With Saint Patrick’s Day coming up on Tuesday, I thought I’d help you “get your Irish up” and drive the snakes out of your media room with a few screening recommendations:
The Butcher Boy-A real gem from director Neil Jordan, featuring one of the most extraordinary performances I have ever seen by a child actor (Eamonn Owens is like a midget Brando). Hard to describe, the film is sort of a distant cousin to An Angel at My Table or Heavenly Creatures. The difficult and dark subject matter is handled with judicious compassion. Both heartbreaking and savagely funny, this is worth seeking out.
The Commitments -“Say it leoud. I’m black and I’m prewd!” Pulling together a cast of talented yet unknown actor/musicians to “play” a group of talented yet unknown musicians was a stroke of genius from director Alan Parker. This “life imitating art imitating life” trick makes The Commitments one of the better “behind the music” movies. In some ways a thematic remake of Parker’s own 1980 film Fame, the scene moves from New York to Dublin (look fast for a sly reference when a band member starts singing a parody of the Fame theme). These working class Irish kids don’t have the luxury of a performing arts academy, however, and there’s an undercurrent referencing the economic downturn in the British Isles (several band members are “on the dole”). The acting chemistry is superb, but it’s the amazing musical performances that really astonish, especially from the 16-year old lead singer, who has the pipes of someone who has been drinking a fifth and smoking 2 packs a day for 30 years. Gritty, realistic and spiced up with a goodly amount of ribald humor (“Fook yew, yew fat fooker!”)-this one’s a winner.
The Crying Game -Another entry from Neil Jordan, this unique IRA political thriller/androgynous love story remains a jaw-dropper and the director’s most popular film to date. Killer performances from Stephen Rea, Jaye Davidson, Miranda Richardson and Forest Whitaker. I seem to recall that when this film was still in its theatrical run, it was considered tantamount to committing a capital crime if you gave away The Big Reveal!
Gangs of New York -Chameleon extraordinaire Daniel Day-Lewis has given us memorable performances in several great Irish films (The Boxer, In the Name of the Father, My Left Foot), but they all pale next to his indelible portrayal of an iconoclastic Irish-American character by the name of Bill the Butcher. It pains me to say this, but relative to his usual high standards of excellence, Martin Scorsese’s ambitious historical epic about the growing pains of America’s original metropolitan melting pot misses it by “this much”, but it’s a bulls-eye for Day-Lewis (bet you’re glad I didn’t say “glass eye”).
The General-Brendan Gleeson explodes onscreen like an Irish Tony Soprano in his turn as real-life gangster Martin Cahill. According to the script, Cahill was a bit of a latter-day Robin Hood figure to some Dubliners (one suspects some degree of artistic romanticism on that count). Regardless, Gleeson makes quite an impression in his first major role. Jon Voight (!) is an unexpected delight as Cahill’s law enforcement nemesis. Written and directed by the eclectic John Boorman, who adapted from the novel by Paul Williams.
In Bruges-OK, full disclosure. In my original review, I gave this 2008 Sundance hit a somewhat lukewarm appraisal. But upon a second viewing, I realized that I had “missed something” the first time around, and have now decided that I actually like this film quite a lot (happens sometimes…nobody’s perfect!). A pair of Irish hit men (Brendan Gleeson and Colin Farrell) botch a London job and are exiled to the Belgian city of Bruges, where they are to remain in a holding pattern until their piqued Cockney employer (a way over the top Ray Fiennes) dictates their next move. What ensues can be perhaps best described as a tragicomic Boschian nightmare (which will make more sense once you’ve seen it). Written and directed by Irish playwright Martin McDonagh, who deftly demonstrates the versatility of the word “fook” (as a noun, an adverb, a super adverb and an adjective).
Into the West-Here’s another sleeper worth seeking out, from one of the more deft (and underappreciated, IMHO) “all-purpose” directors working today, Mike Newell (Dance with a Stranger, Enchanted April, Four Weddings and a Funeral, Donnie Brasco, Pushing Tin). At first glance, it falls into the “magical family film” category, but it carries a subtly dark undercurrent with it throughout, which keeps it interesting for the adults in the room. Lovely performances, a magic horse, and one purty pair o’humans (Ellen Barkin and Gabriel Byrne, real-life spouses at the time). What more do you want?
The Quiet Man-A classic from the great John Ford. I was never a huge John Wayne fan, but he’s damn near perfect in this role as a down-on-his-luck boxer who leaves America to get in touch with his roots in his native Ireland. The most entertaining (and purloined) donnybrook of all time plus a fiery performance from the gorgeous Maureen O’Hara round things off nicely. Although quite tame by today’s standards, I’ve always thought the romantic scenes between Wayne and O’Hara to be surprisingly tactile and sensuous for the time. The pastoral valleys and rolling hills of the Irish countryside have never looked so verdant and lush onscreen, thanks to the Oscar-winning cinematography by Winton C. Hoch and Archie Stout. Ron Howard reversed the storyline and attempted a loose remake of sorts with his 1992 film Far and Away(that’s my conjecture, anyway).
The Secret of Roan Inish–John Sayles delivers an engaging fairy tale, devoid of all the usual “magical family film” clichés. Wistful, haunting and beautifully shot by the great cinematographer Haskell Wexler, who captures the misty desolation of County Donegal’s rugged coastline in a way that frequently recalls Michael Powell’s similarly effective utilization of Scotland’s Shetland Islands for his 1937 classic, The Edge of the World.
U2 – Rattle and Hum-An outstanding, artfully produced rock doc from director Phil Joanau (State of Grace). They’re a band from Dublin, y’know. P.S.-Fook the Revolution!
….and no St. Paddy’s Day tribute would be complete without raising a glass to the memory of one of my favorite late and great Irish poets, who will sing for you now…
