?Field cites Kubrick as an important inspiration. .....Kubrick would have been pleased with the ending of In the Bedroom. And Field agrees that the stark resolution of the film could confound emotionally pampered American audiences. 'I believed in the story, but I'm shocked that anybody actually financed it,' he laughs.

The short films he directed before In the Bedroom also mined the rich territory of families, either dysfunctional or in crisis. When asked about his own, he suggests it was 'serene, some of it', before adding: 'It was quite a strange upbringing, frankly.' He was 17 when he learned that his older brother and sister were only half-siblings, both his parents having been married before. 'It explains why my half-brother kept trying to kill me. There was this huge lie, not just to the neighbours but with me and my little sister. There were a lot of hidden things going on there.'

In many ways, In the Bedroom could be called a 'personal project'. It was filmed, with an astute eye for the milieu, in Maine, Field's home of the past six years. It was based on the work of an author who was a friend, and it obviously touches on an understanding of families that don't quite work.? .