The Milagro Beanfield War

In Milagro, a small town in the American Southwest, Ladd Devine plans to build a major new resort development…

• Director: Robert Redford
• Genre:Comedy / Drama / Fantasy
• Runtime:118 minutes

Cast

Rub?n Blades : Sheriff Bernabe Montoya
Richard Bradford: Ladd Devine
Sonia Braga : Ruby Archuleta
Julie Carmen : Nancy Mondragon
James Gammon : Horsethief Shorty

Nearly 500 residents of an agricultural community in the mountains of northern New Mexico face a crisis almost without a stir, until a young, unemployed handy man with a family of four begins to irrigate his father’s parched bean field.

State politics and big business interests have agreed in a backroom deal to usurp the lifeblood of the town (water for crops) in order to pave the way for a land buy-out that threatens the way of life of the residents who live in Milagro, and whose families established the town over 300 years ago. Due to the new laws that divert water for use by big businesses only, Joe Mondragon is unable to make a living farming. In a reflection of actual United States water laws, Mondragon is not allowed to divert water from an irrigation ditch that runs past his property as that water is for property owners with priority.

Frustrated, and unable to find work, Joe visits his father’s field. He happens upon a tag that reads “prohibited” covering a valve that diverts water from his fields. He kicks the valve, unknowingly breaking it and letting water flood his fields. He decides to “sleep on it” before repairing the valve.

The rest of the story is an escalation of events between power interests on all sides. It is a story of the struggle between different perspectives, most have their own idea of what is best for Milagro, and all consist of various levels of selfishness.

At the heart, this is a war of competing values and competing definitions of what makes a community rich. Read more

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