Production: Frontline/WGBH, USA, 1998