Hippikylän kasvatit (2013)

Hippikylän kasvatit (2013). Hippikylän kasvatit: Directed by Rena Mundo Croshere, Nadine Mundo. With Rena Mundo Croshere, Nadine Mundo. In 1970, 1,500 hippies and their guru Stephen Gaskin founded a commune in rural Tennessee. Members forked over their savings, grew their own food, delivered their babies at home and built a self-sufficient society. Raised in this alternative community by a Jewish mother from Beverly Hills and a Puerto Rican father from the Bronx, filmmakers and sisters Rena and Nadine return for the first time since leaving in 1985. Finally ready to face the past after years of hiding their upbringing, they chart the rise and fall of America's largest utopian socialist experiment and their own family tree. The nascent idealism of a community destroyed, in part, by its own success is reflected in the personal story of a family unit split apart by differences. American Commune finds inspiration in failure, humor in deprivation and, most surprisingly, that communal values are alive and well in the next generation.

“Thereu0026#39;s enough original footage and recent commentary that you, the viewer, can draw your own conclusions about the Grand Experiment formally known as The Farm. Itu0026#39;s all there. The Farm has always been known for itu0026#39;s blunt honesty, and the film is certainly honest enough (and unbiased enough) for the viewer to draw her own conclusions.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eMy mind focused mainly on the history and the economics of The Farm. And that part of the movie was fleshed out in enough detail to provide plenty of food for thought.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eBut how the movie spoke to my heart is more difficult to put into words. I visited The Farm when I was young, and it was indeed like visiting a foreign country. In fact, Iu0026#39;ve never visited a foreign country that seemed anywhere near as different as visiting The Farm did.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eWhen my heart quietly reflects on the movie, I see the beauty of the land. The children walk to school through the forest, and are perfectly safe in doing so. In fact, theyu0026#39;re perfectly safe, no matter where they go and what they do. How different from America! u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eJust looking at the peopleu0026#39;s faces as theyu0026#39;re talking taught me so much. By comparison to the faces of most Americans, theyu0026#39;re alive with emotion. They havenu0026#39;t had an upbringing which has beaten them down or broken them, or drained the life out of them.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eTheir upbringing was both impoverished and strict. The strict rules are well-intentioned, and generally derived from hippie culture. Because it was so strict, I was asking myself, u0026quot;Was this a cult?u0026quot; And Iu0026#39;d say no. Even though Stephen Gaskin was unquestionably the leader of The Farm, he was a very benign dictator. Not always right, but always concerned for what was best for the community, rather than what was best for himself.”