Field of Lost Shoes | |
---|---|
Directed by | Sean McNamara |
Written by |
|
Produced by |
|
Starring | |
Cinematography | Brad Shield |
Edited by | Jeff Canavan |
Music by | Frederik Wiedmann |
Production company | |
Release date |
|
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Budget | $6,000,000 |
Field of Lost Shoes is a 2014 American war drama film directed by Sean McNamara and written by Dave Kennedy and Thomas Farrell. The film stars Nolan Gould, Lauren Holly, Jason Isaacs, Tom Skerritt, Keith David and David Arquette. It is based on the true story of a group of cadets from the Virginia Military Institute who participated in the Battle of New Market against Union forces during the American Civil War. The battle was fought in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia on May 15, 1864. The film's title refers to the large number of soldiers' boots left on the battlefield due to the muddy conditions during the battle. Ten VMI cadets died in the battle.
The film was released in Europe under the title Battlefield of Lost Souls.
The film's shooting locales include Powhatan, Virginia, Virginia Military Institute (VMI) and Lexington, Virginia. [2] The film's world premiere was held on May 19, 2014 at the GI Film Festival. [3] [4]
On Metacritic, the film has a score of a 28% based on reviews from 5 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews." [5] On Rotten Tomatoes, it has a score of 40% based on reviews from 5 critics. [6]
The film was roundly criticized for its misleading depiction of Southern attitudes toward slavery. A reviewer for The Hollywood Reporter wrote "Amazingly, none of the staunch Southerners seem to hold any negative feelings toward blacks, defending the Institute’s beloved cook “Judge” (Keith David) from persecution and stopping to rescue a young slave woman trapped under a fallen carriage." [7] Writing for the Orlando Sentinel, critic Roger Moore noted that "cadets sympathetically help slaves at every turn, even though this was the patrician class that insisted upon the war and the preservation of that 'peculiar institution.'" [8] Nick Shager's review in The Village Voice was entitled "Civil War Drama Field of Lost Shoes Argues No Confederates Were Racist." [9]
Further criticism came in a 2019 report by Tom Nash and Kristin Reed on the government transparency news site MuckRock. The authors, noting the revisionist nature of the film, found that the Commonwealth of Virginia had given $1 million in public money to fund the film. [10]
Thomas Jonathan "Stonewall" Jackson was a general officer in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War. He played a prominent role in nearly all military engagements in the Eastern theater of the war until his death. Military historians regard him as one of the most gifted tactical commanders in U.S. history.
Lexington is an independent city in Virginia, United States. At the 2020 census, the population was 7,320. It is the county seat of Rockbridge County, although the two are separate jurisdictions, and is combined with it for statistical purposes by the Bureau of Economic Analysis. Lexington is about 57 miles (92 km) east of the West Virginia border and is about 50 miles (80 km) north of Roanoke, Virginia. First settled in 1778, Lexington is best known as the home of the Virginia Military Institute and Washington and Lee University.
The Battle of New Market was fought on May 15, 1864, in Virginia during the Valley Campaigns of 1864 in the American Civil War. A makeshift Confederate army of 4,100 men defeated the larger Army of the Shenandoah under Major General Franz Sigel, delaying the capture of Staunton by several weeks.
The Virginia Military Institute (VMI) is a public senior military college in Lexington, Virginia. It was founded in 1839 as America's first state military college and is the oldest public senior military college in the United States. In keeping with its founding principles and unlike any other senior military college in the United States, VMI enrolls cadets only and awards bachelor's degrees exclusively. The institute grants degrees in 14 disciplines in engineering, science, and the liberal arts.
Patricia Arquette is an American actress. She made her feature film debut as Kristen Parker in A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors (1987) and has since starred in several film and television productions. She has received several awards including an Academy Award, two Primetime Emmy Awards, and three Golden Globe Awards.
David Arquette is an American actor and former professional wrestler. He is best known for his role as Dewey Riley in the slasher film franchise Scream, for which he won a Teen Choice Award and two Blockbuster Entertainment Awards.
Thomas Roy Skerritt is an American actor who has appeared in over 40 films and more than 200 television episodes since 1962. He is known for his film roles in M*A*S*H, Alien, The Dead Zone, Top Gun, A River Runs Through It, Poltergeist III, and Up in Smoke, and the television series Picket Fences and Cheers. Skerritt has earned several nominations and awards, including winning the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series in 1993 for Picket Fences.
Moses Jacob Ezekiel, also known as Moses "Ritter von" Ezekiel, was an American sculptor who lived and worked in Rome for the majority of his career. Ezekiel was "the first American-born Jewish artist to receive international acclaim".
William Henry Gilham was an American soldier, teacher, chemist, and author. A member of the faculty at Virginia Military Institute, in 1860, he wrote a military manual which was still in modern use 145 years later. He served in the Confederate Army during the American Civil War, and became president of Southern Fertilizing Company in Richmond after the War.
The Valley campaigns of 1864 began as operations initiated by Union Lieutenant General Ulysses S. Grant and resulting battles that took place in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia during the American Civil War from May to October 1864. Some military historians divide this period into three separate campaigns. This article considers them together, as the campaigns interacted and built upon one another.
Lauren Holly is an American–Canadian actress. She has played the roles of Deputy Sheriff Maxine Stewart in the television series Picket Fences, NCIS Director Jenny Shepard in the series NCIS, Dr. Betty Rogers on Motive, Mary Swanson in Dumb and Dumber, Bruce Lee's wife Linda Lee in Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story, Darian Smalls in Beautiful Girls, and Gigi in What Women Want.
Benjamin West Clinedinst was an American book illustrator and portrait painter. The New International Encyclopedia considered that his "sympathetic collaboration" with the authors of the books he illustrated gave his works "a special charm".
William Young Conn Humes was an American educator, lawyer, and soldier. He served as a Confederate cavalry general during the American Civil War, in which he was wounded twice, and fought mainly in the Western Theater of the conflict. Afterward Humes resumed practicing law until his death.
The VMI Keydets football team represents the Virginia Military Institute in Lexington, Virginia. The Keydets compete in the Southern Conference of the NCAA Division I FCS, and are coached by Danny Rocco, named head coach on December 3, 2022. VMI plays their home contests at 10,000-seat Alumni Memorial Field, as they have since 1962.
The 1899 VMI Keydets football team represented the Virginia Military Institute (VMI) in their ninth season of organized football. Sam Boyle coached his second season for the Keydets, which featured only one game—a 39–0 win over Washington and Lee. Although the team only played one game in mid-October, the squad was assembled for practice in early September.
The 1900 VMI Keydets football team represented the Virginia Military Institute (VMI) in their tenth season of organized football. The Keydets went 4–1–2 under their new head coach Sam Walker.
Kevin Richard Hershberger is an American film director, film producer, and screenwriter. Hershberger. was born in Indianapolis, Indiana and grew up in Maryland. He attended the Virginia Military Institute (1995) and majored in International Studies and History. He then served as a Military Intelligence Officer in the United States Army for eight years. He currently lives in Richmond, Virginia. Hershberger is president of LionHeart FilmWorks and is best known for his first feature film, Wicked Spring (2001) which he wrote, directed and produced.
The New Market Cross of Honor was a commemorative medal established in 1904 by the Virginia Military Institute Alumni Association (VMIAA) to honor Confederate veterans who served in the Virginia Military Institute Corps of Cadets at the Battle of New Market during the American Civil War.
Thomas Garland Jefferson was one of the VMI Cadets killed at the Battle of New Market. He died three days after the battle from wounds suffered during it. He was 17 years old and the great-grand nephew of former US president Thomas Jefferson.
The 1924 VMI Keydets football team was an American football team that represented the Virginia Military Institute (VMI) during the 1924 college football season as a member of the Southern Conference. In their fifth year under head coach Blandy Clarkson, the team compiled an overall record of 6–3–1.