The Field Poster

The Field (1990)

Drama  
Rayting:   7.4/10 5.6K votes
Country: Ireland
Language: English
Release date: 21 September 1990

"Bull" McCabe's family has farmed a field for generations, sacrificing endlessly for the sake of the land, and when the widow, who owns the field, decides to sell the field in a public ...

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hi-liter 23 December 2002

Spectacular movie. As tough as this movie is, it is completely engrossing. Each character (except that played by Berenger) is just so believable. The Tom Berenger part is just so shallow that it needs better writing or better acting. The cinematography allows you to feel the ambience of the Irish countryside (cool, rainy, overcast, muddy, deep cold lakes). "Bull" is hell bent on getting what he believes are his just rewards for a life of extremely hard work and hardships. It just doesn't work out like Hollywood usually lets it work out (thank goodess!).

jjkeaney521 4 January 2003

Fmovies: I am glad to see from the previous comments that there is much appreciation from around the world on this film. However there has been no comment on this site (that I have seen) about the writer, John B.Keane. John B (as he was more commonly known) is a legend in Irish literature and unlike so many others I had the pleasure of reading much of his work while he was still alive. John B lived all his life in Listowel, Co.Kerry where he ran a pub. He has been writing for many years mainly about the characters that he knew and grew up with. Much of his work was based on these people and adapted for fiction. If you walk into any good bookstore I am sure that you will come across plenty of his work. If you like The Field then I recommend that you read The High Meadow, Durango & Under The Sycamore Tree. John B wrote several plays along with The Field including Sieve and Sharons Grave These are fascinating novels and give a brillant insight into Ireland in the 1950's & 60's. But for those of you who know nothing of Ireland, it is not the Ireland of today. John B Keane died last year (summertime I think). May he rest in peace.

Coincidentally, Richard Harris died last October. This film is a fitting tribute to him as it is in my humble opinion one of his finest performances and one of the finest in film history. Truly great actors show their colours in this film and what it means to be able to act. I am glad to say that Sean Bean gives an outstanding performance in a very unfamilar role as Tadhg. John Hurt is also outstanding in a difficult role.

ariostel 17 February 2005

Riveting performances by Richard Harris, Sean Bean, and John Hurt (nearly unrecognizable!) in a dark, tragic tale of life in post-famine Ireland. This is the perfect film to launch a film discussion group with. There's plenty to talk about after viewing it, that's for sure. It's not what I'd call an "intellectual" film, but it's definitely memorable. If you're an American, like me, and you saw John Hurt as Caligula in the PBS series "I, Claudius"--you won't believe his performance in "The Field". Amazing. (Note from my wife to Beanstalkers: There are a couple of scenes...) Details? The horses pulling the gypsy wagons are the right breed. And in the pub scenes, you can almost taste the beer.

9735062 5 March 2001

The Field fmovies. The Field is film which carries a universal message about the ongoing struggle between modernity and traditionalism. It is also a uniquely Irish film which may make some of the scenes lack relevance for an international audience. The meaning of such scenes as the "American Wake", which was essentially a death wake which was held for young Irish people up until as recently as the 1960s on the night before they left for America never to be seen again, might be missed by non-Irish people. However the final scene where the Bull McCabe aka Richard Harris attempts to push back the incoming Atlantic tide speaks of the universal futility of man's attempts to control nature or indeed, inevitable progress.An excellent movie.

hitchs 18 February 2002

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.

mulhollandman 10 September 2006

John B. Keane's critically acclaimed play The Field, is the one play that 90% of the population of Ireland will know. They will either know the plot or have studied it for state exams. My own grandmother is 80 years of age and she dislikes any kind of media and theater describing them as pure noise. But when she hears that The Field is playing she will instantly take an interest not because of it's fame but the themes that are produced in this play are very important to her and her generation and many generation that followed her up until the late 1980's when Ireland slowly began to change into a European union state, with it Irelands ethnic identity began to disappear. We may still have the accent but our lifestyles and attitudes are very different in some cases evidently for the better, but more often then not for the worst. In the early 90's two films documented the Ireland of old, these were The Commitments a joyous look at young Irish people using their musical talents to broaden their horizons and The Field an unforgiving bleak look at the life of a headstrong farmer whose life begins to falter when a stranger arrives in his village. Arrival of the stranger symbolizing change. A change that could disrupt the harmonious existence of life in the little village long after this stranger has gone.

Bull McCabe is a poor Irish farmer that works a rented field. This Field represents everything that has happened in the Bulls life. His families blood is soaked in the field. He rents it from a local Irish Widow who the Field belonged to her late husband. All the Bull wants now is to own this precious land. He has worked this field for many years. He brings seaweed from the coast line every day and plants it on the grass to enhance it's fertility giving it the freshest looking grass. To look at the Bulls special field we know that it takes years to attain that result and what's more any dereliction in maintaining the field will result in the field acquiring the same unfertile status as the surrounding land. When The Bull speaks about the field there is no pride but it is replaced by a nostalgic tone. His nostalgic tones also produce a chilling portrait of a man who is willing to stop at nothing to protect the field that is dear to him. When the actions of his son lead to the widow selling the Bulls precious field at public auction. The Bull comes face to face with losing his field to an American.

Jim Sheridan's direction is magnificent and his script (totally unlike the stage version) is also brilliant. Playing the Bull is legendary thespian Richard Harris whose fiery temperament and personal beliefs match that of The Bull. Harris's reputation of being difficult and uncompromising attitude nearly cost him role. A role that was originally going to the late great Ray McNally who unfortunately died before filming commenced. Today I cannot imagine The Bull being played by anyone other than Richard Harris. His portrayal of The Bull McCabe is that of being a brutally uncompromising farmer. A farmer despite his evident aggression had vision and respect for the earth he walked on. A farmer who would kill for you if it was needed or kill you if the tables were reversed. For me personally this is Harris's best role because with every word and action on screen I see that Harris is truly immersed in the role of the Bull.

Sheridan is in my opinion is Irelands Best Director. He uses the theme of the relationships between Irish father and son in all his films. In this film we learn about a st

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