Top-notch, multi-layered drama way above the average output of American TV filmmakers, set in the Deep South of the United States. An old black man appears to have shot dead the redneck white son of a local Cajun bigwig. But when local police chief Richard Widmark arrives at the scene 18 old men, all clutching shotguns and five spent rounds of ammunition, claim to have done the deed, as does Holly Hunter, as the American equivalent of the local squire's daughter, who was partly raised by Mathu, one of the 18, and feels responsible for resolving the situation. It is she who devises the mass confession to save Mathu from a possible lynching party. The film wins on most counts splendid ensemble playing by the actors; excellent photography from Edward Lachman, caring yet clever direction from the German Volker Schlondorff, a moving and adult script and a score augmented by the veteran blues singer Papa John Creach, who also plays a part in the film.

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