Dreamfield (1998)
Dreamfield (Directed by Kris Ostrowski and Tim Crescenti, 1998) Hosted by James Earl Jones. this made-for-ESPN documentary explores the fan culture and popular religion that have grown up around the Field of Dreams movie and the tourist sites at Dyersville. We see interviews with persons who have come to Iowa, a heaven on earth, to renew marriage vows, refurbish neglected family relations, and celebrate baseball as it used to be played, just for the love of it. We also see a Sunday sermon from a minister extolling the childlike faith of the film’s mantras—“If you build it, he will come” and “If you build it, they will come.” On-screen presences include Lou Brock and Maury Wills, notable baseball players, as well as William Kinsella, author of the Shoeless Joenovel that was the basis for the screenplay.]
Marty Knepper Morningside College knepper@morningside.edu & John Shelton Lawrence Morningside College j.shelton.1@gmail.com
