MILAGRO BEANFIELD WAR

Robert Redford, for his second film as a director, has chosen John Nichols 1973 novel about the humorous and magical world of the Milagro Valley, a place where fantasy mingles with reality and anything usually happens, and it does when impoverished farmer Joe Mondrago, improperly diverts some water from a main irrigation channel onto his parched beanfield. This little act of defiance snowballs, setting in motion a chain of events that have overwhelming consequences for both Joe and the people of the town. Beautifully, Redford builds around this fable every important issue concerning the environment, the preservation of a cultural heritage and the rights of citizens against the might of the dollar.