
5 votes
1980
41m
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.
Directed by Peter Werner

Tommy Lee Jones
Ab SnopesDiane Kagan
MotherShawn Whittington
Sarty Snopes
Carolyn Coates
AuntMichael Riney
BrotherJennie Hughes
Lena SnopesJulie Kaye Fanton
Donna Mae SnopesAl Scott
JudgeTom Royals
HarrisJimmy Faulkner
Major DeSpainJean Pettigrew
Mrs. DeSpainThomas Hal Phillips
JusticeJames Franks
BlacksmithSimpson Hemphill
Stranger
Henry Fonda
Self - Series Host (uncredited)Status
Released
Release date
March 17, 1980
Budget
—
Revenue
—
Language
English