Offbeat, enthralling and more than a little spooky, first-time filmmaker Monteith McCollum's award-winning documentary is simultaneously a portrait of his grandfather, Milford Beeghly (pronounced "bigly"), and an impressionistic account of Beeghly's lifelong obsession with hybridizing corn.
Shot in ominous B&W over the course of several years, the film combines present-day interviews with Beeghly, his adult children and widow, 1950s commercials for Beeghley's Best Hybrids, eerie shots of rural Iowa that suggest the dark vision of David Lynch and truly disconcerting, Quay Brothers-like stop-motion animation of ears of corn and farm-related objects. Even with...
Released:
2001
Rated:
NR
Length:
92 mins