Announcing: Irish Films Marathon!

As I've mentioned previously, I recently moved with my family from France to Ireland (which explains my lengthy blogging hiatus). I thought it would be a nice idea to mark my return with a short series of reviews of Irish films.

As Irish Cinema is far from being prolific, and in fact has been marked by long periods of inactivity such as the 40's when only two films were made, and they have only provided Cinema with a handful of celebrated directors such as Jim Sheridan and Neil Jordan, it was not a particularly tough task to choose which films to write about. But I'll write more on the industry as a whole later on.

I've chosen a rather varied bunch, some comedies, an animation, some big budget Hollywood funded films some small independently made. Some directed by Irishmen some by English.
But one thing they all have in common is the fact that they all rank amongst the most famous Irish films.
I could have gone with more obscure films but I feel that for a small marathon such as this I would do better to focus on the bigger works. Of course this also makes it easier for me to write as I have already seen many of these previously.
But this does not mean that I won't be reviewing more obscure Irish films at a later date, I certainly have a few in mind already.



The marathon will be spread over 7 days if all goes well, which I doubt it will, with one review posted each day. Of course all comments are welcome and appreciated.

The Commitments directed by Alan Parker
A hilarious film based on a book by one of Ireland's most popular authors.

The Wind That Shakes The Barley directed by Ken Loach
A depressing, independant film focusing on the Irish Civil War

Michael Collins directed by Neil Jordan
A large budget Hollywood interpretation of the very same conflict as in the previous film, but from the other sides point of view.

Angela's Ashes directed by Alan Parker
A film adapted from an autobiographical work by Frank McCourt that sheds light upon the extremely poor living conditions in Ireland during the 30's and 40's.

My Left Foot directed by Jim Sheridan
An Oscar winning film based on the life of Irish artist Christy Brown, this was one of the most successful Irish films.

The Secret Of Kells directed by Tomm Moore, Nora Twomey
A recent animation that was well reviewed but failed to leave much of a mark despite being nominated for an Oscar.

Once directed by John Carney
A highly successful film made on a tiny budget that became quite a critical favourite upon it's release and went on to win many awards and become quite a hit even in the US.


Here are some others that were considered and that will probably be appearing some time in the near future on this blog. Any thoughts on them would be appreciated as well as further recommendations.

In The Name Of The Father directed by Jim Sheridan

The Field directed by Jim Sheridan

Hunger directed by Steve McQueen

Breakfast On Pluto directed by Neil Jordan

Man About Dog directed by Paddy Breathnach

Bloody Sunday directed by Paul Greengrass 

Anyway, I hope all goes well, and I hope you enjoy the reviews, keep in mind though that this isn't really meant as an educational marathon as I doubt you'll learn anything new but rather as a celebration of Irish Cinema which is surprisingly rich for such a small country and is continuously on the rise.