Producer-director team Noel Pearson and Jim Sheridan talk about their latest film
'The Field'. an adaptation of the John B Keane play had a world premiere at the Savoy Cinema in Dublin. Greeted with critical acclaim, the screening was attended by stars Richard Harris and John Hurt in attendance.
Making any film is rarely a case of plain sailing, and Noel Pearson and Jim Sheridan found 'The Field' to be no exception.
Richard Harris who plays protagonist Bull McCabe made his views on the editorial process known during the film's production, resulting in a disagreement which became public. At the end of the day, however, all matters were resolved between the two parties.
The late Ray McAnally was the first choice for The Bull McCabe, and in fact, it was he who suggested the idea of making a film version of 'The Field' to Noel Pearson. Following the sudden passing of Ray McAnally in 1989 Richard Harris was chosen for the lead role. Following a series of intensive talks,
His commitment and his obsession to do it was so unbelievable that we both agreed...if we didn't have him, we weren't making the picture.
A telephone caller to the show asks why there is not more investment in the Irish film industry by bodies such as the National Lottery. Noel Pearson explains that the world of the film industry is tough, and
Investing in film is a very bad investment, it's a very risky business.
He acknowledges that 'My Left Foot’ is an exception to this rule, as it exceeded all box office expectations. Most film investors rarely get their money back.
Jim Sheridan would like to see more support for films being made in Ireland, in particular the area of scriptwriting and script development. Today the emphasis in the film business has shifted from landing big movie star names to getting films made on the basis of the script, he says, and
With Irish writers, there's so many of them, that that's our strength, we should be developing that.
This episode of The Late Late Show was broadcast on 21 September 1990. The presenter is Gay Byrne.
