Spoiler Alert
Two films, one dramatic and dark, the other a classic romantic comedy, but both very similiar in plot.
Set in Ireland The Field starred aging Richard Harris as a man desperete to buy a piece of land owned by a young widow. That's a bit like Victor Mclaglen and Mildred Natwick.
Enter an American, who annoys Harris by buying the land instead. In the end Harris kills the American in a fight, not quite like the Wayne/Maclaglen battle which, though realistic, was played for laughs.
The Field And The Quiet Man
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klondike
The Field is without doubt one of the most depressing films I have EVER seen. 
The Wind That Shakes the Barley portrayed families & communities of post-World-War Ireland struggling against the tragedies & turmoil of an era of great cultural crisis; The Field shows you people of similar blood & countryside, having been ground down instead by the overshadowing obstacles of money & jealousy & age & class struggle & the self-consuming compulsion to hurt others in the face of irresolvable pain.
Throughout the entire movie, you find yourself wanting to see the fortunes of the characters improve, if only just a wee bit, if only just for a little while, or at very least watch them finding a place within their hearts or minds from which to face their sad & bitter lot, perhaps with some small shroud of poignant dignity to wind about themselves.
But alas, no brakes can be applied to this steep, pitching, downward spiral, and ultimately Harris' character is denied even the desperate solace of death.
Faith, this one's so menially tragic, it even makes Affliction seem cheery!
I'd recommend, if it's a big bottie of sturm & drang with a mid-20th century Irish theme that ye crave, rent Frankie Starlight instead.
It's a broader, brisker, more demanding, and more rewarding, rollercoaster-ride for the heart, well worth the price of the ticket!
The Wind That Shakes the Barley portrayed families & communities of post-World-War Ireland struggling against the tragedies & turmoil of an era of great cultural crisis; The Field shows you people of similar blood & countryside, having been ground down instead by the overshadowing obstacles of money & jealousy & age & class struggle & the self-consuming compulsion to hurt others in the face of irresolvable pain.
Throughout the entire movie, you find yourself wanting to see the fortunes of the characters improve, if only just a wee bit, if only just for a little while, or at very least watch them finding a place within their hearts or minds from which to face their sad & bitter lot, perhaps with some small shroud of poignant dignity to wind about themselves.
But alas, no brakes can be applied to this steep, pitching, downward spiral, and ultimately Harris' character is denied even the desperate solace of death.
Faith, this one's so menially tragic, it even makes Affliction seem cheery!
I'd recommend, if it's a big bottie of sturm & drang with a mid-20th century Irish theme that ye crave, rent Frankie Starlight instead.
It's a broader, brisker, more demanding, and more rewarding, rollercoaster-ride for the heart, well worth the price of the ticket!
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charliechaplinfan
- Posts: 9040
- Joined: January 15th, 2008, 9:49 am