Product Details

• Actors: Bob Blankenship, Dean Eilts, Marge Harold, Joe Jordan (II), James Jordan Jr.
• Directors: Steven Ascher
• Format: Color, NTSC
• Rated: Unrated
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Warner Home Video
• VHS Release Date: September 2, 1997
• Run Time: 88 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 6304554540
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #467,058 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Filmmaker Jeanne Jordan and her husband/coworker Steven Ascher decided to turn a 1990 visit to Jordan's parents--lifelong Iowa farmers--into the beginnings of a personal, self-deprecating film essay about one chapter in the plight of American family farms. Besieged with bank debt and ignored by a marketplace that favors huge corporate crop growers, the Jordans call it quits after spending their entire lives helping to feed this nation. Rather than rant about it, however, Jordan, who narrates the film and is often seen on camera with the rest of her rallying relatives, creates with Ascher a bemused, cinematic sigh over the decline of rural family life and the heroic dreams that fuel it. Watching as her parents silently watch old Westerns on TV--the elder couple's favorite pastime--Jordan notes how a life spent in heroic accord with the seasons (and on the wrong end of the global economy) is like the life of a movie cowboy who takes his stands and faces his showdowns. As we witness the Jordans dismantle their lives, resign themselves to retirement, and auction off most of their things, the family's sadness is palpable. But so is a certain bittersweet freedom that comes with change. In the end, Troublesome Creek is not only about farming but about the mutable nature, for better or worse, of everything in American life. --Tom Keogh

Product Description

Winner of the Grand Jury Prize and Audience Award at the 1996 Sundance Film Festival, this program tells the story of Iowa farmers Russ and Mary Jane Jordan who faced a crisis when, in the late 1980s, a multi-state corporation bought out their small local bank. The Jordans were in debt, and the family's good reputation now counted for little. But Russ and Mary Jane came up with a dramatic solution to hold onto their farm as massive foreclosures swept the nation.

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Accurate portrayal of small farms today, January 11, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Troublesome Creek [VHS] (VHS Tape)

I just saw this documentary the Independent Film Channel and found myself quite drawn into it. Having grown up on a farm in Southern Indiana, and still active in farming while working full-time off the farm, I found many things very familiar to me. Russel and Mary Jane Jordan fondly reminded me of so many farming couples I recall from my youth. They are an ardent, persistent lot, coming out of the great depression and World War II with not much more than their dreams and work ethic.

Viewing this film, I felt a persistent sadness, not only for the Jordan family, but also for so many small farmers like them who are having to deal with the changing tide in agriculture. The time when a farmer could raise a family on a few hundred acres or less is gone. The account of farming and farm life is accurate. The plight of small farmers today is also accurate.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This is a GREAT film!, December 2, 2002

By 

J. P. Warrant "JPW" (United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Troublesome Creek [VHS] (VHS Tape)

I show this video during the "American Dream" unit that I teach to my junior English students. This video fits in perfectly because it highlights the classic struggle that today's farmers have, and it helps students compare today's dream with that of the past. I live in Iowa, and this movie could probably be played out in real life among many of my students' families. I would definitely recommend this movie to anyone who enjoys documentaries. I have never tired of seeing it!

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars What A Triumph!!, July 26, 2001

By 

Eric Swanger (Chicago, IL USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Troublesome Creek [VHS] (VHS Tape)

I saw this film on the Sundance Channel last year, and have been trying to find it ever since. Its a deeply personal documentary made by a daughter about her family's struggle to maintain dignity and happiness in a time of financial doom. Jeanne Jordan returns to rural Iowa where she was raised, in effort to shed some light on the true strength of her family. Her parents, in an effort to settle their debts to a large midwestern farming bank, are forced to sell off most of their personal belongings, so they may keep the farmland within the family. What is so great about the film is that it was made by someone who is not a mere outsider to the subjects, but a sypathetic and supportive participant in the ordeal itself. Jeanne Jordan provides a lot of historical background about her family, and also shows that although they are in the midst of bad times, they can still maintain a level of positivity and humor. It plays out like a movie really. And although there are a lot of really touching moments, it steers clear of becoming too sentimental. She narrates the film very well, filling in the details when needed, and pulling back when they are easily visible. And she says some really powerful things about growing up on a farm, which is a lifestyle that many of us cant even begin to understand. Jordan sums it up beautifully when, near the end, she states "Growing up on a farm is probably like growing up on the coasts, you can never go to far without feeling bereft in some way." Very moving film. One of the best documentaries Ive seen.