Photo caption: Mo Chara, DJ Próvai and Móglaí Bap and in KNEECAP. Courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics.
In the raucouscomedy Kneecap, a trio of Belfast slackers get busted for spraying some pro-republican graffiti, and, in the police station, resist by refusing to speak anything but the Irish language. When the frustrated anti-republican constabulary kick them loose, the guys form a hip-hop group that raps in Gaelic, with the provocative name Kneecap. Amazingly enough, this is the actual origin story of the real band Kneecap, whose members (Mo Chara, Móglaí Bap and DJ Próvai) play themselves in this film.
While Kneecap is about promoting Irish nationalism by embracing the Irish language, it has the tone of Roadrunner versus Wiley Coyote. Plenty of comic situations arise as our three rascals play a frenetic cat-and-mouse with the humorless and repressive cops. Adding a layer of complication to their new local notoriety, the father of one of the band members has faked his death to hide from both the cops and the IRA. The father is played by German-born but Irish actor Michael Fassbinder, he of the two Oscar nominations, who has somehow found himself in this goofy little movie.
You won’t see a more energetic movie this year. Kneecap is the first narrative feature for director and co-wrier Rich Peppiatt, and he is responsible for the zesty pace, even throwing animation and camera effects into his spicy movie, and he’s pulled it off with some first-time screen actors.
Kneecap is a good choice for those especially interested in Ireland, or for those in the mood for some harmless bawdy fun. Mid-movie, The Wife said “at this point, it’s gonna become predictable”, but then she was pleasantly surprised.
Photo caption: Bríd Ní Neachtain in ROISE & FRANK. Courtesy of Juno Pictures.
In the delightful and sweet Gaelic comedy Roise & Frank, it’s two years after the death of Roise’s (Bríd Ní Neachtain) husband Frank, and her grief has turned her into a reclusive depressive. An apparently stray dog insists upon intruding into her life. She becomes convinced the dog is the reincarnation of her deceased hubbie – and the screenplay cleverly gives her credible reasons to believe this. She names the dog Frank, and off we go, as Frank the dog guides Roise out of her melancholy, despite the resistance of her adult, also still grieving, son and her lovestruck neighbor. Soon, there are even implications for the local school’s hapless hurling team.
Roise & Frank was deftly directed by Rachael Moriarty and Peter Murphy, who overcame W.C Fields’ admonition about working with animals and children. They succeeded in keeping Roise & Frank light and funny without turning it into sitcom silliness.
Bríd Ní Neachtain, who played the nosy postmistress in The Banshees of Inisherin, is convincing and relatable as both the gloomy and the rejuvenated Roise. In his first screen credit, Ruadhán de Faoite is especially winning as Mikey, the confidence challenged middle schooler next door.
The dog Frank is a mutt described as possibly part lurcher, a breed unfamiliar to many of us in North America. Lurchers, a mix of greyhound and terrier or herder, historically used in hunting, are more common in the British Isles.
Roise & Frank opens on April 7th at the Opera Plaza in San Francisco, the Smith Rafael in San Rafael, and the Laemmle Town Center and Royal in Los Angeles. This is a charmer and well worth seeking out.
Photo caption: Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson in THE BANSHEES OF INISHERIN. Courtesy of Searchlight Pictures.
The Banshees of Inisherin is set in 1923 on a fictional Irish island literally detached from the mainland and its Irish Civil War. Pádraic (Colin Farrell), who raises some livestock, and Colm (Brendan Gleeson), a fiddler, are lifelong buddies. There’s not much to do on the island, other than look forward to meeting up at the local pub. So, Pádraic is shocked when Colm announces that he no longer wishes to chat with Pádraic at the pub. Colm is facing his own mortality and reckons that shooting the breeze with Pádraic is taking away valuable focus from composing Irish music, Colm’s only chance at an immortal legacy. Unlike Colm, Pádraic is not a man of ideas, and Pádraic is hurt and baffled.
Colm is polite but very firm and clear about his request to be left alone. But Pádraic desperately needs human connection, and he cannot leave Colm alone. Colm throws down an ultimatum, and Pádraic, to the dismay of the other islanders, blunders right through the stop sign. Actions escalate, and the two men become mired in a contest of absurd stubbornness.
One thing is for sure, I will always remember this movie when I hear a thunk on my window or door (not a knock, but a THUNK).
As serious as are the consequences of the men’s squabble, Irish wit abounds, and The Banshees of Inisherin is a funny movie. It may contain the funniest confession booth scene in the history of cinema.
The Banshees of Inisherin is written and directed by Martin McDonagh, whose Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Minnesota won two Oscars. Banshees reunites McDonagh, Gleeson and Farrell fourteen years after their In Bruges, a masterpiece of comic neo-noir that I just rewatched last week (to my renewed delight).
This is an acting showcase for the considerable acting talents of Gleeson and Farrell. Gleeson, whose Colm is ever polite but even more resolute, has an amazing body of work: Into the West, Braveheart, The General, Gangs of New York, The Guard, Albert Nobbs, The Grand Seduction, Calvary, The Tragedy of Macbeth and a few Harry Potter movies.
Farrell has demonstrated that seeks out auteur directors; he’s worked with Steven Spielberg (Minority Report), Joel Schumacher (Phone Booth, Valerie Guerin), Yorgos Lanthimos (Lobster, The Killing of a Sacred Deer), Terrence Malick (The New World), Sofia Coppola (The Beguiled) and Kogonada (After Yang). Farrell’s Pádraic takes dim affability to an unmatched level of self-destructive obnoxiousness.
Kerry Condon and Barry Keoghan in THE BANSHEES OF INISHERIN. Courtesy of Searchlight Pictures.
But the best two performances in this exceptionally well-acted film are those by Kerry Condon as Pádraic’s sister Siobhan and by Barry Keoghan as the intellectually challenged young islander Dominic. Condon’s longsuffering Siobhan is bright and spirited – and the only islander with a lick of common sense. The longer the two men’s struggle progresses, the more the movie becomes Siobhan’s as she tries to mitigate their madness and at least protect herself from it. Condon is the youngest actor to play Ophelia for the Royal Shakespeare Company and has amassed a considerable body of work in episodic television: Rome, Ray Donovan, Better Call Saul.
Keoghan is always a splashy actor and he has a lot of fun with the unpredictable and irritating Dominic. His lakeside scene with Condon is heartbreaking.
There’s been plenty of Oscar buzz for Gleeson, Farrell and Keoghan – and there should be for should be for Condon.
Now how good a movie is this? The humor and gripping story kept me wanting to see the pages turned, the acting is magnificent and the cinematography is beautiful. But what is McDonagh trying to say, if anything? Is this some kind of a parable, or just a portrait of two individuals’ stubbornness? I’m really not sure, but it’s a good thing that The Banshees of Inisherin made me care about the answer.
Timothy Spall and Colm Meaney in THE JOURNEY photo courtesy of SFFILM
The Journey imagines the pivotal personal interactions between the long-warring leaders of Northern Ireland’s The Troubles resulting in the 2006 St. Andrews Accords, which set up the current power-sharing government of Northern Ireland. Ian Paisley had lit the original fuse of the Troubles in the mid-1960s by igniting Protestant backlash to Catholic pleas for civil rights. Paisley then obstructed every attempted peace settlement for over thirty years. Martin McGuinness had transitioned to political leadership from chief of staff of the Irish Republican Army, resisting the violent repression of the british Army with a campaign of terror. Paisley and McGuinness led the two sides in what was essentially a decades-long civil war, although Paisley would dispute that term. You could fairly say that both had blood on their hands, McGuinness literally and Paisley morally. Yet they did agree to share power in 2006.
The Journey uses an entirely fictional plot device to isolate the two of them on a road trip. (The set-up is unlikely, but you have to go with it.) Then The Journey relies on the delightful work of two great actors, Timothy Spall, who plays Paisley, and Colm Meaney, who plays McGuinness.
Beyond the political differences and the blood grudge, the two make a classic Odd Couple. Spall’s Paisley seems completely impregnable to charm. The Journey is very funny as McGuinesss’ considerable charm and wit keeps falling flat. In fact, there are plenty of LOL moments from the awkward situations, McGuinness’ quips and their seemingly clueless driver (Freddy Highmore). Paisley seems utterly devoid of humor until an unexpected moment.
While The Journey is completely fictionalized, it is certainly true that the two had hated each other for decades, did reach agreement in 2006 and thereafter held posts in the same government and personally got along well, evolving an even affectionate personal relationship. We also see Tony Blair, Bertie Ahern, Gerry Adams and an imagined MI5 character played by John Hurt.
Spall and Meaney took on a considerable challenge: Paisley and McGuinness dominated the political news in Ireland for decades and are well-known to audiences in the UK and Ireland. Paisley died in 2014, and McGuinness died just last month. The Journey’s screenwriter Colin Bateman, was born in Northern Ireland, and The Journey was financed by Northern Ireland Screen.
Achieving a sustainable agreement with a longtime blood enemy requires deciding which of your positions are sacrosanct principles and which have more flexibility. It requires risking the loyalty of your political base, which will revolt against leaders perceived as selling them out. It requires gauging the likelihood that your opponent will stick to his side of the deal. And, you have to focus on your outcome – the long-term goal, not just on defeating your enemy in the moment. “Young men fight for the helluvit. Old men care about their legacy”, says Hurt’s character in The Journey.
I watched The Journey in April at the San Francisco International Film Festival (SFFILMFestival). To further explore this topic, here is my list of Best Movies About The Troubles.
Charleigh Bailey and Seána Kerslake in A DATE FOR MAD MARY photo courtesy of SFFILM
The San Francisco International Film Festival (SFFILMFestival) features the Irish dramedy A Date for Mad Mary. Mary (Seána Kerslake) has just been released from incarceration and faces this challenge: she’s going to be the Maid of Honor at her childhood BFF’s wedding, and she needs a date for the nuptials. This apparently isn’t the first time that Mary’s been locked up for brawling because she quickly resorts to pounding other humans. This is a character flaw which is getting in the way of her, among other normal pursuits, finding a feller.
With this set-up, the audience is expecting a broad Dating-Gone-Wrong comedy, and there is a bit of that, but A Date for Mad Mary drills down to explore the character of Mary, somehow still frozen in her teenage pose. Mary has a major chip on her shoulder and escalates every human contact into an outburst of hostility. She just hasn’t matured into a woman who can navigate any social situation. The annoyingly controlling bride-to-be Char (Charleigh Bailey) has grown out of the teen Tough Girl pose, and has moved on the having a life with a job and a fiance. Mary, on the other hand, can’t keep a job or a guy or anything that will make her satisfied, self-proud or happy. Eventually, Mary meets a new friend Jess (Tara Lee) and wall-bangs her way down the corridor of self-discovery.
Tara Lee and Seána Kerslake in A DATE FOR MAD MARY photo courtesy of SFFILM
Seána Kerslake’s excellent performance is central to the success of the film, playing a character who is confused by her own lack of happiness. Unforgettably, Kerslake’s Mary kisses another character and is overwhelmed by an unexpected, giddy thrill – it’s a special moment. A Date for Mad Mary is the fifth feature since 2012 for up-and-comer Kerslake, who is also starring in an Irish television series.
A Date for Mad Mary is the first feature for director and co-writer Darren Thornton. A Date for Mad Mary will be screened again this weekend at the San Francisco International Film Festival.
The compelling and affecting true-life drama Omagh(2004) begins with the infamous 1999 car bombing in Omagh, Northern Ireland. But Omagh is more about the aftermath – the pain and grief of the survivors as they strive for justice and accountability.
The bombing, by a nationalist splinter group, killed 29 on the small town’s market street. It had been just four months since the Good Friday Accord, and both mainstream republicans and unionists were getting used to the day-to-day peace of a post-Troubles era. The bombing was a jarring interruption of that peace, and many felt even more betrayed because the “warning” actually worked to draw more victims toward the lethal blast.
Omagh vividly depicts the carnage and chaos after the blast. The desperate search for loved ones amid the confusion is profoundly moving. We experience Omagh through the perspective of Michael Gallagher, father of one of the victims. He takes the helm of the survivors group as they seek answers – and run into a series of stone walls and cover-ups. The soft-spoken Gallagher may be the least histrionic leader in human history, and he is able to lead because the other survivors rely on his decency, good sense and quiet courage. We also see that – as in real life – people grieve at different paces, and the obsession of some in the family doesn’t work for others.
Michael Gallagher is played by the veteran actor Gerard McSorley (In the Name of the Father, Widow’s Peak, Braveheart, The Boxer, Bloody Sunday). It is McSorley’s powerful and profoundly sad performance that elevates Omagh.
Director Pete Travis employs a jiggly camera and a spare soundtrack to focus our attention on the characters with intimacy and immediacy. When we hear the door closed after the last guest leaves a funeral, the sound of the latch communicates more finality than would any dialogue.
