Hybrid -- by Monteith McCollum Showing tonight at The Liberty Theatre You would have thought that tampering with genetics, cloning sheep and mapping DNA were all very much contemporary -- even futuristic -- developments.

Not so, according to this touching film. The idea goes back at least a generation, when Iowa farmer Milford Beeghly began experimenting with different grades of corn in a bid to come up with a bumper crop -- one that could stand up to the pummelling rainstorms and parching droughts of the depressing, depression-hit Mid-West, the bread basket of the United States, back in the 1930s.

Milford was a pioneer. In the days when mucking about with nature was seen as witchcraft -- "plant incest, wicked'' -- Milford saw it as a way of making a not-so-fast buck. And after several failed attempts when his experimentation resulted in no harvest, he finally succeeded.

But spending every day in his field, and ahead of his field, meant that Milford neglected other aspects of life.

Milford's grandson, who directed this film, amply conveys this isolation, using the surrounding bleak and barren landscape as a metaphor for Milford's life. Lingering views of the flat plains around the family farm, all shot in grainy black and white, are accompanied by sombre music. Milford is clearly a product of his environment.

And although Milford does appear on screen, he fails to give an on-camera interview for the first two thirds of this 90 minute documentary.

Instead we snatch glimpses of the old man trudging through his fields, McCollum following behind with his camera as if playing a never ending game of catch-up.

A few faded family snapshots interspersed with interviews with the farmers three, now middle-aged, children, attempt to complete the portrait of the man but even they are unable to shed much light on Milford's long past.

His daughter recalls that the family would go all day without seeing their father, and when he did come home for the evening meal there was very little conversation.

When away on business his children had no idea what he was doing, and Milton's son can only come up with one family anecdote -- recalling how his father and uncle would sit down together in complete silence, barely exchanging a word.

So what does this film tell us about this obsessed, very private man? Well, not much apart from the fact that such singular dedication, commitment and persistence leads to a pretty solitary, alienated life -- with no witnesses.

Which sounds like a pretty dull plot for a film. Indeed, even humorous footage of Milford selling his grain in 1950s television commercials and the odd animated sequence can't break up the monotony of the film's narrative, or Milford's single-track existence.

But just when you thought `Hybrid' like Milford himself, is going on too long, the film catches up with the present and serves up some nice surprises in its climax.

The result is a tender and touching film which is still able to paint a true and accurate portrait of a man and his environment.

GARETH FINIGHAN Withdrawn: Milford Begghly spent much time with his corn and neglected other aspects of his life.