
1990 | 1h 50m
It Owns Him...It Possesses Him...And It Could Even Destroy Him
"Bull" McCabe's family has farmed a field for generations, sacrificing much in the name of the land. When the widow who owns the field decides to sell it in a public auction, McCabe knows that he must own it. While no local dare bid against him, a wealthy American decides he requires the field to build a highway. "Bull" and his son decide they must try to convince the American to let go of his ambition and return home, but the consequences of their plot prove sinister.
"Bull" McCabe's family has farmed a field for generations, sacrificing much in the name of the land. When the widow who owns the field decides to sell it in a public auction, McCabe knows that he must own it. While no local dare bid against him, a wealthy American decides he requires the field to build a highway. "Bull" and his son decide they must try to convince the American to let go of his ambition and return home, but the consequences of their plot prove sinister.
Ruth McCabe
Tinker Woman

Brendan Gleeson
Quarryman

Tom Berenger
Peter - The American

Sean McGinley
Father Chris Doran

Jer O'Leary
Tinker Girl's Father

Noel O'Donovan
Tomás
"The Field" is a compelling drama and Ireland looks gloriously wild and rugged with some beautiful locations which are extremely well used. The film is structured in a reasonably straight forward fashion, but the characterizations are brilliantly authentic and richly layered and the conflicts and the escalation of hostilities between "Bull" McCabe - a powerful Richard Harris - and The American has been well engineered and memorably examined throughout. These character motivations are central to the entire film and McCabe is a pathetic sort of man by the end. He has managed to destroy himself by trying to protect the field without even realising that in his own way he is just as corrupt as those people he is trying to protect the field from. He is The American only in more primitive guise and when pushed to the edge it is indeed tragic what some people will do.
