At Play in the Fields of the Lord

At Play in the Fields of the Lord (1991) is a nearly three-hour epic you can watch online on iFILM, directed by Héctor Babenco and adapted from Peter Matthiessen's 1965 novel. The Amazon jungle, mid-twentieth century: American missionaries and American mercenaries arrive at the territory of the Niaruna people for entirely different reasons that lead to the same place.

Martin and Hazel Quarrier (Aidan Quinn and Kathy Bates) want to bring the tribe to God. Pilot Lewis Moon (Tom Berenger) has been contracted to bomb their village and clear the land for gold. But Moon is half Cheyenne himself — and one day he jumps from the plane straight into the jungle, joining the people he was paid to destroy. John Lithgow, Daryl Hannah and Tom Waits complete a cast that includes no one without something to lose.

Babenco shot on location in Brazil, not on a stage, and the film carries that physical truth. Stream At Play in the Fields of the Lord (1991) online on iFILM.