The Lonely Battle Of Thomas Reid
An immersive documentary by Berlin-based Irish filmmaker Feargal Ward.
Feargal writes:
The Lonely Battle Of Thomas Reid is a cinematic portrait of one heroic Irish farmer who takes on the State and its corporate clients in a landmark legal battle to hold onto his homestead.
We have our opening night tomorrow in the IFI [Temple Bar, Dublin 2] while also opening in Dun Laoghaire, Rathmines, Galway, Cork.
Tomorrow night’s screening in the IFI has a panel discussion afterwards with myself, Clare Daly TD; and film director Tadhg O’Sullivan with Colin Murphy, playwright and journalist, as moderator.
A pair of tickets to the Sunday screening with Lenny Abrahamson speaking afterwards at Rathmines Omniplex at 630pm to the reader who can name the most heroic farmer in cinema history, and why?
Anyone?
UPDATE: ‘Reprobutina has won the tickets for suggesting William Wallace. Thanks all.
The Lonely Battle Of Thomas Reid
The Bull McCabe
Did I win ? Did I,Did I!!!!
It has to be Westley from the Princess Bride because he’s heroic, funny and a gent!! Plus it’s a legendary film
You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.
~ Inigo
Bull McCabe
The farmer from Shaun the Sheep?
A more bumbling and sweet (mute) farmer I have yet to meet.
Luke Skywalker, i presume.
Youse are all awful eejits. You have to say WHY too.
He blew up the freakin’ Death Star, Andy!
Meh.
The Meh is strong in this one.
she doesn’t pull her mehs
Ray Kinsella from Field of Dreams. He built it and they came.
(Don’t pick me though, because I can’t go.)
Noah, the ark Lad, planted the first vineyard (source material) and fought rock monsters (film).
Cooper from Interstellar, because he traveled through a wormhole to find better land to farm.
Farmer Hoggett
Because pork is a nice sweet meat
You win. God damn you.
“My name is Maximus Decimus Meridius, Commander of the Armies of the North, General of the Felix Legions, loyal servant to the true emperor, Marcus Aurelius. Father to a murdered son, husband to a murdered wife.“
-and a farmer:)
Baroness Blixen
Out of Africa
although if t’was farming films: A thousand Acres
It’s like King Lear set in Iowa – Lear is the Farmer dividing up the farm between 3 daughters, loads of other stuff, and Mr D’Arcy is in it
And the greatest telly farmer has t’ be Pat Barry
Farmer Hoggett … when he signed Babe up for the local sheepherding competition … Babe is a PIG! That was unheard of back in the 80s and 90s but my knowledge of farming is limited and I am sure agricultural methods have advanced since then. Plus with more vegans about these days, there are plenty more pigs on the look out for a bit of labor. That’ll do!
Grapes of Wrath’s Tom Joad (Henry Fonda) – does justice to the great John Steinbeck’s Pulitzer Prize-winning book. Tons of sileage of inspiration out of the character for Bruce Springsteen, RATM, etc. It’s a legendary showstopper from an age of pain or turmoil that still resonates today as people struggle to hold onto their homes, etc.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mzRbeHyIomk
Muad’Dib (Dune), because he uses his farming prowess not to control the universe but to liberate it. He’s so heroic that his own name is a killing word. Even Luke Skywalker didn’t use his farming skills as a rebel.
William Wallace because he came home to raise crops and, God willing, a family and if he could have lived in peace he would have.
william munny – eastwood’s character in ‘unforgiven’, cos he never sees himself as a hero.
bronson’s scene in the magnificent 7 is a bit of a tingler though:
https://www.reddit.com/r/movies/comments/3isapw/the_magnificent_seven_charles_bronson_lectures/
Mattie Ross, because she had true grit.
Miley and Biddy Byrne, sure didn’t they provide us with years of home grown entertainment?
(It must be noted that their farm was unprofitable and they struggled a lot, probably like most farmers)
Ella, the elderly the matriarch of the Garth family, played by the inestimable Jo Van Fleet, in Elia Kazan’s 1960 drama, Wild River.
A dam has been build on a river in Tennessee and Chuck Glover, played by Montgomery Clift, arrives to convince the Garth family to move. Their farm has turned into an island with the rising waters – easy decision you’d think but he didn’t expect to be met by a badass like Ella. She refuses to go. It’s her land, she’ll happily drown. Chuck falls for Ella’s granddaughter Carol, played by Lee Remick, and then things get complicated. All the while Ella sits in her rocker on the porch saying it’s all “against nature.” For my money definitely the most heroic farmer in cinema history and a brilliant way to spent a Sunday afternoon.
The farmer from “Withnail & I” is clearly heroic to a lot of students in the 90s as they could quote verbatim, Richard E Grant’s line, “Are you the farmer?” to their friends despite their level of inebriation, which in turn would lead to misquotes of the movie and ensuing hilarity of an evening.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bRTpwyNGT6w
winner winner chicken dinner
The farmer from “Withnail & I” is clearly heroic to a lot of students in the 90s as they could quote verbatim, Richard E. Grant’s line, “Are you the farmer?” to their friends despite their level of inebriation, which in turn would lead to misquotes of the movie and ensuing hilarity of an evening.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bRTpwyNGT6w
Thomas Reid for being an inspiring OG Gorse Hill-style defender of the homestead and giving his name to a great pub in Dublin.