The Best and Worst of Ireland on screen…Part Two.

Welcome back 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 why we love and hate movies and shows made about us.

Last time we talked about some pretty good projects, showing love to our history and the types of people you might run into.
This time, not so much. This is part one of the worst list. But let’s start things off gently…and maybe controversially depending on your own opinion.

1) What If? (2013)

Ok, yes, I’m being mean. I like ‘What if?’, it’s a sweet, funny, charming little film about the struggles of being friends with the person that you would like to date. The performances are really good (especially Adam Driver as Daniel Radcliffe’s housemate), the jokes work and overall, it’s just a nice film.

So why is it on this list? About halfway through, Chantry (played by Zoe Kazan) and her fiancé visit Dublin on a work trip. It’s a typical, touristy view of the city, showcasing everything that everyone is very familiar with, but nothing too bad. So far, so normal. Then it happens. The couple go for a “quiet drink” with some friends, and they go to…Temple Bar. Somehow, they manage to find the one pub in Temple Bar, at 8pm with a total of 7 people where they can easily relax at the bar.

Lies. There is no such thing as a “quiet drink” in Temple Bar. It is a fight for survival. Your eyes might roll at the tourism, but your eyebrows will definitely raise at the concept of “relaxing” in Temple Bar at night…you should still watch the film, it actually is pretty good.

2) Gangs of New York (2002)

Ah ‘Gangs of New York’, you could have been great. You had everything; a legendary director (Martin Scorsese), a brilliant villain (Daniel Day Lewis) and obviously a big budget. But sadly, you were just ok.

The story is pretty normal for the types of films Scorsese makes, we follow the rise and fall of different gangsters in New York in the 1800s when the city was controlled by different groups that all fought each other. It’s pretty good, Daniel Day Lewis playing Bill ‘the Butcher’ is excellent and the fighting becomes intense and quite disturbing at some points. The problems really start with 1) the representation of “the fighting Irish” and 2) the performances by Leonardo DiCaprio and Cameron Diaz.

In just the first few minutes, you have all the stereotypes; all Irish people get drunk and fight, wave crosses, perform religious services and get robbed by children. However, I will admit that this film is fantastical enough that you can ignore some of the really bad parts. The biggest problems are DiCaprio and Diaz’s accents throughout the film, something that will unfortunately be a problem with a lot of films in this series. DiCaprio is probably the worst one, and, since he is the narrator of the film, there is no escaping him. He sounds like a child acting like an Irish person in a school play. I have no idea what happened but it’s just awful. Also, the film ends with a U2 song…because they’re the only Irish band apparently.

3) Leap Year

Oooooooh here we go, I can already feel the shock and anger with this choice. I cannot begin to count the number of people who have moved to Ireland and told me ‘Leap Year’ is one of their favourite movies. I’m sorry, but it’s at best a boring film and at worst just bad. If you love it, awesome, end your reading here and I’ll see you next time.

For everyone else, let’s continue. To start, let’s just briefly mention that the actors involved have all said they don’t like the movie. Mattew Goode especially (initially saying he wanted to work with the director) has said that he only agreed to it because he could go to his home in London when he wasn’t working. Just let that sink in for a moment.

The presentation of Ireland is just…so awful. According to this film, we are a nation where all roads are made of dirt, everyone is obsessed with Claddagh rings, everyone knows each other in the local pub and every city is easily walked to (I mean we’re a small country but you cannot walk from one side to the other in a few hours).

I’m completely ignoring the story here because it’s so nothing. A woman travels to Ireland to propose to her boyfriend on Leap Year but develops a friendship with a local that may or may not turn into something else. It’s a romance film. We’ve seen it a hundred times. The “Irishness” might be enough to interest people in other countries, but for us it’s completely backwards. Also the lead love interest (Matthew Goode from earlier) is English…they couldn’t find an Irish actor?

You can find ‘The Best and Worst of Ireland on screen…Part One’ 這裡.