Log Line:
The Far Field is a black-comic fiction working within the non-fiction world. With a Beckettian take on the human condition, the film merges elements of Jacques Tati and Mr. Magoo—the poetic interplay between burlesque and solemnity.
Synopsis:
Seamus Molloy has a fixed routine around house and farm. At 90, his only companions are the cats he chases away, a neighbor’s dog that frightens him and the clock ticking on the wall. The only disruptions from loneliness are the ping-pong balls, rocks and hens chucked through his window. (Apparently) he has two granddaughters who deposit mail, food or messages. Then, after 60-years absence, a letter arrives from the past. This time his life could be disrupted, permanently.
Manner & Matter:
The emotion is extremely understated and built on the non-fictional world presented: a fragile 90-year old farmer as he struggles with daily tasks of life. The film chronicles the inertia and humorous paradoxes of contemporary farming in Ireland—where recent economic and social shifts yield a surge in rural isolation.