Short Film Review - Safehouse (2013)

 Rioghnach Ní Ghrioghair debuted her short film Safehouse at the Galway Film Fleadh this year. Safehouse opens in quiet, as a couple, Sean (Steve Gunn) and Lorraine (Olga Wehrly) sleep in a remote cabin. But things are not right. There are worrying blood patches on the bed and there is the glimpse of a gun. We are beginning at the aftemath of something and the feeling is that this may not end well.

The initial feeling on watching Safehouse was that the story seemed familiar: we have seen a variation on it many times before. Credit then to director and writer Ní Ghrioghair who manages to make it feel fresh. Exposition is used sparingly, the visuals tell most of the story. The leads are great with particular praise for Olga Wehrly who is superb. The cinematography by Tommy Fitzgerald is excellent giving the film a basking glow akin to a Malick film. The director proudly shows her influences as Safehouse evokes an older time for film, with echoes of the new Hollywood of the 70s (Bonny and Clyde, Badlands).

Safehouse is a fine short, beautiful to look at with a story that is in turn familiar and strange. It has the feeling of a neo noir bathed in sunlight. We do not get many of those in Ireland.

Short film reviews

 Last week I was looking through my DVR to see what needed to be deleted to make space. I was hovering at the 25% free space mark and was beginning to worry. I quickly realised that amongst my recordings I had set a series link for the shortscreen series. I flicked through and counted around 20 Irish short films that I had yet to watch.

This led me to reconsider an idea I had had a couple of years ago but dismissed at the time. I thought about it some more and decided to give it a run. I am going to do Irish short film reviews, about 150 – 250 words per film. I have never reviewed a short film before so it will be interesting. Plus the limited word count means I need to economic as it falls mid way between a tweet and a full review!

If you would like a short film reviewed you can contact me via twitter (@jaycoyle, follow me, I am great on Twitter!) or if you want you can contact me by email (cineireland@gmail.com). Please be aware that I have about 20 films to review already so if you send me one please be patient. I will get to your film as soon as I can.  

Film Review - Citadel (2013)

There is a clear contemporary feel to Ciaran Foy’s Citadel, the new Irish horror film. Horror films can reflect the times and the societal pressures we live under, George A. Romero’s Dead trilogy being a perfect example. The horror in Citadel is certainly concerned with the everyday world in which we find ourselves. It is in the dark winter nights when we are afraid to venture out. Ireland is a country that has shut its eyes, lest we see what has become of it. It is a horrifying idea that we may have lost our country to decay, both financial and moral. Social issues are scattered across the muddied palette of Citadel, with the fear of marauding out-of-control gangs the main worry here. It also touches on urban decay, the terrifying concept of ghost estates and most importantly the dangers of ignoring the needs of the poorest in society. If you do not feed and nourish them at some point they will bite back. But perhaps all this would be rendered mute if the film itself didn’t work in horror terms. I am happy to say that for the most part Citadel does get under your skin but with some reservations.

The story begins with Tommy (Aneurin Barnard) and his pregnant wife leaving their crumbling tower block apartment for the last time. Whilst an agoraphobic Tommy is stuck in the malfunctioning lift his wife is attacked by hooded youths. Tommy sees the attack but is unable to help her and she ends up in a coma. Their baby is delivered early and Tommy looks after the child on his own in a small house in an area that is rapidly falling part. Tommy’s agoraphobia has worsened to the point that he can barely leave the house. Even when he does make it out he is terrified of the threats he perceives on the streets. 

The film is at its most effective in the first hour or so. The visual representation of Tommy’s agoraphobia and the heightened sound design combine spectacularly well to create an atmosphere of pure dread. This is all done without anything substantial happening, mostly suggested movements taking place at the edges of the frame. Tommy’s fear that the hooded youths have come back to take his child is a plausible one and creates tension. The streets where he lives are also impressively oppressive, with the buses in particular given a disgusting sheen. Anyone who has got on a dodgy last bus home will recognise the same feeling albeit in heightened terms here. This is all very good and there is a sense at this point that this could be a bit of a horror gem. Alas, this is where Citadel falls into the familiar trap that a lot of horror films fall into: the dreaded film character ‘exposition’.

The introduction of a local priest (a scenery chewing James Cosmo) who knows more about the gangs than he lets on slows the story down. There is also a kindly nurse (Wunmi Mosaku) who believes that people are inherently good. It is at this point the film takes a momentum killing hiatus to explain what is happening and give as much back-story as possible. This somewhat kills the carefully built up atmosphere created in the first hour. So many horror films do this and it is really not necessary. The film rallies for its final act, delivering a decent conclusion within the budget constraints. There is an unfortunate CGI heavy shot at the end that really could have been left out. What is most frustrating about the finale is that some of the imagery on display would have been so much more effective and horrifying without the exposition that came beforehand. But there are scares to be had in the final act and it concludes the film on the right note.

Citadel is a film well worth seeing at the cinema. Foy is a director to watch and given a decent budget and with this experience under him he may well go on to great things. A wobbly middle aside his direction is crisp with some excellent shots that work very well. Just stop telling me the whys and wherefores. I really do not need to know. At its best Citadel is a film that will have you squirming nervously in your cinema seat. You cannot ask much more from a horror film than that. 

Film Review - Good Vibrations (2013)

It rarely happens but sometimes there is an Irish film that you see in the cinema which you are sure is going to make a lot of money. Surely everyone will want to see it. Last year I had the pleasure of watching Grabbers and I remember coming out of the cinema thinking that it could hit the jackpot at the box office. It was just so damned enjoyable, kind of like those American films we see in our droves, but good. Alas that didn’t really happen and sadly as is the case with a lot of Irish films. The ‘Irish’ factor seemed to have kept the crowds away. I happened to catch the last screening of Good Vibrations in Dublin before it finished its run and boy did I have that feeling again. I hope that it did well at the cinema but from what I have read it may not have. One can only hope that for both these films, a long and healthy shelf life awaits.

Good Vibrations tells the story of Terri Hooley (Richard Dormer, truly superb), a record store and label owner in Belfast during The Troubles in the 60s and 70s. We first see him as a child in a beautiful and dreamy sequence at the beginning of the film. Running around his garden he seems entranced by the world he is in. This opening scene gives the film a somewhat sunny disposition but there is always darkness lurking. An accident occurs at the end of this sequence lest we get too happy. We next meet Terri as a peace loving young man listening to reggae with his friends. But The Troubles begin and Terri’s friends pick sides along religious lines and begin to arm themselves. They despise Terri for sticking with his peace loving ethos and not getting involved. It is at this point that he has the seemingly insane idea to open a record store on Great Victoria Street, a location that has been constantly bombed. The shop attracts strays from the burgeoning new punk scene of which Terri is blissfully unaware.

Hooley is precisely the character that if he didn’t exist in real life you would have to make him up. Unashamedly optimistic, self centred and passionate, he is the dream character to centre a film around. The fact that he really exists seems like an especially wonderful bonus. Good Vibrations is very much his story but it is also a lot more. It chronicles a time when some people genuinely thought that music could change the world. Crucially it lets you see how and why people could think this way. The birth of Hooley’s passion for all things punk is captured wonderfully as he goes to one of the live shows in a local pub. This is his epiphany. In an incredible slow motion scene the camera stays on his face as he dances like a mad man. All of Dormer’s acting range is shown across Hooley’s wonderful face. There seems to be an inner war between laughter and tears here with pure emotional joy being the resultant stalemate. Crucially you feel him feeling. This gets to the heart of why the film works so well.

There are a couple of other scenes that are just as good but should be enjoyed without me ruining them. Suffice to say that they are centred on that most wonderful of feelings: when you hear a song for the first time and know that it can change everything - including you. Good Vibrations nails something that few films about music get: namely the absolute joy one can get from the first beats of a song. It is the electricity that comes with hearing something special for the first time. But this is not a film that is all sweetness and light. Good Vibrations doesn’t shy away from showing the darkness that surrounded Northern Ireland at that time. To its credit Terri Hooley is not painted as a saint either. At times he comes across as very selfish and a bit lazy. It also shows the effects of his continuous drinking and use of drugs, without too much judgement but starkly presented nonetheless.

Good Vibrations is a glorious film. It soars with a fierce joy in a dark world. Good Vibrations achieves that rarest of balance: being full of charm but devoid of sentimentality. There are some ‘fist in the air’ emotional triumphs here but they are earned by a smart script and a wonderful style. I will be very surprised if this isn’t in my top 10 of 2013 at the end of the year. 

Film Review - King of the Travellers (2013)

Director Mark O’Connor bucked the economic trend in 2012 when he arrived at the Galway Film Fleadh with two films to be screened and a manifesto in his pocket. King of the Travellers and Stalker were warmly received with the latter getting most of the attention for its more experimental approach. But it is King of the Travellers that has received a cinema release first and in some ways it is easy to see why. It has more of a conventional plot although the setting itself is unusual.

King of the Travellers tells the story of a feud between the Moorehouse and Powers, two travelling families. Central to all this is John Paul Moorehouse (John Connors) who believes that the Powers family murdered his father when he was a child. His desire for revenge puts him at odds with the head of the Moorehouse clan, his uncle Francis (Michael Collins) who urges peace. There is the further complication of his love for Winnie Powers (Carla Mc Glynn) and his wild half brother Mickey the Bags (Peter Coonan) who urges him on.

O’Connor wears his influences on sleeve with pride here. There are touches of The Godfather, On the Waterfront and in one of the early scenes Gangs of New York. This can be a dangerous game as you run the risk of calling attention to more acclaimed work. But he gets away with it as he grounds it within the authenticity of the traveller experience. But his main influence is Shakespearian, with Romeo & Juliet the main reference here. The first 30 or so minutes are when the film is at its best. The opening scene in a dark room is beautifully shot. Better again is the scene that follows along a motorway. In between there is the credit sequence with astonishing black and white archive footage of travellers set to The Furey's Óró Sé do Bheatha Bhaile. This is all very good and as previously said the referencing works within the context of the setting.

But after this excellent beginning some problems emerge. The first problem is the issue of non actors in the film. In the dedication for authenticity O’Connor has filled out all the smaller roles with travellers. The problem here is that when they have extended pieces of dialogue, it is flat and unconvincing and threatens to derail the film somewhat. The other main problem is the fact that the film is constricted by its adherence to narrative convention. This essentially means the last 30 minutes become rushed and predictable as the film heads in the obvious direction. What saves the film coming apart is the conviction of the main actors in their parts. Coonan, Collins and Mc Glynn all do very well in their roles with Coonan particularly taking the part and running with it. But it is the sheer force of nature that is John Connors which holds the film together. It is a big burden to carry a film in a first role but he succeeds admirably. I hope to see more of him in the future.

King of the Travellers is a problematic but ultimately decent film which never moves beyond its straightforward narrative. Yet there is a sense with this and Between the Canals that O’Connor is starting to find his cinematic voice. Even by the audacious title alone, Stalker should be an interesting film to see. It was heartening to see this film a couple of days after seeing Pilgrim Hill. If the ambition on show from both these directors carries through it could be an interesting next few years for Irish film.

Film Review - Pilgrim Hill (2013)

‘Making your way in the world today, takes everything you've got’

It was bizarrely appropriate that the advertisements before Pilgrim Hill showed a certain fast food chain’s ad of the happy Irish farmer permanently basked in sunshine as he made his way around his forensically clean farm. Nothing was out of place and it quite frankly looked like the best job in the world. Weirdly there are no sign of any animals either; presumably all happily gone to slaughter to help feed us the wonderful burgers. The first line of the song used (from Cheers sacrilegiously) is more suitable to Gerard Barrett’s debut feature than anything an advertisement can think up. The line neatly sums up the predicament facing Jimmy Walsh (Joe Mullins) in the quietly riveting Pilgrim Hill. We meet Jimmy at a time in his life where things aren’t going so well. His days are spent relentlessly doing the farm work, be it the mending of fences or the milking of cows. These are long and solitary days with an ailing and unseen father the reward at the end of them. Jimmy is lonely, desperately so and things need to change.

The power in Barrett’s film resides in the rhythmic quietness. In the repetitive sounds of the machines that milk the cows. In the stirring of the many cups of tea that punctuate the day. In the sitting at the bar having the quietest of pints. There is practically no music for the first hour of the film which gives the film a claustrophobic feel and hermetically seals Jimmy into his existence. But that seal is broken by a visit from a local health inspector which leaves Jimmy facing an uncertain future: should he listen to his only friend Tommy (Muiris Crowley) and think about a life away from farming or resign himself to repeating the generation before and stay with the only thing he knows for the rest of his life.

The only out seems to be Jimmy’s straight to camera discussions which act as a confessional. This is where he lets out all the emotions and fears about his past and present. There are some heartbreaking words here but for me this is where the film fell down a little. They felt possibly tacked on to pad out the running time to feature length. Yes the subjects that Jimmy speaks about are important to the character but I didn’t need it as exposition. I wanted a visual representation of those words. This is a real pity as I fell perfectly into the rhythm of the film and it was the straight to camera moments that pulled me out of it. There is magic in Barrett’s roving camera on the farm but the magic slips when the story stops. Joe Mullins is a revelation in the main role. He carries the weight of his loneliness in that walk of his, in the glances at others and at himself in the mirror. Those eyes tell you all you need to know about his regret and isolation which makes the straight to camera pieces unnecessary.

Pilgrim Hill is a very good debut film. With a reported budget of €4,500 it is quite frankly astonishing. It is also a film of our times, looking at a country bereft of direction. It captures the feeling that farming was one of our indigenous industries ignored while we chased the housing dream. Now that the hangover has come, this is what is left: a broken industry full of broken men. There is an authenticity here; you instantly know that both Barrett and Mullins know the terrain well. They have carved out a memorable and low key film with a great central character at the heart of it. Alas, is not the masterpiece that some have said. But there is more than enough here to suggest that Barrett could be a significant Irish filmmaker for years to come.

Film Review - Stella Days (2012)

During the recent Presidential elections in Ireland there was a slightly tongue in cheek campaign to get Martin Sheen to enter the race. This was specifically related to his portrayal of Jed Bartlet in The West Wing but there was also the fact that Martin Sheen seems intrinsically related to Ireland. He has studied and made films here. He is a man that we trust. There is even a small chance he would have got a decent amount of votes had he threw his hat in the ring. The point being one that most film fans already knew all too well: a film will invariably be better if he has a role in it. After watching Stella Days the temptation is to wonder just how bad the film would have been without him.

Sheen plays Father Barry, a priest in small town Ireland in the 1950s. He is an educated and forward thinking priest who has a desire to return to Rome. This hope is dashed by the vindictive and vain Bishop Hegarty (a fine Tom Hickey) who wants Father Barry to raise funds to build a new modernist church. Father Barry is a film buff and decides to set up a small cinema to raise money. He does this with help from the new local school teacher Tim (Trystan Grayville) who is himself attracted to a married woman (the husband is largely absent).

This is a story of the old versus the new. The opening scene has ESB workers putting up poles in the snow to bring electricity to the small town. This is a fascinating time, when you can see modern Ireland begin to light up but sadly it doesn’t really get explored. In its place comes Brendan McSweeney (Stephen Rea) a local businessman and soon to be politician who wants to keep the old ways intact and therefore becomes Father Barry’s nemesis. Thus the scene is set for a battle of wills for the soul of the town.

Stella Days wants to be an ambitious and the central themes are certainly interesting. It wants to delve deep into the history of Ireland and how it is shaped by the encroachment of technology be it with electricity, cinema or kitchen appliances, but it never really does this. Indeed some of the early scenes of women looking at kitchen appliances with suspicion almost seem to be lifted from an unseen Father Ted episode with Mrs. Doyle in the role of the bewildered housewife. The other real problem for the first hour or so is the muddled narrative and the clichéd storytelling. This prevents the film from getting at those ideas with any real affect which lessens the film’s impact. Add to this the fact that Stephen Rea is completely wasted in what is probably the least interesting role I have seen him in. His politician is just a cipher for the film to lay out its ‘keep the town traditional’ ideas and nothing else. This is a real pity as Rea is usually a terrific actor with better material than he has been given here. 

Things take a darker turn during the final act and the film finally comes to life. There are some genuinely emotional moments in the final third of the film that go some way to rescuing the film as a whole. Sheen is absolutely terrific here, adding a real sense of danger to the kindly priest role that perhaps would have been expected. He is a scholarly priest and there is the feeling that he looks down on the people of the town as uneducated fools. He is outwardly kind but it is his eyes that some of his real feelings are betrayed. If only the other characters in the film were as well developed. Thaddeus O’ Sullivan directs in a workmanlike fashion, giving Stella Days the feel of a TV drama rather than anything cinematic. For a film that is partly about cinema, this is disappointing. Overall Stella Days is an earnest film that never successfully captures the times that it is set. For that I would recommend a watching of Neil Jordan’s The Butcher Boy.