Product Description

Cadfael investigates the death of a woman after her body is dug up on a potter's field that has just been donated to the abbey.
Genre: Mystery
Rating: NR
Release Date: 13-AUG-2002
Media Type: DVD

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #35360 in DVD
• Brand: JACOBI,DEREK
• 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
• Dimensions: .20 pounds
• 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.

"Guilt is something we have to live with"
So much mystery, so many solutions, and you guest wrong. Yet Brother Cadfael stays with it until all is revealed. In the process we all must think and learn something of our selves.

This may not be the book but the film has depth in its own right. It was directed in 1997 by Mary McMurray the same person who directed Miss Marple: At Bertram's Hotel in 1987.

The potter Ruald heard the call of God and to the consternation of his wife takes the tonsure. While tilling the field that was left to the abbey some monks find a body. Their first assumption is that it is Ruald's wife.


Cadfael - The Holy Thief