The Best and Worst of Ireland on screen…Part One

Welcome to the best and worst of Ireland on screen! In this series, we will be talking about good and bad representations of Ireland in film and television. Whether it’s the culture, the history or just the accents, this series will give you a good view of some things to watch (and to avoid!)

To start off positively, we will be looking at a collection of films that just get it right.
This list isn’t in any order (except for the “worst” list…that will absolutely have an order) so without further ado, let’s dive in.

1) The Secret of Kells (2009)

Starting strong, we have Kilkenny-based Cartoon Saloon’s ‘Secret of Kells’. The Oscar-nominated animated film is one of the most beautifully designed films ever made. The story follows a young man who goes against his father’s wishes to help build a fortress to defend during war and works in a scriptorium where he copies and adds images to textbooks.

While the story of a father and son who are different might be standard, what really makes this film special are the visuals. The only way we can describe how this film looks is “storybook”, it really pushes the limits of what an animated film can be. The use of colour and perspective really highlights the characters and the relationships that develop. Not to mention that as an introduction to Irish history and culture, ‘Secret of Kells’ may be the perfect place to start, presenting a beautiful look at the history and mythology that have made this country famous.

Cartoon Saloon has continued to perfect their designs in films like ‘Song of the Sea’ and ‘Wolfwalkers’ but there’s something so charming and confident about this film’s style. Unbelievably, this is the studio’s first film and very rightly they have become one of the country’s best production studios.

2) The Magdalen Sisters (2002)

So, there’s no way around it… ‘The Magdalene Sisters’ is not a “fun movie”. This film tackles some of the darkest parts of Irish history (history that is a lot more recent than some people might imagine), more specifically, it covers the experiences of women in the “Magdalene Laundries”, essentially institutions run by the Catholic church where women were forced to work (usually because they were the victims of abuse). It is a long, heavily analysed historical event in Ireland and something that the film shows realistically.

Again…THIS. IS. NOT. A. FUN. FILM. …but it is very good and has very committed performances from fairly unknown actors at the time and (like ‘Secret of Kells’) was a very early film in the director’s career, showing a level of confidence that people who have worked in the industry for a long time struggle to show.

This film was added to the list of “recommended viewing” in schools around the country and with good reason. Don’t expect a nice, fluffy time at the cinema here, but do watch it if you are interested in seeing the struggles that people went through before the country started to move away from church control.

3) Once (2007)

I have a confession to make. I don’t like musicals and I (usually) don’t like romance films. So, it might be surprising to find ‘Once’ on this list. And it is here for a very simple reason; the romance presented here actually feels genuine. There isn’t any of the normal “we didn’t talk to each other so we both just misunderstood what the other person was thinking and now we hate each other” storyline that so many other romances feature.

Instead, we’re presented a relationship between two people (one a Dublin native, the other a Czech immigrant) who care about each other and the music they create tells the story of their building romance. It helps as well that the music itself is actually good (“Falling Slowly” became the main song at every wedding for years after this film came out). Dublin based director John Carny has built a career showing people and relationships that feel believable and his skill is on total display here. In terms of representing Dublin, the film highlights several areas that, until this film came out, really hadn’t been used in mainstream films, showing the down to earth side of life that musicians experience when busking in the streets.

So for the moment, that’s it. I hope you have a few ideas about what to watch next. In the next part of this series, we will start our journey into the bad side of Irish representation. Until then, enjoy the recommendations.