The Field (1990)

User Rating:

7.1/10   

Director:

Jim Sheridan

Writers:

John B. Keane (play)
Jim Sheridan (writer)

Release Date:

March 1991 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

An unforgettable story of power and passion from the producer and director of My Left Foot.

Plot:

"Bull" McCabe's family has farmed a field for generations, sacrificing endlessly for the sake of the land...

Plot Keywords:

Auction | Cross Cultural Relationship | Father Son Conflict | Murder | Tinker

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 2 nominations

Cast

Richard Harris	...	'Bull' McCabe
Sean Bean	...	Tadgh McCabe
Frances Tomelty	...	Widow
Brenda Fricker	...	Maggie McCabe
John Hurt	...	Bird' O'Donnell
Ruth McCabe	...	Tinker Woman
Jer O'Leary	...	Tinker Girl's Father
Noel O'Donovan	...	Tomás
John Cowley	...	Flanagan
Ronan Wilmot	...	Tinker
Jenny Conroy	...	Tinker Girl
Joan Sheehy	...	2nd Tinker Woman
Sean McGinley	...	Father Doran
Malachy McCourt	...	Sergeant
Frank McDonald	...	Quarryman

Also Known As:

Feld, Das (Germany) [de]
Horafi, To (Greece) [el]

Runtime:

107 min

Country:

Ireland | UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Certification:

Australia:PG | Spain:13 | Iceland:12 (video rating) | Iceland:14 | Argentina:13 | Chile:14 | Finland:K-12 | Sweden:15 | USA:PG-13 | UK:12 (original rating) | UK:15 (video rating)

Filming Locations:

Aasleigh Church, Aasleigh, County Galway, Ireland

Company:

Granada Television

Trivia:

In order to secure his role, Richard Harris arranged a meeting with director 'Jim Sheridan' and turned up in full costume and in character. Sheridan, who was initially reluctant to cast Harris because of his difficult reputation, decided to cast him based on this meeting.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: During the opening scene when the donkey is thrown off the cliff, as it hits the water its legs collapse into it. This shows that the donkey was a stuffed animal.

Quotes:

Flanagan: The English are gone, Bull.
"Bull" McCabe: *Gone*, because I drove em out: me and my kind. Gone, but not forgotten Flanagan. No outsider will bid for my field.

Movie Connections:

Featured in The 63rd Annual Academy Awards (1991) (TV)

Stunning and unforgettable

I had never heard of The Field before, and I could hardly believe how good it is. What a shame that it is so little known. The story starts out slowly but builds up to a climax that is perfectly logical, totally based on character, and awesome in its intensity.

The script is superb, particularly in that use of language at which the best Irish writers are unsurpassed. But the real strength of the movie lies in the amazing performance of Richard Harris, surely one of the all-time great movie performances. He should easily have won the Oscar over Jeremy Irons in Reversal of Fortune, brilliant though Irons is; perhaps Irons only won because too few people had seen The Field. Bull McCabe is a great character who is being torn apart by conflicting emotions: his love for the land, his love for his son, his love for God and for the Church, and his frustration at never being able to achieve what is important to him. His devastation at the end reminded me a lot of King Lear, and indeed this movie has a power like one of the best of Shakespeare's tragedies. As one reviewer has already noted, the only weakness is the poorly-sketched character of the American and its lack of a believable motivation. Even with that weakness, it rises far above most of what passes for serious drama these days.