(I haven’t given this a
star-rating because I can’t decide upon one.)
In 1932, Jimmy Gralton returns to
his home county in Ireland, ten years after he fled the country for fear of
imprisonment after building a community hall without the permission of the
Church. Upon returning, he finds that little has changed for the members of his
community, who still live in fear of eviction and the Church. It is in this
political climate that he chooses to reopen the hall.
For starters, I don’t believe
this story works as a film – there are too many characters, too many different
relationships and a great deal of politics floating around, and I think it
would’ve worked far better as a TV series rather than a one-off film. As a
film, it is wholly unremarkable and rather problematic, although not without
moments of merit, and feels very televisual, something that would play on TV on
a Sunday afternoon rather than in a cinema. Within the first few moments of the
film opening, I felt that it lacked cinematic qualities. For example, to provide
the audience with information as to what had been happening in Ireland up until
that point, text was printed upon the image. Admittedly this is a far better
than having a character give forced exposition about what has happened to them,
but I feel that we could have been given this scene-setting information during
the opening credits, via historical footage and newspaper headlines, such as at
the start of Godzilla. This would
have been a far more interesting way of displaying the information as opposed
to having it appear on screen. Similarly, I was unconvinced by the use of
flashbacks which explained why Jimmy had fled the country in the first place –
I felt that it had already been made clear why he had gone. Being about a
community, there are obviously a great deal of characters, but it becomes hard
to distinguish one from another and I could probably only name about four of
them, which is disappointing as we are clearly meant to sympathise with their
plight. I did sympathise with them, but this through my general dislike of the
religious forces at play.
Despite these criticisms, it isn’t
completely hopeless. Barry Ward is very charismatic as Jimmy and Jim Norton is
excellent as Father Sheridan, the intolerable minister for the parish. There is
also a very erotic dance sequence (not in the style you’re thinking!) and the
unfulfilled desires between Jimmy and old-flame Oonagh (Simone Kirby) is played
very well – it’s rather refreshing to have two older characters be the central
love story for a change. It’s also shot beautifully, and really made me want to
explore Ireland.
I am disappointed by this film –
I did expect something more somehow, and I definitely feel that it would work
far better as a TV series. I suppose the real indication of how engaged I was
could be summed up rather simply: it seemed a long time to be sitting in a
cinema for not a whole lot to happen.
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