Barn Burning

Story

Synopsis

Ab Snopes (Tommy Lee Jones) is a Southern tenant farmer whose unrelenting and violent nature proves to be his undoing in William Faulkner's Barn Burning. Snopes sets his employer's barn on fire when he thinks he's been treated unfairly. His son, Sarty, is horrified. Snopes escapes justice for lack of proof, but he and his family are told to move on. No sooner do they move than Snopes is offended by his new rich employer. Torn between trying to win his father's acceptance and his aversion to what his father will do, Sarty must make a decision and act quickly. Adapted by Academy Award winning screenwriter Horton Foote, Faulkner's complex world of class divisions and hostile family relationships comes to life through a boy's attempt to liberate himself from hatred and poverty.

Director

Peter Werner

Writers

William Faulkner, Horton Foote

Language

English

Country

United States of America

Release date

17 March 1980

Ensemble

Cast

• 

  Tommy Lee Jones

  Ab Snopes

• Diane Kagan

  Mother

• Shawn Whittington

  Sarty Snopes

• 

  Carolyn Coates

  Aunt

• Michael Riney

  Brother

• Jennie Hughes

  Lena Snopes

• Julie Kaye Fanton

  Donna Mae Snopes

• Al Scott

  Judge

• Tom Royals

  Harris

• Jimmy Faulkner

  Major DeSpain

• Jean Pettigrew

  Mrs. DeSpain

• Thomas Hal Phillips

  Justice