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The Call

Regalia

A synopsis of the film called "Field of Dreams" (1989)

 

Ray Kinsella, who is 36, lives with his wife, Annie, and daughter, Karin, on their Dyersville, Iowa corn farm. Troubled by his broken relationship with his late father, John Kinsella, a devoted baseball fan, he fears growing old without achieving anything.

While walking through his cornfield one evening, he hears a voice whispering, "If you build it, he will come." He sees a vision of a baseball diamond in the cornfield and "Shoeless" Joe Jackson standing in the middle. Believing in him, Annie lets him plow under part of their corn crop to build a baseball field, at risk of financial hardship.

As Ray builds the field, he tells Karin about the 1919 Black Sox Scandal. Several months pass and just as Ray is beginning to doubt himself, Shoeless Joe reappears, asking if others can play and returns with the seven other Black Sox players. Annie's brother, Mark, can't see the players. He warns the couple they are going bankrupt and offers to buy their land. The voice, meanwhile, urges Ray to "ease his pain."

Ray and Annie attend a PTA meeting, where she argues against someone who is trying to ban books by Terrence Mann. Ray deduces the voice was referring to Mann, who had named one of his characters "John Kinsella" and had once professed a childhood dream of playing for the Brooklyn Dodgers. When Ray and Annie have identical dreams about Ray and Mann attending a game at Fenway Park, Ray finds Mann in Boston. Mann, a recluse, agrees to attend one game. There Ray hears the voice urging him to "go the distance", seeing statistics on the scoreboard for Archie "Moonlight" Graham, who played in one game for the New York Giants in 1922 but never got to bat. Mann also admits to hearing the voice and seeing the scoreboard.

They drive to Minnesota, learning that Graham, who was a physician, had died years earlier. Ray finds himself in 1972, encountering an elderly Graham, who says he happily left baseball for a satisfying medical career. During the drive back to Iowa, Ray picks up young hitchhiker Archie Graham (Frank Whaley), who is looking for a baseball team to join. Ray later tells Mann that his father dreamed of being a baseball player then tried to make him pick up the sport instead. At 14, after reading one of Mann's books, Ray stopped playing catch with his father, and they became estranged after he mocked John for having "a hero who was a criminal." Ray admits that his greatest regret is that his father died before they could reconcile. Arriving at the farm, they see various all-star players have arrived, fielding a second team. A game is played and Graham finally gets his turn at bat.

The next morning, Mark returns, demanding that Ray sell the farm or the bank will foreclose on him. Karin insists that people will pay to watch the ballgames. Mann agrees, saying that "people will come" to relive their childhood innocence. Ray and Mark scuffle, knocking Karin off the bleachers. Graham — despite knowing he will be unable to return after stepping off the field — saves her. Having become old Dr. Graham again, he reassures Ray that he has no regrets. He is commended by the other players, and then disappears into the corn field. Suddenly, Mark too can see the players and urges Ray to keep the farm.

Shoeless Joe invites Mann to enter the corn and Mann disappears into it. Ray is angry at not being invited but Joe rebukes him, glancing towards the catcher at home plate, saying, "If you build it, he will come." When the catcher removes his mask, Ray recognizes him as his father as a young man. Ray realizes "ease his pain" referred to his own regrets.

Ray introduces John to his wife and daughter, initially without referring to him as his father. As John begins to head towards the cornfield, Ray, calling him "Dad", asks if he wants to play catch. John gladly accepts as hundreds of cars are seen approaching the field, fulfilling the prophecy that people will come .

s film, this story, can be seen as a metaphor, a metaphor concerning mans search afn need for a relationship with our Father, our Heavenly Father.. The baseball feed is thus the place we make where we can meet our Father. The baseball field is our Church, Temple or Abbey. It is not just anybaseball field and it is not any church or temple. It is a specail place. It is a place where  those, whio were our heros, who have passed beond the veil can return and where we can reach out to them, give and recieve their help and guidance and cune with thgem. These are not baseball players but what? Angles, Saints  or Priests. Whatever they are they enable the communion withGod tha occurs inthis place.   It is not an exact metaphor perhaps, andthe reason for the comparriosn is one. I is the use of the phrase ... "If you build it they will come"

There is a monalgue that is spoken at the end of the film by the character "Terance Man" It is prophetic and is:

  • Terence Mann: Ray, people will come Ray. They’ll come to Iowa for reasons they can’t even fathom. They’ll turn up your driveway not knowing for sure why they’re doing it. They’ll arrive at your door as innocent as children, longing for the past. Of course, we won’t mind if you look around, you’ll say. It’s only $20 per person. They’ll pass over the money without even thinking about it: for it is money they have and peace they lack. And they’ll walk out to the bleachers; sit in shirtsleeves on a perfect afternoon. They’ll find they have reserved seats somewhere along one of the baselines, where they sat when they were children and cheered their heroes. And they’ll watch the game, and it’ll be as if they dipped themselves in magic waters. The memories will be so thick they’ll have to brush them away from their faces. People will come, Ray. The one constant through all the years, Ray, has been baseball. America has rolled by like an army of steamrollers. It has been erased like a blackboard, rebuilt and erased again. But baseball has marked the time. This field, this game: it’s a part of our past, Ray. It reminds us of all that once was good, and it could be again. Oh… people will come Ray. People will most definitely come.

  • People will come. They’ll come to Somerset for reasons they can’t even fathom. They’ll turn towards the Tor, not knowing for sure why they’re doing it. They’ll arrive at Glastonbury , the abbey ,as innocent as children, longing for the past. Of course, we won’t mind if you look around, you’ll say. It’s only £10 per person. They’ll pass over the money without even thinking about it: for it is money they have and peace they lack. And they’ll walk out to the  Abbey and raise their eyes to take it all in.. When they enter inside they’ll find an empty pew somewhere, where they can sit as they did with their parents when they were children and wonder at the glory and majesty around them. And they’ll look around them at the stained glass, the with shafts of sunlight pouring through. They’ll catch the timeless scent of ages long past and member all the stories their teachers told them about love, and sacrifice and kindness and charity, and it’ll be as if they dipped themselves in magic waters. The memories will be so thick they’ll have to brush them away from their faces. People will come. The one constant through all the years, has been the church. England has rolled on like an army of steamrollers leaving all behind it and buried beneath its wheels. Our faith has been erased like words on a blackboard, emptied and  left vacant like a ruin. But our Church has marked the time. This Abbey, this rebuilt Abbey: it’s a part of our past. It reminds us of all that once was good, and that it could be again. Oh… people will come, People will most definitely come.

If we rebuild the Abbey people will come ... People will most definately come.

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