Seeds and weeds

sjg9909

Bruce Dern's words were the key to the story. Something like 'You spread your seed and don't tend them, they grow to be weeds.' Harlan's father left him, Wade wasn't the boy's biological father and not much of one to the girl. They were "weeds" left to survive on their own without guidance or initiation into adulthood. A comment on our throw-away, superficial culture. Harlan was looking for something true, and there's precious little to be found. He retreated into his fantasies and became lost. He was connected to life in a positive way through nature, not other human beings. But nature isn't valued in the valley.

The girl was Harlan's 'shadow', the beauty he'd never had. He was her shadow, a pure heart seeking truth. Of course, there wasn't hope for him from the beginning. He was a weed to be cut down as we build more houses empty of meaning.

score 10/10

sjg9909 27 September 2006

Reprint: https://www.imdb.com/review/rw1484596/