by Nick Rowley
Prior to our trip to the magical land of green; we were required to view several films for our cinema class. One such film was The Field (1990) directed by Jim Sheridan. It is a great piece of cinematic history, however we as a class had our reservations. I assume, based on our very vocal discussions prior to class, that the general consensus deemed the movie slow, boring, and left us confused as to the message it was conveying. Going into class the day we were to discuss The Field most of us came armed with jabs and barbs aimed at the film itself. After the discussion began to commence we were all stunned at how much each one of us had missed individually upon first viewing the film. 
With the help of Dr. Glenn the class soon began to regret our very choice words said about the film. Unpacking it and deciphering the hidden nuisances and historical message really opened our eyes. Certainly we were not converted to praising the film but, we could now appreciate the film as a work of art. We then found ourselves non-stop quoting the film. During our trip to the west and north of Ireland we went to some of the shooting locations for the film. Specifically the town, or village rather, of Leenaun in county Galway. Walking were the tyrannical main character Bull McCabe played by Richard Harris, was surprisingly fun. After some time at the village we as a class went to the falls nearby where the infamous murder scene takes place. It was an idyllic atmosphere, the sun was shining and the air was crisp but, not biting.
A fellow classmate and I saw a chance to recreate the scene aforementioned. With much gusto we got out best Hollywood faces on and put on our best depiction. I would not say it was Oscar worthy but, it was still as moving as if it had been. For that reason The Filed and our trip to Ireland will always hold a special place in my memories.
