BEST OF IRISH MOVIES
8th April 2020
Table of Contents
Welcome to the Irish Movie Blog
Hi everyone it’s Collie here. And hello to the ISAI Irish movie blog* A quick introduction: Recently I was preparing for the movie review segment I do on Ocean Fm and I sent a message out to some friends on social media. It was the first week of the lockdown and we had decided to do an Irish movie special. I asked my pals for their favorite Irish movie -but to avoid ‘obvious’ candidates. One of the things that surprised me the most (other than I have friends with weird tastes) is how many of my US based friends suggested movies like Boondock Saints, Leap Year, The Departed, Matchmaker, and Gangs of New York. I would never have considered a single one of them as Irish movies. Admittedly only two of them are actually set in Ireland but it’s not just their settings. I have no problem with considering In America an Irish movie. In fact, I often include The Favourite (filmed and set in England, by a Greek director) and The Breadwinner (set in Afghanistan) in my Irish movies list. So, what makes a movie Irish? Much of Braveheart and Saving Private Ryan were filmed in Ireland but nobody thinks of them as Irish. Riverdance burst onto the global scene but its leads were American dancers. (I promise you if Michael Flatley’s self-financed movie Blackbird ever sees the light of day we’ll definitely do a blog). I think, much like people, a movie is probably Irish if it wants to be. But I do feel that a while there is a huge shared culture, humor and history, there are also interesting and enjoyable differences in the movies and TV shows appreciated by the Irish and the Irish Americans. Ray Donovan we’re looking at you. The radio show went very well with many good suggestions. However the idea of all these different opinions on what makes an Irish movie, and more importantly, what makes a good Irish movie, lingered. When discussing with Niamh , she suggested doing a few blog posts about some Irish movies. Some gems you might have missed, some beloved movies to revisit and just for fun, maybe the odd stinker. So in no particular order here we go. *(And Jason Issacs of course)ISAI goes to the movies recommendation #1
Grabbers
Grabbers is like a family inside joke. A movie whose central plot revolves around a load of Donegal people being spectacularly drunk? It’s ok for us to make it but someone else had made it, they would be in for a Paddington style hard stare. However, this is a gem of horror comedy that punches far above its weight and its meagre budget.Spoiler Free Synopsis
Garda Lisa Nolan (Ruth Bradley) travels to provide holiday relief to permanently sozzled colleague Garda Ciarán O’Shea (Richard Coyle, from the chilling adventures of Sabrina doing a fine Irish accent). While there, however it becomes clear that they are cut off from the mainland and under attack by man-eating monsters. This alien menace seems undefeatable with an insatiable appetite. Until, that it, our heroes with the help of Russel Tovey’s boffin, discover that the monster’s Achilles’ heel is alcohol. Our rubbery monsters can’t abide booze, or the taste of any human who’s been imbibing. Can the gang remain blotto enough to save the day?Is it any good?
One of the joys of comedy horror is the fun you can have with clichés and tropes- and clichés abound here. Bradley’s uptight teetotal Lisa, and Coyle’s shambolic but heroic O’Shea would be boring stereotypes in a drama, but there are great foils in the island’s eccentric group of characters. Add to this Tovey (Years and Years, Him and Her, Being Human) really enjoying himself, chewing the scenery. And what scenery it is, with Rathlin Island and Innishowen standing in for the fictional Errin Island. The SFX aren’t spectacular but the charm and genuine odd scare more than make up for them, and for movie fans there are loads of nods to classics such as Alien and Jaws. As of March 2020, it’s streaming in the U.S. on Hulu and available for rent or purchase on loads of platforms. Definitely one to wrap your tentacles around.You might like this if you enjoyed: Shaun of the Dead, Lake Placid, Tremors
ISAI goes to the movies recommendation #2
Jimmy’s Hall
Quite the change of pace for our second movie choice. I was pondering the blog today while out for my allotted stroll. The podcast I was listening to dealt with Bernie Sanders’ decision to bow out of the race for President of the USA. The combination of the scenery, and discussion of socialist politics, brought to mind the movie Jimmy’s Hall (2014). It is the true tale of Jimmy Gralton, the only Irish citizen ever deported from Ireland, and was filmed on location right beside us here in the counties of Leitrim and Sligo. I think it’s an interesting movie and one that may have passed you by.Spoiler Free Synopsis
Leitrim-born Jimmy returns to Ireland after years of exile in the USA. His mother and many friends are delighted to see him back -but Catholic priest Father Sheridan and the local authorities less so. The reason? This is Ireland in 1932 and Jimmy is a known socialist, to be treated with fear and suspicion. When he reopens the village hall for signing dancing and drama, this proves a step too far.Will it make me sing the Internationale?
Anyone who knows the work of Ken Loach and writer Paul Lafferty will know where the movie’s sympathies lie. The last time the duo worked on an Irish movie it was the excellent “The Wind That Shakes the Barley”. Although Jimmy’s Hall also deals with the fallout from the War of Independence, it is much lighter fare than their previous effort. For all it’s rebellious spirit and progressive DNA, Jimmy’s Hall is a nostalgic, charming and warm affair too. Some critics bemoaned that the characters debated rather than talked. To that I would say – of course they do, it’s Ken Loach. The accusations that it’s the Quiet Man meets Footloose are less fair. But quite funny all the same. It stars Barry Ward as Jimmy, who we’ll meet again when we review Extra Ordinary. The ubiquitous Andrew Scott plays a somewhat less hot priest than he did in Fleabag and you may also recognize Aisling Franciosi (The Fall, The Nightingale). Of all Loach’s films it’s more entertaining than essential. However, it’s well worth a watch, especially for those in search of an Irish story you haven’t heard before. On date of writing it’s available for rent from Apple, Amazon and YouTube among others.You might like this if you enjoyed: The Wind That Shakes the Barley, I, Daniel Blake
Next we are going to look at have two thrillers that have their roots more in genre film-making than in Irishness but brilliantly use their historical Irish setting to evoke panic, confusion and alienation in the first and betrayal, cruelty and retribution in the second.ISAI goes to the movies recommendation #3
‘71
Spoiler Free Synopsis
This movie finds young British soldier Gary Cook, played by Jack O Connell (Starred Up, The North Water), who is posted to Belfast in 1971, the tour of duty that nobody wants. On what is his first manoeuvre outside the barracks, he is cut off from his unit. He finds himself lost, injured and alone in an alien landscape where friend and foe look the same. If this sounds like a familiar story, well that’s because it is –The Eagle, Black Hawk Down, The Warriors even 1917 to name a few, have had this narrative at the heart of their movies.Will it explain The Troubles to me ?
No. ‘71 is first and foremost a tense genre movie. A manhunt that isn’t heavy on the history. However, I think O’Connell’s lost squaddie shows how so often the foot soldiers were poorly educated, inexperienced young men thrust into a situation of which they little understood. Plucked from the projects and trained to kill, but not to ask why. Belfast, Vietnam, Iraq – the lessons are never learnt. Gary hasn’t a clue why The Troubles are happening. All he knows is that all the Irish hate the British and that they can’t be trusted. Because that’s what he’s been told. Yet here he is, in the belly of the beast, with no plan, no phone, no friends. He’d better learn fast, or he has no hope.You might like this if you enjoyed: Centurion, The Warriors
ISAI goes to the movies recommendation #4
Black 47
Black 47 is not about The Famine. Well it is of course about The Famine, but instead of being about the injustice or the tragedy, it is revenge thriller following the clichés of the genre. In some ways it has as much in common with Get Carter, Old Boy, or Unforgiven as it does with Angela’s Ashes. It is a wild Atlantic western.Spoiler free synopsis
It stars James Frecheville (Animal Kingdom) as Feeney, an Irish Ranger who is fighting for the crown in Afghanistan and India. On hearing of the calamity commonly referred to as ‘The Famine’ befalling his native land, he deserts and returns to see what has become of his family. He finds a people abandoned by the very powers that he has been fighting for, left vulnerable to cruel bailiffs, indifferent landlords and traitorous profiteers. You can see the similarities to First Blood’s protagonist John Rambo. A warrior who has been fighting the wrong wars while his own people needed help. Echoes of other movies may well occur to you too as you watch. This is not a criticism, at least not by me. You will not learn anything new about the famine. Some critics found it one-sided, portraying the authorities as indifferent or cruel. It is and they were. Criticisms of the lack of portrayal of women are much fairer. Others found the movie derivative. However, I found it exciting to see such a movie, one that follows the tropes of the genre, using the open sore of the Great Hunger to evoke pain and anger. It provokes us, so when Feeney wreaks his revenge, we are sympathetic but also complicit. I found myself punching the air in one scene where the Irish language in invoked to dispense justice. I felt a little sheepish at my Pavlovian reaction. Yet at the end there is certainly a suggestion of the futility of vengeance-that Ireland must choose between a future of hope or endless retribution.Does it go all ‘Fields of Athenry‘ ?
It is well cast and directed. Hugo Weaving, Jim Broadbent and Stephen Rea bring the gravitas. Freddie Fox plays the arrogant British officer in pursuit’ espousing the sort of opinions his real-life cousin Laurence would on British TV a few months later. But it is James Frecheville who catches the eye. A native Australian, he learned Irish phonetically to take the role. It can’t have been an easy gig (he described it as a very cold shoot) As the movie progresses, he seems to become more and more at one with the land. A silent personification of the countryside, Ireland not as Dark Rosaleen but as the dark avenger. A Celtic Golem righting wrongs. (There is a Glenn golem kill joke that there that I’m not going to touch. ) Black 47 will not be everyone’s cup of tea (and there is some quite poor CGI for a few backgrounds) but it is promising to see Irish movies like this being made, and I, for one, can’t wait to see what Lance Daly does next.You might like this if you enjoyed: Dead Mans Shoes, The Crow
ISAI goes to the movies recommendation #5
The Last Right
Spoiler Free Synopsis
The Last Right is a charming Irish road movie by writer director Aoife Crehan. Michel Huisman (Game of Thrones, Nashville) is Daniel Murphy, an Irish-American who returns to Cork following the death of his mother, to be reunited with his estranged autistic brother Louis (Samuel Bottomley, Wolf Hall). Due to some fairly convoluted circumstances, they have to undertake (pun totally intended) a journey across Ireland to bring a body to Northern Ireland in time for a funeral.Isn’t this just Rain Man?
When I first saw the trailer, I was unsure if this would be for me. The circumstances where Daniel ends up responsible for a strangers coffin look pretty unbelievable. Two estranged brothers, one of whom is autistic, on a road trip just makes you think Rain Man, right? And Ireland is just too small for a road trip movie. I mean, have no lessons been learned since Leap Year? The Rain Man elephant in the room is quickly addressed and then forgotten. There is a good idea to solve the ‘Ireland is too small for a road trip’ conundrum. The ludicrous McGuffin that drags Daniel, Louis and funeral home assistant Mary, across the country and provides the deadline is not particularly interesting and frankly doesn’t matter.Does the road movie rise up to meet me ?
The joy to be found in this movie is not in the plot. That’s just a device to assemble our unlikely trio. Then we can get on to what does matter. The relationship between the trio and the ghosts of the past. This is what Aoife Crehan wants to explore and despite my initial hesitation, what I wanted to learn about. The corniest of road movie clichés that it is always about “the journey not the destination” but that doesn’t make it any less effective. Mary, played by Niamh Algar (The Virtues), is a great foil to the estranged brothers. Dutch actor Huisman’s slightly odd accent probably suits his character. It is Samuel Bottomley’s Louis that steals the show. Funny, sympathetic occasionally infuriating, he portrays Louis’s autism as part of who he is not, what he is. I found it an engaging tale with excellent performances. Sure, the revelations on the road trip may not be that surprising but I think that’s because the well written storytelling had provided the signposts along the way. At time of writing, this movie is already readily available in Europe but was just due for release in the US as the lockdown started so you may have to look around for it. I think you will find it worth the search.You might like this if you enjoyed: Rain Man, Local Hero
Although we always try to look up and not down occasionally, we must confront the truth.
So here is the first in the very occasional sub-blog
Leap Year
When reviewing The Last Right, I realized I had never actually seen all of Leap Year. But I had still made an unfavorable comparison between it and the last right. Perhaps I was being unfair. After all as Mark Kermode always says “you cannot judge a movie without having seen it”. It might be amazing. So, I watched it. All cards on the table I did go in with preconceptions. I thought this is going to be really quite annoying from an Irish point of view. However, i reckoned it probably was a quite sweet and romantic movie, that works if you ignore the patronizing view of Ireland. I was half right.I have some questions.
- Could they not find a map of Ireland?
- Clearly it was filmed on location so how is it that they didn’t meet a single Irish person they could base even just one realistic character on
- If they couldn’t find an Irish actor for the role (Fassbender is actually from this area for Pete’s sake) could they not have found one of the many thousands of British actors who can actually do an Irish accent
- Was the aim to skirt any accusations of outdated sexist attitudes by portraying a low opinion of both men and women? (Although fair play to you , you still managed the sexism )
- Was there a special Oscar that year for most outdated stereotype in a movie that the producers had their eye on?
- How did nobody on set take Mathew Goode aside and explain “that’s not how you say Fionn Mac Cumhaill”? They could have just tried Finn McCool, I would have been happy with that. If they can say it right, here…why not a guy from Kerry ?
- Who has an outdoor wedding in Tipperary in February? Or at any time of the year for that matter.
- Could the non-linear time travelling aliens in Arrival not warned Amy Adams about this?
- Look I am sure nobody meant to make a bad movie it just didn’t come out like they hoped. But why over 2 hours long? Toy Story, This is Spinal Tap and High Noon are all an hour shorter!