Page 12 RAIN January 1980 If you live in northern North Dakota, you may have known about Northern Lights for quite some time, but for us city folk it's just starting to appear in the movie houses. It is a beautiful film that appeals not only to the eyes and heart but also, upon learning the story of how the film was made and promoted, to ideals of "appropriateness" and "right livelihood." This piece of history comes from a review in Rural America, A Voice for Small Town and Rural People, monthly, from Rural America, 1346 Connecticµt Ave. N.W., Washington, DC 20036; subscriptions $10.00/yr., memberships $15.00/yr. our l\ural P: The movie itself grew out of a narrower effort to document the story of the Non-Partisan League, a political coalition of North Dakota farmers organized in the early 1900s. The league was a part of the Populist Movement and was one of the most successful attempts of the period to put political power into the hands of regional agricultural folk. (See accompanying article.) The opposition came in the form of the Eastern "big money boys" who controlled the means of distribution by which grain and produce went from country field to city table. Ultimately, however, the plot works out to a conflict between the farmers themselves. Those who are aware of "the system" and its methods of cheating the farmers must convince the others to seek power outside of their own small homesteading communities. The struggle is all-consuming and continually frustrating. Not only do most of the farmers mistrust and misunderstand the initial efforts of the organizers (who are themselves farmers), but the grip of the industrialists combined with the force and adversity of the climate also work against the leaguers. The script is sensitive to feminist issues as well-one of the strongest scenes is between two of the farm women who are probably more torn and confused by events than their men. Their situation-separated from their men by the league and from their farms by foreclosure-forces them to take independent roles as partners in a new and greater enterprise. The film and the story are worthy of each other-too many movies can only be recommended for one or another particular aspect; photography or acting or screenplay-Northern Lights is rare in that it is wholly worthwhile. Visually, the movie is beautifully done; all the scenes are in black and white, which is elegantly used to present the stark simplicity of emotion and landscape. The story is unashamedly political, but the issues and conflicts are real enough to make you grit your teeth and clench your fists. What makes Northern Lights extra special, though, is the process by which it was made: John Hanson and Rob Nilsson, the two proWhen Nort1 Farmers · To<J by Phil Brown e forces that angered Ortat . The SaJ!' ers in the 1880s-forces Plains aram farm lled Queen of the that P!'ompted th ~t~h Lease, to urge Popubsts, M~,.r'I . less corn and more farmers to rai~e ing to rile the wheat hell"-were contmu kota 30 years later. farmers of Nor th Da uld harvest their The North ~akot_an: 0 ~:e grain elevators, crop and deliver. it uld be out of their and after that thmgs wo nies set the d The railroad compa k ban s. 1 ·n the hire of bro ers freight rates, peop e :d make a handsome and processors wou. and grading the profit through trading ould get what was wheat, "!'d th e fa~y~nconsiderable. left-which ~a; :r, scontent rampant among In 1915, wit 1 rthur c Townley, a these grain growers, Z flax f~er from bankrupt wheat an started organizingBeach, North D~kt~•PartY and later for a first for the S0cta is the NQJlpartisan .new group- ~o~ngO:~ was to elect a state go into scand~n.avi Catholics would vis1tC After several farmet organizers would me county• leaving the ~• the word among fn• When this leaven lu work "the organizers , sign the remaining far At this point, thei'c once thought the t! becaUSC they had' e wake up with·a s r wits, they would i which • would o'et program as "ana1 radical"• But it was tQ() la· the 1,eague mani .Ji)akota's governor, state supreme cou1 senate, and all the 1 state office save on1 In ·1918, th• Le: not only succee< governor' Lynn F1 control of the state League. Tow ey sed of farmers who government compo s of the state to finally would use th~ powher onomic equals of the make farmers t e ec business world.. . . 111 technique to Tow~ey•s .. organ•~arvel to behold. As accomplish this was ~ ·n "The Farmers' These victories enthusiasm i!1 newspapers, uslDI hard to match "bolshevistic, re now reigned supr (the League's P1 .coverage) though 1 T lor tells -It 1 • Car . ay 62 0, 1920 ,. Townley and his Movement, 1 uld first painstakingly lie'\ltenants .wo eneral ·line of argument. rehearse theirh gfarmhouse would go an Then to eac and a neipbor or at •or~• a lecturer Scandinavians would :l east an.otber farmer. legislature would
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