The Field

If you are interested in acting, do yourself a favor - see this movie. Richard Harris' performance is as good as film acting gets. His character, Bull McCabe, is not a man so much as a force of nature. In the opening sequence, he and his son, Tadgh, who is 30ish to Bull's sixty-something, are carrying heavy loads of seaweed from the ocean back to their farm. Bull casually strolls along, seemingly without effort, while Tadgh struggles and stops periodically to rest. This scene sets the tone for the rest of the story. No one in the village ever opposes Bull - it would be futile, as well as unwise. But when the land his family has tended for generations as tenant farmers is purchased by an American bent on developing it, Bull must confront something he cannot defeat with will and sinew - progress.

"The Field" is a study of a very specific time and place, with plot developments that seem lifted straight out of the Old Testament. Sheridan does an excellent job of opening up the story, which was adapted from a stage play. The action takes place all over the village and surrounding areas. The cast is composed of Irish and English actors (except for - ahem - 'The American'), which really gives the film a strong sense of authenticity. Each character has a story, and the gradual unfolding of the various conflicts and secrets builds an ominous sense of impending disaster.

John Hurt gives another in a long line of outstanding performances, but this film belongs to Harris. The only thing that keeps it from becoming an all-time classic is Tom Berenger. We get no sense that he wants the field for any reason other than the script requires him to, and it seems that director Jim Sheridan knew it. When a central character (Berenger) in a film delivers his most important dialogue FACING AWAY FROM THE CAMERA (looking out a window), it is the directorial equivalent of punting. Even so, Berenger is not in enough scenes to ruin the movie. It is just that it could have been so much better if he brought something to the part that could match up with Harris' primal force.

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.

Tenant farmers in Ireland and their problems accounts for some of the great political movements in that country. So it was interesting to learn that in The Field those problems have not gone away even though it's not British who are absentee landlords.

Shot mostly in County Galway in Ireland, The Field certainly has the look and feel of The Quiet Man, but it's hardly in the same lighthearted spirit. In fact the priest in this film functions more like Karl Malden's priest of the docks in On The Waterfront.

Richard Harris has been a tenant farmer working the land for widow Frances Tomelty for years and has raised his family there. It's pretty much accepted by the villagers that it's Harris's land by right of sweat so when the widow wants to sell no one bids against him except Harris's sidekick John Hurt. But American Tom Berenger doesn't know the rules around there and he does bid.

But what Berenger wants to do is develop the place, put some Americanized shopping mall there. Imagine a strip mall on some of that beach-front property that John Ford so lovingly photographed in The Quiet Man and you can understand the feelings there. It all leads to a lot of tragedy.

Originally Harris was supposed to play the priest role that Sean McGinley had and who played it well. The lead was to go to Ray McAnally who had done this role on stage. When McAnally died, Harris was moved up to the lead and responded with an Oscar nominated performance for Best Actor. Harris lost that year to Jeremy Irons in Reversal of Fortune.

Also look for some nice performances here by Sean Bean as Harris's son and Brenda Fricker as his wife. All part of a very violent household.

Religion specifically the Roman Catholic Church takes a beating and The Field does touch on the conservative role of the church in society. It's a generally accepted fact that the Church did its level best to discourage revolutionary activity during the 19th century after the Irish lost their parliament in the Wolfe Tone rebellion. Harris and others in the film comment about how no priests died during the potato famine that they don't know how the tenant farmers live. And Sean McGinley as the village priest is by no means portrayed as a bad man.

There's also bad feelings towards Berenger who is seen as the descendant of people who cut and ran during the Irish troubles. Of course if a lot hadn't emigrated to all points of the globe, there would be a lot more trying to share the land that Harris wants to hold on to.

The Field is a fine drama about Ireland and the problems there that may not have been totally resolved with independence.

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.

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.