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Background Run the Wild Fields marks the directorial debut of Paul A. Kaufman. The seeds of the movie
When Vaccaro moved to Los Angeles nine years ago, one of his first steps was to adapt the play for the big screen. One year later, he hooked up with Kaufman, for whom the development of Run the
Wild Fields has been an odyssey of persistence and passion dating back eight years when he decided he wanted to be a director. During his search for material, he met with Vaccaro to discuss Fine Point,
a movie from the point of view of a BIC pen as it passes from hand to hand, which Kaufman originated. As a writing sample Vaccaro sent Kaufman "Home of the
Brave," which presaged Run the Wild Fields. Although Kaufman found the ending too dark, he was gripped by the characters and the story. Once
Vaccaro agreed to change the ending to a more positive note, (in the play Tom commits suicide, making himself a final victim of the war), Kaufman
forsook Fine Point, launching Run the Wild Fields' long voyage as it traveled on to its filmic destination. As Kaufman lacked the funds to option the script he'd initiated, he pitched it to Producer Paul
By 1994, Vaccaro had written a draft the trio had developed, and the long haul of shopping it to the studios began. Over the next few years, two different directors became attached, but ultimately they had other fish to
fry. Whereas Kaufman, thinking someone else was going to direct, had detached himself emotionally from the film. But his dedication to the project continued to Ultimately, Kaufman's enduring passion
for the material allied to his understanding of the characters and the story, convinced the producing team that he should direct the picture after he called Rauch to say, "What's going to get this movie made is a driving
passion from a director. I have that passion." Rauch's reaction was positive. "I knew Paul had a great vision for the picture. He was very experienced as
a career producer and I knew he could deal with both the creative and financial challenge of the picture." Comments Vaccaro, "I thought it was
wonderful when Paul said he wanted to direct it. He has a quality you can't teach, an impeccable sense of taste." With Rauch and Vaccaro supporting
Kaufman's decision, the first-time director began to pound the pavement. In 1997, Kaufman met Deborah Spera, Vice President of Motion Pictures,
SHOWTIME NETWORK, who also agreed to support Kaufman. SHOWTIME gave Run the Wild Fields the green light in the spring of 1998. The Cast
"I'm very happy with the cast choices for the movie," says Kaufman, "I needed a great actress f
"Sean Patrick Flanery, who plays the mysterious drifter Tom, is a mysterious guy in real life. I've been a fan of his for years," says the director. Flanery echoes
Kaufman's sentiments about Whalley, "Joanne is a nurturing mother, the opposite of the seductress I've seen her play in the past. More than anything, she brings a natural elegance to Ruby. She sort of glides
everywhere and speaks with a certain resonance in her voice that is universally attractive." Flanery and Whalley are known to be selective in the
material they choose. "The quality of the piece drew their commitment and dedication," says Kaufman. Responds Whalley, "The script is so beautifully
written, it was a joy to read. It's a very touching human story which deals with the second world war on a personal and intimate level. Eloquent about the times, it shines a Flanery was attracted by the various layers of the story. "It's about people caught in a mixed-up world where certain things are acceptable and
certain things aren't; it's about the inner workings of relationships and society at a time when life was simpler; it's about passion, friendship and humility which is universal."
"It's very difficult to find a 10-year-old girl to carry a movie. Pug has to do this as it's told from her point of view," says Kaufman, who recollected
Alexa Vega's outstanding talents when she acted, age 5, in A Promise to Carolyn, which Kaufman executive produced. "When Alexa auditioned, she blew me away. She's
Vega couldn't have agreed more. "Pug's just wild, like the fields. She's kind of a tomboy, like me. When I read the first pages of the script where Pug runs through the fields, I thought, 'this
is me. I have to do this.' I auditioned, and boom, I got it. I relate to Pug because she does the things I do. Anytime I'm playing in the fields, I do what suits the character, which is
basically myself. I get to do all the stuff I normally do. On other shows I'm usually playing a prissy girl, doing exactly the opposite."
"Cotter Smith, who plays Silas, is also classically trained. His stage presence is very important to the part of Silas, who is a very complex
character. Although he's the antagonist of the piece, I wanted him to redeem himself at the end," says Kaufman. The Relationships
Comments Whalley, "Basically Ruby is faced with a huge decision during the course of the story. Her dilemma is that her husband has been missing in
action for some time. Does she continue to believe he is alive, wait for him, or grieve now and move on with life. Ruby and Pug have been living in a
sort of limbo waiting for Frank. Tom gives them hope, helping them to move on with their lives." Flanery responds, "I play a drifter who has some skills in farming Alexa agrees. "Pug has a full-blown crush on Tom halfway through the movie. She thinks he's the
coolest guy. But then she gets so connected to him, that when it's time for him to leave, it just breaks her heart. She wants him to be her dad, but she also wants her dad to be her
dad." Sums up Flanery, "Run the Wild Fields is a beautifully landscaped portrait of American culture in the 40s at a time of war when ideology was a
bit different. It reintroduces this place that we all come from." The Look Visually, the director wanted to give the picture a documentary feel and a feature film look. " "I'm working with a director of photography who shoots independent feature films. My intention was to direct it creatively and stylistically as a
feature film using wide-angle lenses to capture the landscape -- no filters, no diffusion. We shot a clean clear picture to eliminate the feeling that there's a camera
and crew there. It was shot so that we look at it through someone else's eyes, which are Pug's eyes and her memory. The production design and
color tones are in muted tones to capture the period, but we used more bold colors for the fourth of July, which is when Ruby's and Pug's lives become enriched by Tom," Kaufman states.
From the outset, Production Designer Vlasta Svoboda's basic design approach was embodied in the fields as a symbol for life. "The visual concept was in the title of the show -- the wild fields waiting to be
cultivated so new life can start," says Svoboda. "Initially the colors of the fields are subdued, non-aggressive and the textures are gentle, paralleling Ruby's life as she waits for her husband to The costumes repeated this motif. Costume designer Michael Harris explains,
"I wanted the clothes to have a natural lived-in look, so as to be completely believable. I selected a uniform soft-muted color palette, using natural fabrics, which cling and get sweaty
as we are set in North Carolina in the summertime. Ruby's story follows an arc. At the beginning she's depressed and has let her farm go because her
husband is missing. This is reflected in her clothing. The introduction to Tom in their lives brings in some energy. She becomes concerned about her appearance, which is mirrored by her resuming
cultivation of the farm." Locations Although several locations were shot in downtown Toronto, including historical The Great Hall, th An impressive array of pre-war vintage cars, trucks and a tractor from the 1920's confirmed the time period. Flanery, a professional race-car driver,
who normally drives the racing circuits at top speed, drove a 1928 International Harvester tractor at walking speed, to plow the fields. The all-steel mechanism was pretty rusty, but not rusty enough for the art
department, who added even more rust to the three-bladed plow. The Fields The fields play a major character in the film. Creating and changing their
look was a mammoth task undertaken by Greensman, Richard S
were sown in 1987 when Rodney Vaccaro wrote the play,
"Home of the Brave," about a conscientious objector in World War II. It was produced at the Actors' Theatre of Grand Rapids, Michigan, winning a Michigan Playwright's Award. 
Rauch, who had been producing network daytime dramas. Rauch loved the script, optioned the piece and became a member of the
collaborative team. "Run the Wild Fields" is about a period in American life that is fascinating. I lived through it myself, as a child. It has a lot of resonance to it," says Rauch, who had
such faith in the project, he continued to option it every year for six years. Responds Kaufman, "Because Rauch was a child in World War II, he had great ideas for this film because he had
specific memories that Rodney and I did not have. His input helped to shape the script," relates Kaufman, who, at the time, was sharing producer credits, although he expressed an interest in directing the picture.
manifest itself in the very specific props he purchased over the years for the picture such as the father's gold watch and an original 1944 war map
for Pug's pins. It was important to him that everything about the movie had to be real to help create an environment to completely absorb the audience.
or the part of Ruby. In addition to being classically trained, Joanne Whalley has two children, so she has a maternal quality to her. She is the perfect Ruby.
light on those who weren't on the battlefield, but waiting back home. The stranger coming into their lives, at
that particular moment, has a profound effect on all the characters."
grown into a wonderful 11-year-old girl. Her timing and choices for the role of Pug were prefect. She's a bundle of energy. She's Pug."
Ruby decides to put to work, and in the process, we become very good friends, but our friendship never graduates
to its ultimate destination. Pug just yanks Tom's heart out of his chest and buries it in that field over there and makes the plants blossom. They both steal his heart, forming a bond that's irrevocable, changing
Tom's life forever. It's a family that should have been."
I felt that Run the Wild Fields had to have a raw quality
to it." To achieve this, Kaufman and Director of Photography Thom Best used natural lighting, a series of varied camera movements ranging from slow motion to kinetic, often shooting into
the light to create dramatic silhouetted images. 
return and for her life to start again. When Tom appears, he brings hope, culminating with the celebration of
the new life, manifested by the 4th of July and VJ day festivities, where new textures and colors are introduced." 
e majority of the picture was shot in the rolling forested hills northeast of Toronto, on a farm near a lake and in a sleepy little town called Schomberg where the clapboard
buildings date back to 1908. "It's like going back in time," smiles Kaufman, who researched the period and place assiduously. He made certain that there
were gas rationing-stickers in the cars, that the American flag had only 48 stars and that such indigenous items as hollowed out birds-nest gourds, particular to North Carolina, were hung on a post outside the farmhouse.
nider and
his 11-man team who set out a month before principal photography, on May 24th to give the six-acre field the first of five different looks, each of which took two days to complete. For the first look, wild
and fallow, Snider transplanted existing weeds into the field, added 800 pounds of mixed seed and used a back hoe to create clumps. In addition to irrigating the field, he stuck in three truckloads of dried
elements such as bull rushes and thistles to suggest the field has been fallow for more than a year. For stage two, the weeds were mowed, stacked in piles and burned; stage three was
plowing to turn the soil over for seeding; seeding took place during stage four. For the final stage five, seedlings were planted, symbolizing the beginning of a new life.
[Jewel][Run the Wild Fields] [Thirst][Emma's Wish][Co-Ed Call Girl] |
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