Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #60870 in DVD
• Released on: 2002-08-13
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 75 minutes

Amazon.com
Ellis Peter's intrepid sleuthing monk solves a grisly puzzle in The Potter's Field. The brothers of the Shrewsbury monastery are doing some innocent backyard plowing when they turn up a murder: a body that looks like it may be that of the former wife of their own Brother Ruald. Shrewsbury boils with rumors and accusations as a civil war devastates the countryside. The Potter's Field is a terrific mystery, filled with compelling human drama as well as a knotty riddle with a shocking solution. The production has an authentic feel, showing both the practicalities and the squalor of medieval life, and the direction artfully enhances the story. The acting is excellent across the board, with Derek Jacobi's surehanded embodiment of Cadfael leading the way. This is an excellent, satisfying mystery. Special DVD features include cast filmographies, commentary by Jacobi, a production scrapbook, and a biography of Ellis Peters. --Ali Davis

From the Back Cover
A riveting medieval mystery based on the bestselling book by Ellis Peter

After the local potter's field is given to the abbey, a plowman unearths a skeleton with long thick women's tresses unceremoniously buried there. Suspicion immediately falls on the newest monk, Brother Ruald, who lived on the land with his wife until abandoning it, and her, for the monastic life. The abandoned wife, a lovely young woman who pleaded with her husband not to leave, has been missing since shortly after Ruald left to answer his calling from God. But Cadfael remains puzzled, as he sees no signs of foul play on the remains. A young novice fleeing warfare that has invaded a nearby monastery further complicates the picture.

DVD special features include exclusive audio comments star by Derek Jacobi, Ellis Peters biography and booklist, production scrapbook, filmographies and closed captions.

Customer Reviews

Did not brother Ruald have a maid with hair as dark as this?
A good potter of the town finds himself called to God ,and so decides to abandon his former life and enter the abbey.Behind him he leaves a distraught wife ,who begs her husband not to leave.Material provisions she shall have,but no longer the passion a happy marriage can provide,nor is she free to marry again.One year after Ruald joins the monastry a young womans body is unearthed in the former potters field.Could this be Rualds missing wife?
This is a highly enjoyable episode of the Cadfael series.It explores the emotional effects of one mans decision to change the course of his life,for better or for worse.The repercusions of his actions will affect not just his wife,but also his landlords family,to whom Rualds wife turns for help.I can highly recomend this film ,it is a very moving ,superbly acted,well filmed movie.It will take you back to 12th century england brilliantly.

Twist of fate.....
THE POTTER'S FIELD tells the story of a craftsman, a potter by trade, who decides to take up the cowl and join the brotherhood of Cadfael's monastery. Problem is, the potter is married, and his poor wife objects loudly that she does not know how she will survive if he leaves her. She cannot take another husband and she cannot tend the farm on her own without him. The potter's calling is so strong, however, that he "puts off" his wife and takes his vows.

A year later, the potter's wife has disappeared, the potter has become a monk, and the monastery has assumed ownership of the potter's field. One day, a monk is plowing the field for the spring planting when he uncovers the body of a young woman. Curiously, the body has been laid out according to Christian burial practices, but in unconsecrated ground. The manner of burial indicates a person of faith buried the body, but were they faithful or was this a careful attempt to cover misdeeds?

Who is the dead woman? How did she die? Was the death accidental, a suicide, a murder? Could the dead woman be the missing wife? If so, did the potter kill his wife? A year before the body was found, a traveler spent several nights in the potter's deserted house. Some say he had a companion. Could she be the victim? And, what roles did the overlord and his wife play in this drama? The overlord left for the Crusades about the time the potter's wife disappeared? Cadfael is soon called in to solve one of his most challenging puzzles.

This story stars Mel xxx, who played Adam Dalglish's girlfriend for a while, and more recently played as the 'Daughter of the Regiment' in a Hetty Winthrop adventure, and the mother of Art Malek's slain mistress in a 'Second Sight' PBS mystery.

Gruesome and Lovely
The mystery begins with the discovery of a young women's corpse turned up by digging in >The Potter's Field.< The monks and Sheriff Hugh are busily trying to determine whether this is the body of the ex-potter, now turned monk's wife. Before entering the Benedictine monastery at Shrewsbury, the monk owned the field-then abandoned it and his reasonably frustrated spouse to the Lord of the Manor. Brother Robert and Brother Jerome, of course, want to believe the worse, but not our friend, Cadfael, whose sleuthing eye sees more than meets the eye.

As the plot unfolds we find Cadfael examining the gruesome remains as usual. A ring also turns up as usual. The civil war between the followers of King Stephen and Empress Maude interferes with the romance and intrique as usual. During the warfare monks are attacked in a nearby monastery. A young novice escapes carrying the wounded Prior to safety and Br. Cadfael's herb treatment works as usual. Boils are soothed on a scoundrel's neck--also gruesome. Behind all of this loom two lovely ladies:the potter's wife(suspected corpse) who appears only in flashbacks and the frail widow of the Lord of the Manner whose appearance is less than significant until.......

We find out who was really done in and who done it?

I rate this one three stars because I found the acting of the potter's wife less than convincing, and a multitude of characters in pop corn roles do tend to confuse the story. I thought this episode in the series was not nearly as fine as some of the early ones and the masterpiece, 'Virgin in the Ice', but it is definitely worth viewing--as usual.