Todd Field

File:Todd Field Portland Mavericks 1977.tif in 1977]]

Field was born in Pomona, California, where his family ran a poultry farm.{{cite web|title= Todd Field Biography -Movies@Piczo|url= http://movies.piczo.com/celebrity/todd-field}} When Field turned two, his family moved to Portland, Oregon, where his father went to work as a salesman, and his mother became a school librarian. At an early age, he became interested in performing sleight-of-hand and later music.{{cite web|title= Todd Field Biography – Yahoo! Movies|url= https://movies.yahoo.com/movie/contributor/1800018940/bio}}{{cite web|title= Todd Field on WTF|date= January 16, 2023|url= https://www.wtfpod.com/podcast/episode-1401-todd-field}}

As a child in Portland, Field was a batboy for the Portland Mavericks, a single A independent minor league baseball team owned by Hollywood actor Bing Russell. Kurt Russell, Bing's son and later an actor in his own right, also played for the Portland Mavericks during this time.{{cite web |title="The Battered Bastards of Baseball" impresses Sundance|work=NBC Sports|first=Craig|last=Calcaterra|date=January 27, 2014|url=http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2014/01/27/the-battered-bastards-of-baseball-impresses-sundance/|access-date=July 14, 2014}} Field and Mavericks pitching coach Rob Nelson created the first batch of Big League Chew in the Field family kitchen. In 1980, Nelson and former New York Yankees all-star Jim Bouton sold the idea to the Wrigley Company. Since that time more than a billion pouches have been sold worldwide.{{cite web|title= Big League Chew: An Oral History|url= http://www.foxsports.com/mlb/just-a-bit-outside/story/big-league-chew-bubble-gum-oral-history-portland-mavericks-jim-bouton-rob-nelson-050515}}{{cite magazine|title= Sundance 2014: Todd Field looks back on the 'Battered Bastards of Baseball'|magazine= Entertainment Weekly|url= http://www.ew.com/article/2014/01/22/sundance-todd-field-battered-bastards-of-baseball-exclusive}}{{cite web|title= The Birth Of A Bubblegum Empire: Big League Chew's Unlikely Portland Origin|url=https://www.opb.org/news/article/big-league-chew-portland/|work=OPB|first=John|last=Notarianni|date=April 14, 2019|access-date=July 24, 2022}}{{cite web|title= Big League Chew founder, Rob Nelson, joins the MLB Central crew to discuss the fascinating history of the iconic bubble gum|website=MLB.com |url=https://www.mlb.com/video/rob-nelson-joins-mlb-central|date=April 6, 2023|access-date=April 7, 2023}}

File:MHCC Lab Band 1982.jpg

A budding jazz musician, at the age of sixteen Field became a member of the Lab Band at Mount Hood Community College in Gresham, Oregon. Headed by Larry McVey, the band had become a proving-ground and regular stop for Stan Kenton and Mel Tormé when they were looking for new players. It was here Field played trombone along with his friend, trumpeter and future Grammy Award Winner Chris Botti. During this same time he also worked as a non-union projectionist at a second-run movie theater. Field graduated with his class from Centennial High School on Portland's east side and briefly attended Southern Oregon State College (now Southern Oregon University) in Ashland on a music scholarship, but left after his freshman year favoring a move to New York to study acting with Robert X. Modica at his renowned Carnegie Hall Studio.{{Cite web|url=http://www.carnegieartiststudios.com/portfolio.html|title=Carnegie Artist Studios : About the Artists}} Soon after, Field began performing with the Ark Theatre Company as both an actor and musician.Levy, Shawn. You couldn't write a better script. The Oregonian, March 23, 2002.

File:Ashley Judd & Field in Victor Nuñez’s Ruby in Paradise.tif (1993)]]

Field first appeared in motion pictures after Woody Allen cast him in Radio Days (1987), and went on to work with filmmakers such as Stanley Kubrick, Victor Nuñez, and Carl Franklin.{{cite news|title= Todd Field Biography|work=The New York Times|date= December 3, 2009}}

Kevin Thomas of the Los Angeles Times summarized Field's acting career in his review of Broken Vessels (1999):

{{blockquote|"Field has a deceptive facade of all-American clean-cut looks that allows him to suggest a wide range of emotions and thoughts behind such a regular-guy appearance; in Ruby in Paradise he expressed such uncommon decency and intelligence you had to wonder how Ashley Judd's hardscrabble Ruby could ever have considered letting him get away. In Eyes Wide Shut he's the likable med school dropout turned saloon piano player, and here he's an increasingly raging sociopath. In all these roles Field has the precious gift of being able to surprise you and to command your attention on screen."{{cite news |last=Thomas |first=Kevin |title=Movie Review: Broken Vessels |url=http://www.calendarlive.com/movies/reviews/cl-movie990729-3,0,103310.story |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |date=July 30, 1999}}}}

Franklin and Nuñez, both AFI alumni, encouraged Field to enroll as a Directing Fellow at the AFI Conservatory, which he did in 1992. His thesis film, Nonnie & Alex, received a Jury Prize at the 1995 Sundance Film Festival.{{cite web | url=https://www.imdb.com/event/ev0000631/1995/1 | title=Sundance Film Festival (1995) | website=IMDb }} Other short films he made outside of school were exhibited at venues overseas and domestically at the Museum of Modern Art.{{cite web|url= https://www.nytimes.com/1993/03/23/movies/review-film-festival-a-boy-s-lesson-in-disillusionment.html|last=Canby |first=Vincent|title= Review/Film Festival; A Boy's Lesson in Disillusionment|work=The New York Times|date= March 23, 1993|access-date= June 29, 2023}}

{{main|In the Bedroom}}

File:Todd_Field_Directing_In_the_Bedrrom.tif, 2000]]

Field began his filmmaking career in 2001 when he wrote and directed In the Bedroom, a film based on Andre Dubus's short story "Killings". (Kubrick and Dubus were among Field's mentors; both died right before the production of In the Bedroom.) In the Bedroom was nominated for five Academy Awards including Best Picture, Best Actor (Tom Wilkinson, his first nomination), Best Actress (Sissy Spacek, her sixth), Supporting Actress (Marisa Tomei, her second), and Best Adapted Screenplay. The film was shot in Rockland, Maine, a New England town where Field resides. The house where he, his wife (Serena Rathbun), and their four children live was even used as the setting for one sequence.{{cite news|author= Gale, Thomas|title= Todd Field Biography|work= Contemporary Authors|date= December 16, 2007}} Rathbun and Spacek did some of the set design and Field handled the camera himself on many of the shots.

In the Bedroom made its debut at the 2001 Sundance Film Festival. Dennis Lim wrote in the Village Voice:

{{blockquote|"Todd Field's debut feature, In the Bedroom, alighted on the snowy peaks of Sundance last January as if from another universe. Here was a small miracle of patience and composure, so starkly removed from everything the festival had come to represent that it seemed almost to herald the overdue coming-of-age of American independent film."{{cite web |title= Scenes From a Marriage |url= https://www.villagevoice.com/2001/11/20/scenes-from-a-marriage/

|website= Village Voice|first=Dennis|last=Lim|date=November 20, 2001|access-date=July 24, 2022}}}}

Upon the film's release David Ansen of Newsweek wrote:

{{blockquote|"Todd Field exhibits a mastery of his craft many filmmakers never acquire in a lifetime. With one film he's guaranteed his future as a director. He has the magnificent obsession of the natural-born filmmaker."{{cite news|author= Ansen, David|title= Their House Torn Asunder|work= Newsweek|date= December 3, 2001}}{{cite news|author= Ansen, David.|title= Break On Through To The Oscar Side.|work= Newsweek|date= January 21, 2002}}}}

Anthony Quinn of The Independent stated,

{{blockquote|"Field has pulled off something here I thought no American filmmaker would ever manage again: he makes violence feel genuinely shocking."{{cite news|author= Quinn, Anthony|title= The Big Picture: In the Bedroom|newspaper= The Independent|date= January 25, 2002}}}}

For his work on In the Bedroom, Field was named Director of the Year by the National Board of Review, and his script was awarded Best Original Screenplay. The film was named Best Picture of the Year by the Los Angeles Film Critics Association, and the New York Film Critics Circle awarded Field Best First Film. In the Bedroom received six American Film Institute Awards, including Best Picture, Director, and Screenplay, three Golden Globe nominations, and five Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture, Actor, Actress, Supporting Actress, and two individually for Field as screenwriter and producer. The American Film Institute honored Field with the Franklin Schaffner Alumni Medal.

The March 2023 issue of New York magazine listed In the Bedroom alongside Citizen Kane, Sunset Boulevard, Dr. Strangelove, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, The Conversation, Nashville, Taxi Driver, The Elephant Man, Pulp Fiction, There Will Be Blood, Roma, and Tár, also directed by Field, as "The Best Movies That Lost Best Picture at the Oscars".{{cite magazine|date=March 28, 2023 |title=The Best Movies That Lost Best Picture at the Oscars |magazine=New York |url=https://www.vulture.com/article/best-oscar-best-picture-losers.html |access-date=2020-03-28}}

{{main|Little Children (film)}}

File:Perrotta & Field working on the script for Little Children.JPG

After years spent doing research for a biopic of 19th-century stage actor Edwin Booth titled Time Between Trains, Field resurfaced with Little Children in 2006.{{cite magazine|last=Macaulay|first=Scott|url=https://filmmakermagazine.com/archives/issues/fall2006/features/playground_rules.php|title=Todd Field's Little Children - Filmmaker Magazine - Fall 2006|magazine=Filmmaker|quote=}}{{cite news|last=Cullum|first=Paul|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2007-jan-21-ca-field21-story.html|title=Acting all grown up in the land of 'Children'|work=Los Angeles Times|date=January 21, 2007|access-date=June 2, 2023}} The film was nominated for three Academy Awards, including two for the actors: Kate Winslet (her fifth nomination, and with it a record for the youngest actor to be nominated for five Academy Awards) and Jackie Earle Haley (his first nomination and first major role in over 15 years). With just two films, Field had garnered five Academy Award nominations for his actors and three for himself. Initially conceived as a miniseries,{{cite web|last=Barfield|first=Charles|url=https://theplaylist.net/todd-field-wanted-to-direct-revolutionary-road-originally-saw-little-children-as-a-miniseries-20230117/|title=Todd Field Wanted To Direct 'Revolutionary Road' & Originally Saw 'Little Children' As A Miniseries|website=The Playlist|date=January 17, 2023|access-date=August 16, 2023}} the film, based on Tom Perrotta's novel of the same name, made its premiere at the 2006 New York Film Festival. In his roundup "Best of 2006", A.O. Scott of The New York Times wrote:

{{blockquote|"The first time you see Todd Field's adaptation of Tom Perrotta's novel, you may remark on the director's impressive control over the unruly source material and the emotional agility of the cast, Kate Winslet in particular. The second time, the film's lurid, crazy side is more apparent, and the intensity of the supporting performances—Noah Emmerich, Jackie Earle Haley, Phyllis Somerville—creep into the foreground. This movie, Mr. Field's second feature...is a complicated blend of gothic, melodrama and sexual comedy, unerringly attuned to the varieties of human failure."{{cite news|author= Scott, A.O. |title= Best of 2006: Here's to the Ambitious and the Altmans|newspaper= The New York Times|date= December 24, 2006}}}}

International Cinephile Society's Matt Mazur called the film "subversive" and designed to disorient the viewer with "seemingly non-connected imagery to suggest a tone and a mood of disquiet." Mazur compared Field's technique with that of Sergei Eisenstein, D. W. Griffith, Georges Méliès, and Edwin S. Porter.{{cite news |title = Todd Field's Little Children in Relation to the History of Cinema |first = Matt |last = Mazur |url = http://icsfilm.org/essays/todd-fields-little-children-in-relation-to-the-history-of-cinema/ |newspaper = International Cinephile Society|date = June 10, 2010 |access-date = July 1, 2010}}

Many members of Field's creative team on In the Bedroom returned to work with him on the film, including Serena Rathbun. In a 2006 interview with The Hollywood Reporter's Anne Thompson, Field said he quit acting and began making his own films after Rathbun told him, "Do what you want to do. Don't get distracted."{{cite magazine |author= Thompson, Anne|title= Field a father figure to his 'Little Children' |url= https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/field-a-father-figure-his-138676/|magazine= The Hollywood Reporter|date= September 15, 2006 |access-date= September 15, 2006}} Later that year, Field spoke extensively about the importance of Rathbun as his creative partner, describing a conversation he had with her where she gave him the most pivotal scene: "for me, the film is unthinkable without it."{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=boI1BqNR32Q |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211221/boI1BqNR32Q |archive-date=December 21, 2021 |url-status=live|title=Charlie Rose – John Burns & Hilary Swank / Todd Field |publisher=YouTube |access-date=January 3, 2007}}{{cbignore}}

{{main|Todd Field's unrealized projects}}

After Little Children, Field went fifteen years without directing another film, which various journalists lamented.{{cite news|title= Todd Field to direct Hubris next|url= https://theplaylist.net/todd-field-to-direct-hubris-nex-20100319/|work=The Playlist|first=Kevin|last=Jagernauth|date= March 19, 2010|access-date= March 19, 2010}} In his 2015 Ioncinema piece "Top 10 American Indie Filmmakers Missing in Action", Nicholas Bell wrote, "It is definitely time for Field to throw one down the middle. In the meantime, we'll just have to watch In the Bedroom for the umpteenth time."{{cite news|title= Top 10 American Indie Filmmakers Missing in Action|url= http://www.ioncinema.com/the-conversation/top-10-american-indie-filmmakers-missing-in-action/|website=Ioncinema|first=Nicholas|last=Bell|date= October 26, 2015|access-date= October 25, 2015}}

However, during this period Field did write a number of film and television projects that never came to fruition, including adaptations of the novels Blood Meridian,{{cite news |author= Medina, Jeremy|title= Cormac McCarthy's Blood Meridian film changes directors |newspaper= Los Angeles Times|date= August 28, 2008}}{{cite news|title= Todd Field still working hard on Blood Meridian|url= http://www.talkingfilms.net/todd-field-still-working-hard-on-blood-meridian|date= January 14, 2010|access-date= April 3, 2010}} Beautiful Ruins{{Cite web| last = Kroll| first = Justin| title = Imogen Poots to Star in Todd Field's 'Beautiful Ruins' (EXCLUSIVE)| work = Variety| date = November 19, 2013| url = https://variety.com/2013/film/news/imogen-poots-todd-field-beautiful-ruins-1200821017/}} and Purity.{{cite news|first= Elizabeth|last= Wagmeister|url=https://variety.com/2016/tv/news/purity-showtime-daniel-craig-scott-rudin-1201753115|title=Showtime Lands Daniel Craig, Scott Rudin Limited Series 'Purity'|work=Variety|date=June 1, 2016}} He also worked for almost a decade on a film adaptation of the 2010 Boston Teran novel The Creed of Violence, set during the Mexican Revolution, which at different times was set to star Leonardo DiCaprio,{{cite news |first= Steven|last=Zeitchik |title= A Western With Leonardo DiCaprio? |url= http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/movies/2011/07/leonardo-dicaprio-creed-violence-boston-teran.html |newspaper= Los Angeles Times|date= July 29, 2011}} Christian Bale{{cite web |title=Christian Bale in talks for 'Creed of Violence' |url=https://variety.com/2012/film/news/christian-bale-in-talks-for-creed-of-violence-1118057439/ |work=Variety |first=Jeff |last=Sneider |date=August 3, 2012}} and Daniel Craig.{{cite web |title=Exclusive: Daniel Craig to Star in Todd Field's 'The Creed of Violence' |url=https://collider.com/daniel-craig-todd-field-the-creed-of-violence/ |work=Collider |first=Jeff |last=Sneider |date=February 20, 2019}} It had also been reported that Field might direct a coming-of-age script set in the 1970s Northwest based on his experiences with the Minor League Baseball team the Portland Mavericks, that Kurt Russell was involved in.{{cite magazine |first1=Tatiana|last1=Siegel|first2=Borys|last2=Kit|title= Sundance Deal Wrap |url= http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/sundance-deal-wrap-up-anne-674833/|magazine= The Hollywood Reporter|date= January 29, 2014}}

Speaking publicly for the first time in sixteen years, Field told The New York Times in 2022, "I set my sights in a very particular way on certain material that was probably very tough to get made."{{Cite news |last=Buchanan |first=Kyle |date=August 30, 2022 |title=With 'Tár,' Todd Field Returns to Directing. Where Has He Been? |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/30/movies/todd-field-tar.html |access-date=September 4, 2022 |issn=0362-4331}} Later, when asked if he would ever consider reviving any of his past projects, Field replied "[They're] kind of like a family plot. You have these little headstones, and you have a passing acquaintance with and occasionally drop flowers on, but I don't want to dig any of them up."{{cite news|title= Todd Field Says "Prophetic" 'Purity' Series With Daniel Craig Is Dated Now: "We Could Never Go Back To It"|url= https://theplaylist.net/todd-field-says-prophetic-purity-series-with-daniel-craig-is-dated-now-we-could-never-go-back-to-it-20230103/|work=The Playlist|first=Rodrigo|last=Perez|date= January 3, 2023|access-date= August 27, 2023}}

Over those same years Field worked in advertising, directing spots for such brands as Xbox,{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5yVPaI5oRXo|title=Halo: Anniversary Tribute - Directed by Todd Field (2011)|website=YouTube|date=November 13, 2011|access-date=August 31, 2023}} Captain Morgan,{{cite web|last=Schmidlin|first=Charlie|url=https://www.indiewire.com/news/general-news/watch-first-part-in-todd-field-directed-trilogy-of-ads-for-captain-morgan-100577/|title=Watch: First Part In Todd Field-Directed Trilogy Of Ads For Captain Morgan|website=IndieWire|date=March 19, 2013|access-date=August 28, 2023}} Corona,{{cite web|url=http://www.sonnenbergcasting.com/#/new-gallery-1/|title=Corona "Cooler Box" Directed by Todd Field|publisher=Sonnenberg Casting|date=February 24, 2014|access-date=August 30, 2023}} BMW,{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MVlLeecMg_U|title=BMW "Protected" Directed by Todd Field (2015)|website=YouTube|date=May 4, 2015|access-date=August 30, 2023}} NASCAR{{cite web|url=https://vimeo.com/137106144|title=NASCAR "Anthem" - Directed by Todd Field|publisher=Sonnenberg Casting|date=August 24, 2015|access-date=August 28, 2023}} and GE.{{cite web|url=https://www.shootonline.com/video/bbdo-ny-director-todd-field-show-us-what-matters-ge-campaign-breaking-winter-olympics|title=BBDO NY, Director Todd Field Show Us What Matters In GE Campaign Breaking On Winter Olympics|website=Shoot OnLine|date=February 12, 2018|access-date=August 30, 2023}} Reflecting on his advertising work over these years he stated "I've been directing constantly, I feel much stronger as a director than I ever felt with those previous films."{{cite web|last=Georgiades|first=Luke|url=https://www.a-rabbitsfoot.com/editorial/confessions/todd-field-interview-advertising/|title=Todd Field: "Anyone that's serious about music is writing for video games."|website=A Rabbit's Foot|date=January 31, 2023|access-date=August 28, 2023}}

{{main|Tár}}

File:Todd Field & Cate Blanchett à la cérémonie de clôture lors de la 79ème édition du festival international du film de Venise, la Mostra.jpg]]

Field's third film, Tár, starring Cate Blanchett as the fictional conductor/composer Lydia Tár, premiered at the 79th Venice International Film Festival, where it competed for the Golden Lion and Queer Lion, with Blanchett winning the Volpi Cup for Best Actress.{{cite web |last=Tartaglione |first=Nancy |url=https://deadline.com/2022/09/venice-film-festival-2022-winners-golden-lion-full-list-1235113993/ |title=Venice Film Festival Winners: Golden Lion Goes To 'All The Beauty And The Bloodshed'; Luca Guadagnino Best Director, Martin McDonagh Best Screenplay; Cate Blanchett, Colin Farrell Take Acting Prizes |website=Deadline Hollywood |date=September 10, 2022 |access-date=September 10, 2022}} The film had a limited theatrical release in the United States on October 7, 2022, before its wide release on October 28, 2022, and International theatrical release that began first in the UK on 13 January 2023.{{cite web |last=D'Alessandro |first=Anthony |url=https://deadline.com/2021/11/cate-blanchett-movie-tar-release-date-cast-1234879916/ |title=Todd Field Cate Blanchett Movie Tár Sets 2022 Release & Adds Nina Hoss, Noémie Merlant, Mark Strong & More|website=Deadline Hollywood |date=September 2021 |access-date=January 21, 2023}} Tár received six nominations for the 95th Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Director and Best Original Screenplay for Field, and Best Actress for Blanchett, and five nominations from the 76th British Academy Film Awards, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actress, Best Sound, and Best Screenplay of the Year.{{cite web|title= BAFTA Nominations Announced|date= January 19, 2023|url= https://www.bafta.org/media-centre/press-releases/2023-ee-bafta-film-awards-nominations-announced}}{{cite web|title= AMPAS Nominations Announced|website= The Hollywood Reporter|date= January 24, 2023|url= https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/oscar-nominations-2023-nominees-list-1235307974/}}

For his work on Tár, Field was nominated by the Directors Guild of America for Best Director, the Producers Guild of America for Best Film, and the Writers Guild of America for Best Original Screenplay.{{cite web|title= 75th DGA Nominations Announced|url= https://www.dga.org/awards/annual.aspx#FF}}{{cite web|title= Nominations in Motion Picture and Television Program categories announced|date= January 12, 2023|url= https://producersguild.org/pgaawards2023_motionpictures_tv/}}{{cite web|title= WGA Nominations: 'Everything Everywhere,' 'Nope' and 'Wakanda Forever' Among Recognized Screenplays|date= January 25, 2023|url= https://variety.com/2023/awards/awards/wga-awards-nominations-2023-everything-everywhere-nope-wakanda-forever-1235502256/}} He was named Best Director of the Year by the London Film Critics' Circle and Los Angeles Film Critics Association, and his script named Best Original Screenplay.{{cite web|title= London Critics' Circle Film Awards: 'TÁR' Takes Top Prize, 'Banshees of Inisherin' Dominates Acting Categories|date= February 5, 2023|url= https://www.indiewire.com/2023/02/london-critics-circle-film-awards-2023-winners-list-1234806787/}}{{cite web |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/la-film-critics-award-winners-2022-1235279497/ |title=Tár and Everything Everywhere All at Once Named Best Picture by L.A. Film Critics |work=The Hollywood Reporter |first=Carly |last=Thomas |date=December 11, 2022 |access-date=December 11, 2022 |archive-date=December 22, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221222163513/https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/la-film-critics-award-winners-2022-1235279497/ |url-status=live}}

Tár is the fourth film in history to be named Best of the Year by the New York Film Critics Circle, the Los Angeles Film Critics Association, the London Film Critics' Circle as well as the National Society of Film Critics.{{cite web|last=Ruimy|first=Jordan|url=https://www.worldofreel.com/blog/06hby5f5n6voyct05okz3c6yzh7i1j/|title=TÁR is Only Fourth Film in History to Win London, New York, L.A. and NSFC|date=August 19, 2019 |access-date=February 12, 2023|archive-date=February 13, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230213003510/https://www.worldofreel.com/blog/06hby5f5n6voyct05okz3c6yzh7i1j/|url-status=live}} More critics listed the film Best of the Year than any other released in 2022, including The Atlantic, Entertainment Weekly, The Guardian, The Hollywood Reporter, Screen Daily, Vanity Fair, and Variety; plus, IndieWire's annual poll of 165 critics worldwide who also named Field "Best Director of the Year" and his script "Best Screenplay."{{cite web |url=https://www.yearendlists.com/visuals/tar-24bc2fc1-2687-4e75-b314-ec01c026b541 |title=Tár |publisher=Year-End Lists |access-date=March 22, 2023}}{{cite web |url=https://www.metacritic.com/feature/film-critics-pick-10-best-movies-of-2022 |title=Best of 2022: Film Critic Top Ten Lists |last=Dietz |first=Jason |publisher=Metacritic |date=December 6, 2022 |access-date=December 28, 2022 |archive-date=January 2, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230102111332/https://www.metacritic.com/feature/film-critics-pick-10-best-movies-of-2022 |url-status=live}}{{cite web |url=https://www.indiewire.com/gallery/50-best-movies-2022-critics-poll/ |title=The 50 Best Movies of 2022, According to 165 Critics from Around the World |last1=Foreman |first1=Alison |last2=Blauvelt |first2=Christian |publisher=IndieWire |date=February 26, 2023 |access-date=December 28, 2022 |archive-date=December 27, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221227190022/https://www.indiewire.com/gallery/50-best-movies-2022-critics-poll/ |url-status=live}}

Owen Gleiberman in his Venice Film Festival Daily Variety review wrote:{{blockquote|"Let me say right up front: It's the work of a master filmmaker... Tár is not a judgement so much as a statement you can make your own judgment about. The statement is: We're in a new world."{{cite web|url=https://variety.com/2022/film/reviews/tar-review-cate-blanchett-todd-field-1235356652/|title='Tár' Review: Cate Blanchett Acts With Ferocious Force in Todd Field's Masterful Drama|work=Variety|date=September 1, 2022|access-date=January 22, 2023}}}}

A. O. Scott of The New York Times writing from the Telluride Film Festival and later from the New York Film Festival stated,

{{blockquote|"I'm not sure I've ever seen a movie quite like Tár. Field balances Apollonian restraint with Dionysian frenzy. Tár is meticulously controlled and also scarily wild. Field finds a new way of posing the perennial question about separating the artist from the art, a question that he suggests can only be answered by another question: are you crazy? We don't care about Tár because she's an artist. We care about her because she's art."{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/10/06/movies/tar-review.html|title=Tár Review: A Maestro Faces the Music|work=The New York Times|date=October 7, 2022|access-date=October 17, 2022}}{{cite web|last=Scott|first=A. O.|author-link=A. O. Scott|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/05/movies/telluride-film-festival-women-talking.html|title='At the Telluride Film Festival, 'Women Talking' and Other Topics of Conversation|work=The New York Times|date=September 5, 2022|access-date=January 22, 2023}}}}

Robbie Collin, of The Daily Telegraph, wrote:

{{blockquote|"Field himself was a protégé of Stanley Kubrick, and Tár feels Kubrickian in many respects: its formal mastery, its exceptional acting, its atmosphere that clings like mist. But like Kubrick’s own projects, it’s something you really never have seen before.”{{cite web|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/films/0/tar-review-searing-cate-blanchett-first-cancel-culture-thriller/|title=Tár, review: Cate Blanchett is outrageously good in this epic, eerie, shape-shifting drama|work=Daily Telegraph|date=January 11, 2023|access-date=Dec 16, 2024}}}}

Martin Scorsese presenting Best Film of the Year to Field at the 2022 New York Film Critics Circle Awards, praised his filmmaking saying,

{{blockquote|"For so long now, so many of us see films that pretty much let us know where they're going... but that's on dark days. The clouds lifted when I experienced Todd's film, Tár."{{cite web|url=https://variety.com/2023/film/news/martin-scorsese-tar-ended-cinema-dark-days-1235479771/|title=Martin Scorsese: The 'Clouds Lifted' on Cinema's 'Dark Days' After I Watched Tár|first=Zach|last=Sharf|work=Variety|date=January 5, 2023|access-date=January 15, 2023|archive-date=January 16, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230116044055/https://variety.com/2023/film/news/martin-scorsese-tar-ended-cinema-dark-days-1235479771/|url-status=live}}}}

Paul Thomas Anderson praised Field when presenting him with his Director Medallion at the 75th annual DGA Awards saying, {{blockquote|"Every detail matters in this film. Nothing is not deliberate or full of intention. It's directed with such perfectly controlled mayhem and glee by Todd, it's really hard not to drool as another director."{{cite web|title=Paul Thomas Anderson Applauds 'TÁR' Director Todd Field for Making a True Art Film: It's 'Hard Not to Drool'|first=Samantha|last=Bergeson|work=IndieWire|date=March 1, 2023|access-date=March 28, 2023|url=https://www.indiewire.com/video/paul-thomas-anderson-hard-not-to-drool-over-todd-field-tar-1234814906/}}}}

On Josh Olson and Joe Dante's The Movies That Made Me podcast, Field listed ten of his favorite films, which included Man with a Movie Camera (1929), The Big Parade (1925), The Servant (1963), I Am Cuba (1964), Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors (1965), Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969), Murmur of the Heart (1971), Opening Night (1977), The Meetings of Anna (1978) and No End (1985).{{cite podcast| url=https://trailersfromhell.com/podcast/todd-field/| title=Todd Field - The Movies That Made Me - Trailers From Hell| website=Trailers from Hell| author1=Olson, Josh| author2=Dante, Joe| author1-link=Josh Olson| author2-link=Joe Dante}}

Field has cited George Roy Hill, Alan J. Pakula, John Ford, Stanley Kubrick and Steven Spielberg as the directors who inspired him when he was a young person.{{cite web|last=McQuade|first=Ryan|url=https://awardswatch.com/interview-todd-field-reflects-on-his-influences-intentions-and-collaborations-that-formed-his-long-awaited-return-with-tar/|title=Interview: Todd Field reflects on his influences, intentions and collaborations that formed his long-awaited return with 'TÁR'|website=AwardsWatch|date=November 18, 2022|access-date=August 16, 2023}}

Directed Academy Award performances

Under Field's direction, these actors have received the Academy Award nominations for their performances in their respective roles.

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{{Todd Field}}

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{{Boston Society of Film Critics Award for Best Director}}

{{Gotham Independent Film Award for Best Screenplay}}

{{London Film Critics Circle Award for Director of the Year}}

{{Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Director}}

{{Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Screenplay}}

{{National Board of Review Award for Best Director}}

{{National Board of Review Award for Best Adapted Screenplay}}

{{National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Screenplay}}

{{New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best First Film}}

{{San Francisco Bay Area Film Critics Circle Award for Best Director}}

{{San Francisco Bay Area Film Critics Circle Award for Best Original Screenplay}}

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Category:1964 births

Category:American male screenwriters

Category:Film producers from California

Category:American male film actors

Category:AFI Conservatory alumni

Category:Living people

Category:People from Pomona, California

Category:Male actors from Portland, Oregon

Category:People from Rockland, Maine

Category:Southern Oregon University alumni

Category:Film directors from California

Category:Film directors from Oregon

Category:Mt. Hood Community College alumni

Category:Screenwriters from Oregon

Category:Film directors from Maine

Category:Screenwriters from California

Category:Screenwriters from Maine

Category:Film producers from Oregon

Category:Writers from Portland, Oregon