For all of their shortcomings, the couple's shy approach to one another, and joys for the simple provenance offered by Antonia as their protector, provide an emblem of the nurturing powers in the female household. Audiences squirm with delight as they watch these discarded members of society flourish with embarrassing innocence. We watch Danielle's transformation from adolescence to womanhood and find nothing alarming or disconcerting about her lesbianism and her decision to become pregnant without benefit of marriage. Antonia, always acceptant of life's realities, continues to care for Danielle's needs by providing emotional and intellectual support in the search for an appropriate man to father the child. Much later, Danielle's child is raped by DeeDee's brother, who had also been raping DeeDee, prior to her rescue from her father's malevolent and abusive household.
Justice is swift.
Antonia, magnificent in her outrage, sweeps across the farm and into the village pub where the males are gathered. With rifle pointed at the rapist's head, she orders him out of town. Antonia's farm grows and expands with new life. Seasons come and go, bringing death and rebirth. In Dutch, with English subtitles.