Based on a William Faulkner story, this movie has the dark, gloomy, but realistic look of his work. The art direction, lighting, and costume design shows that this is a low-budget film, but it doesn't make it corny. In fact, this adds much to the authenticity of what the South was like in the late 1800s. In addition, the film is in black and white; this helps make the depressive mood of the story.<br /><br />Like much of Faulkner's writing, the film is done in flashback form. It opens with a murder of a young man and the trial of the man who committed the killing. It then goes back twenty years earlier to a poor, Southern farmer, Jackson Fentry.<br /><br />Robert Duvall is simply wonderful as Fentry, a man who is cut off from most of the world. His character is lonely but yet a naive and caring individual as he finds an ill pregnant woman (Olga Bellin) while working on a farm as a caretaker. He takes her in and cares for her. Everything seems normal for awhile, but then two tragedies happen they lead up to the present opening of the film. <br /><br />Everything is tied in together nicely, making a great, yet sad ending. It brings up the questions: Which is better for a child? Heredity or environment? This sounds like an excellent film that I would give a 10/10. But what made me give it a 7 was the pace. The movie was incredibly slow. This is no action, and I knew it wasn't one, but the dry, drawling, Southern monotones that the actor's spoke made it boring.