Galway 2008: a couple of Irish films
So here's the first part of my round-up of the numerous Irish films I saw at the recent Galway Film Fleadh (the main reason I went, after all).
ANTON, written by and starring Anthony Fox, is inspired by actual events. I have no idea what that means. It could be a really true story, or it could be a totally untrue one that happens to have one or two names the same. I don't know. Whatever, it's actually quite good.
The plot concerns a young man who, already with some trouble in his past, chooses to get involved in anti-British attacks in the aftermath of Bloody Sunday. However, when it all goes wrong, he finds himself having to choose between his country and his family.
Although the film is a little rough around the edges, most of the cast do a good enough job, with Fox convincing in the lead, the exceptionally pleasing on the eye Laura Way proves to be more than just a pretty face in the female lead and Gerard McSorley, one of Ireland's top actors, brings that touch of class that he usually brings to anything he appears in. Tension is maintained, the seventies period setting is ably realised and all in all it's a modest but gripping little thriller.
SATELLITES AND METEORITES is a love story with comedic touches - I hesitate to call it a romantic comedy as it doesn't deserve to be labelled with such a conventional term. A man and a woman lie in separate beds in a hospital, in comas. They also happen to meet in a completely different life. Characters around them pop up in all different guises. There's a meteor shower. Or is there? What the bloody hell is going on?
I won't say too much more about it except that while it's not without its flaws (at times it all gets a little bit too whimsical and odd) it's full of imagination and fully deserves a viewing. A likeable cast, lead by Adam Fergus and Amy Huberman, make up for other shortfalls and ensure that the film will charm most viewers.
ANTON, written by and starring Anthony Fox, is inspired by actual events. I have no idea what that means. It could be a really true story, or it could be a totally untrue one that happens to have one or two names the same. I don't know. Whatever, it's actually quite good.
The plot concerns a young man who, already with some trouble in his past, chooses to get involved in anti-British attacks in the aftermath of Bloody Sunday. However, when it all goes wrong, he finds himself having to choose between his country and his family.
Although the film is a little rough around the edges, most of the cast do a good enough job, with Fox convincing in the lead, the exceptionally pleasing on the eye Laura Way proves to be more than just a pretty face in the female lead and Gerard McSorley, one of Ireland's top actors, brings that touch of class that he usually brings to anything he appears in. Tension is maintained, the seventies period setting is ably realised and all in all it's a modest but gripping little thriller.
SATELLITES AND METEORITES is a love story with comedic touches - I hesitate to call it a romantic comedy as it doesn't deserve to be labelled with such a conventional term. A man and a woman lie in separate beds in a hospital, in comas. They also happen to meet in a completely different life. Characters around them pop up in all different guises. There's a meteor shower. Or is there? What the bloody hell is going on?
I won't say too much more about it except that while it's not without its flaws (at times it all gets a little bit too whimsical and odd) it's full of imagination and fully deserves a viewing. A likeable cast, lead by Adam Fergus and Amy Huberman, make up for other shortfalls and ensure that the film will charm most viewers.
Labels: Film festivals, Galway Film Fleadh, Irish film
posted by Alan at 6:58 pm
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