The film, which is a bit too leisurely, is less focused on individual character than on community and extended family—forces that, alongside a distant and repressive government, define their lives.
That planting, intended to protect the earth through harsh winter storms and serve many other functions for the soil, was stripped and hauled away to chipmunk storage chambers, a ready food for uninvited guests of the garden.
The rain, the sight of the Sun at the top of the sky, the quickened greening of the earth and the press of crops ready for harvest pull us into the rising tide of the growing season.
Touring the garden, perennial herbs and flowers, as well as fall-planted garlic that emerged from snowdrifts scarcely two weeks ago, have been growing quickly since the recent heat wave.
