- Actors: Richard Harris, John Hurt, Sean Bean, Frances Tomelty, Brenda Fricker
- Directors: Jim Sheridan
- Writers: Jim Sheridan, John B. Keane
- Producers: Arthur Lappin, Noel Pearson, Steve Morrison
- Format: PAL
- Region: Region 2 (This DVD may not be viewable outside Europe. Read more about DVD formats.)
- Number of discs: 1
- Classification: 15
- Studio: Cinema Club
- DVD Release Date: 3 Dec 2001
- Run Time: 107 minutes
- Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
- ASIN: B00005Q57J
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 14,144 in Film & TV (See Top 100 in Film & TV)
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Reviews
Amazon.co.uk Review
Irish director Jim Sheridan made The Field after scoring an art house hit and Oscar nominations for his previous film, My Left Foot. Set in Ireland during the 1930s, this ambitious and hard-hitting drama is about one man's obsession with a plot of land that his family has tended for generations. The results are decidedly mixed, and it's obvious that this kind of tragic allegory is better suited for the stage (where it originated as a play by John B Keane). What makes the film worthwhile is the Oscar-nominated performance by Richard Harris as "Bull" McCabe, the fiercely stubborn man who's nurtured a prime field of rented land for decades, only to lose it when the owner auctions the land to an unwelcome American (Tom Berenger). Rather than sacrifice his life's work to this brazen invader, McCabe wages a personal war with powerfully tragic results. It's unfortunate that this potent drama never really connects on an emotional level, but Harris is never less than fascinating in a role that virtually seems to consume him as an actor. His performance approaches greatness, even when the film falls somewhat short of its dramatic ambitions. --Jeff Shannon, Amazon.com
Product Description
THE FIELD WAS FILMED IN LEANNE CO GALWAY/CO MAYO COUNTY BOARDERS.IT IS ONE OF THE MOST POPULAR IRISH FILMS
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
18 of 19 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
'The Field' is an excellent rendering of John B. Keane's haunting play based loosely on a murder which took place in his native Co. Kerry. It was filmed in Connemara, Co. Galway and this proved one of the most enlightened decisions the filmmakers made, as the rugged landscape serves as a continuous reminder of why the story is what it is. There is no better example in all cinema than the final scene here where man, indomitable, confronts nature, inevitable. Worth watching for Richard Harris's tour-de-force performance as 'The Bull' McCabe alone.
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
This is the perfect film for any fans of Richard "The Holy Terror" Harris outside of his "Man called horse" films, or even (gasp) "Orca, killer whale." The plot centres around an Irish community around the turn of the century-ish (20th) in which Bull, played by Harris with an almost tangible impression onto the audience, wants to buy the field that he has been renting for the past years. However, a wealthy American also has plans for the field, which Bull must keep at all costs. A portrait of the place as much as the man this is a film that benefits greatly from good photography and style as well as demanding the best from actors such as Harris, Sean Bean, Tom Berenger and also John Hurt. Harris' character is portrayed as a domineering bully but one who also has his own demons to confront and the film as a whole provides a refreshing change from modern film, not only in it's absense of big bangs and token "motor mouth" so called comedians but also because as a film that relies on character and plot development, it does not fall into the trap of being a "British" film, the picture of course being made during one of the great slumps in the industry. As a result, the picture simply depicts and portrays without revelling in the fact that it is a serious film for serious people, as so many recent British efforts have (e.g. secrets and lies). A real gem, particularly for Harris fans but also for those who can appreciate decent, no nonsense film making.
10 of 11 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
Though this film, directed by Jim Sheridan, is based on the stage play of the same name by John B. Keane, it bears little resemblance to the play. The play emphasizes the passion of a Kerry farmer for his land, the measures he takes to protect it, and the willingness of the community to support him, evading both the law and the church to achieve "true" justice. Big Bull McCabe, fighting to buy land he has leased and improved for ten years, is portrayed as embodying the attitudes of the whole Kerry farming culture and not as a completely unique individual with unique problems.
The film, however, changes the emphasis and introduces many new visual elements. Bull McCabe (passionately played by Richard Harris) must outbid a crass American (not an Englishman) for the field. The American (Tom Berenger) wants to use the limestone in the hills to create a cement factory (not to build a home for his Irish wife) and to develop the power of the nearby waterfall for a hydroelectric plant. Widow Maggie Butler (Frances Tomelty) is selling the land because she is tired of being harrassed by Bull's son Tadgh (Sean Bean) and his friends (a new subplot). Bird O'Donnell, a nearly toothless and somewhat daft stereotype (John Hurt) is a gawping comic foil for the passion of McCabe here.
Traditional, folksy dances and community activities, the developing love story of Tadgh and a gypsy girl, the close friendship between the American buyer and the pompous local priest (Sean McGinley), the death of McCabe's other son many years before, and the involvement of McCabe's wife in the film's resolution are new, visual plot elements, and the ending is totally different, both in the way the action is "resolved" and in its thematic message.
The stunning cinematography (Jack Conroy)--fog, wind, cliffs, and rain--illustrates the greatness of the land and the relative smallness of man, while the simple music (Elmer Bernstein) adds to the mood and highlights the dramatic action. Dialogue, often limited to cryptic comments, is subordinated to visual information, and the pub characters, including the pub owner, a major character in the play, are almost interchangeable in their stereotypes. Symbolism is obvious, from Bull's blowing of a dandelion to illustrate "what we'd be without the land," to his crucifixion pose near the end of the film. The stark realism of the play and the power of the "us vs. them" community dynamic are subordinated in the film to a personal focus on Bull McCabe--and to melodrama. Mary Whipple
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
The Field
An extraordinary film! Extraordinary insofar as it was a blatant plagiarist amalgam of two older films, namely 'The Quiet Man' and 'Ryan's Daughter'. Read more
Published 12 months ago by M. R. Watson
pastures new
The field is no ordinary field.Rented by Bulls family for generations,through family sacrifice and famine,when it comes up for auction ,he is not willing to let anyone take it from... Read more
Published 15 months ago by miss marple
Harris Delivers Powerful, Perhaps Too Powerful, Performance
"The Field," (1990), an Irish movie, was the second to be made by the talented Irish director Jim Sheridan,(In America [DVD] [2003]), who also gets the screenwriting credit on it. Read more
Published on 10 May 2010 by Stephanie DePue
DVD The Field
The quality was unsatisfactory as the picture was not sharp so I enjoyed the film much less than I expected
Published on 28 Oct 2009 by A. Heath
The Field
I bought this film for a gift, but I have watched it before and think it is an excellent film
Published on 14 Sep 2009 by Patricia Shepherd
Richard Harris in his element
For the first ten minutes or so, I was pretty sure I was going to hate The Field. Every Irish cliché in casting and plotting is present: burly men with short tempers and... Read more
Published on 24 Nov 2007 by Trevor Willsmer
The green field of Eire, O
I'm a bit puzzled by the existing reviews except for Mary's, who at least doesn't disparage clear allegory for not being recondite enough. Read more
Published on 19 April 2007 by Ian McCarthy
At least it wasn't for a Yank burger shack
Land developers beware of Irish backwaters - they're more trouble than they're worth.
Old "Bull" McCabe (Richard Harris) and son Tadgh (Sean Bean) open THE FIELD by... Read more
Published on 6 Jan 2006 by Joseph Haschka
The way it is
What a load of rubbish. This film is set in rural Kerry and brings shame to this beautiful corner of the earth. Read more
Published on 31 Dec 2005 by Brendan Hogan
Powerful, one of Harris's best performance
Originally cast as a minor role (the priest), Richard Harris met director Jim Sheridan for dinner. At dinner Harris gradually resorted to the character of the Bull McCabe. Read more
Published on 22 Oct 2005
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