Two Irish Movies

One night, two movies, one country, two directors, many actors. One success and one failure. I hate to talk down a movie so I won't.

There is one good thing about Trojan Eddie (1996) which was directed by Gillies MacKinnon. The one good thing about this movie is Richard Harris and in particular, in one scene. I don't know how he ended up in this movie but he did. There is a scene where John Power (Harris) is drunk and loud in a pub. I assume his tirade was intended to show us the stereotypical drunken antics of the "traveller" (his character is a settled member of the traveller community). However, his performance shows us a human being, of whatever denomination, in a drunken rage. As difficult as it is to perform as a convincing drunk, Harris does it beautifully. His strength as a performer is lost on much of the movie as is the performance of Stephen Rea and Brendan Gleeson but this one scene is worth finding to see an actor acting drunk. Billy Roche, wrote the screen-play and he also performed a cameo. Billy wrote Amphibians, a play, in which I performed some years back. Billy is better than this movie. (Perhaps a little more viewing of Mackinnons work will show that he is better than this too.)

On the other hand, it is difficult to find fault with Omagh (2005), a movie about the Omagh bomb in 1998. Perhaps the comparison is unfair for other reasons than they are not in the same league but the direction by Pete Travis is special and personal. Based on a true story probably gives the story strength but the production leaves nothing to be desired. The casting is excellent, lead by Gerard McSorley as the grief-stricken father and surrounded by Michele Forbes, Brenda Fricker in a small role, and many more in a strong cast of actors. The suspense is presented with precise surgical anticipation. From the first "breath" of birds singing to the last text notes at the end of the movie, I was engrossed.

The aesthetic quality of enveloping the story in birdsong at the beginning and the end is poetic and pleasing. One is aware of the "terrible beauty" of the North of Ireland and its troubles back in 1998. The birds sing and the sun rises regardless of what terrible things we humans do. No human-made negativity will stop the sweet, sweet songs of birds as the sun rises and the world awakens.

Two Irish movies in one night. Great talent in both.