The Field (1990)

Based on a play by John B. Keane, THE FIELD tells the story of Bull McCabe (Richard Harris), a tradition-bound Irishman who fights to retain the land that his family has been farming for generations. McCabe, who rents the land from a young widow (Frances Tomelty), hopes to take full possession of it when the widow puts it up for auction. None of the villagers try to oppose the fearsome McCabe, but a smooth-talking young Irish American utilities developer (Tom Berenger) attempts to outbid him, shocking the entire village and igniting a tense battle between the two men. As the battle builds toward deadly consequences it threatens to jar loose the McCabe family's dark, painful secret--one that's kept Bull's wife (Brenda Fricker) from talking to him for 18 years.

Director Jim Sheridan (IN THE NAME OF THE FATHER, MY LEFT FOOT) coaxes brilliant performances from the cast, most notably Berenger, John Hurt as a local simpleton in a brilliant and devastating characterization, and Harris, who earned an Academy Award nomination for his astonishing portrayal of McCabe, one that elevates THE FIELD into the rarified air of Shakespearean tragedy.