There are many movies filmed in Ireland, but so few are set in Ireland and declare it proudly for the world to know. If you’re looking for a movie that will showcase the best of Dublin, read on.
The Commitments
If you were asked to place an online bet on which movie would win the award for the best movie set in Dublin, this one would certainly be a great option.“The Irish are the blacks of Europe, Dubliners are the blacks of Ireland, and Northsiders are the blacks of Dublin. So, say it loud, I’m black and I’m proud.”
If that doesn’t sum up the humour of this musical comedy-drama, nothing will. The 1991 film based on the novel by Roddy Doyle sees Jimmy Rabbitte, a wannabe music manager who pulls together a soul band made up of friends and neighbours around town. Each of them is a character and a half, but they do make some great music.
There are fights for the spotlight, fights for relationships and outright fights at every one of their gigs – and yet the people love them.
Not just in the movie, either. Today families are still quoting biting retorts to each other, and Mustang Sally just doesn’t sound right without “Roid, Sallee, roid” sung behind it.
Reception was, and has stayed, mostly positive. The Washington Post said that the film was “a deadly funny movie; nearly every scene is broken off with a punch line. But Parker’s sense of comedy is organic; he never lets the jokes elbow the characters, or the music, out of the spotlight.”
It was a great depiction of late-80’s Dublin and the “hustle with a smile” spirit of every Northside Dubliner and was once even the highest-grossing Irish film. It was soon to be beaten, unfortunately, by our next pick.
In The Name of the Father
Warning: there is no re-watchability to this movie. In The Name of The Father is a haunting and deeply affecting movie, depicting the case of the Gilded Four. They were four people falsely convicted of the 1974 Guildford pub bombings, including son and father Gerry and “Giuseppe” Conlon.
Daniel Day Lewis stretches the method acting muscles he’s known for in this story of fighting against injustice. It is a slow-burning and torturous story. It’s definitely a movie everyone should watch once, but if you can go to the second round, you’re made of stronger stuff.
Despite some criticism around the court scenes seeming like something “straight out of LA Law”, the film has received very positive reviews from most critics.
Rotten Tomatoes gives it an amazing 94% and says, “Impassioned and meticulously observed, In the Name of the Father mines rousing drama from a factual miscarriage of justice.”
Sing Street
The newest film on this list, Sing Street is a musical coming-of-age story about “Cosmo” who starts a band to impress a girl he likes.
Conor, as he’s known at home, rallies together a group of teenage dreamers to write and perform the sort of music his private school would turn their nose up at.
The similarities to The Commitments don’t end there, since the cast is made up of the likes of Little Finger Aidan Gillen, Midsommer’s Jack Reynor, and “roid, Sallee, roid” singer, Maria Doyle Kennedy.
It is a much less gritty take on the life of a Dubliner, indulging in the romance of the cityscape and nearby rolling hills, with colour and fun injected into every scene. Conor isn’t looking to get famous or make money, but to win the heart of an unimpressed girl and his dreamy view of his home is obvious in every shot.
Guy Lodge of Variety.com said of the film, “Perched on a tricky precipice between chippy kitchen-sink realism and lush wish-fulfilment fantasy, this mini-Commitments gets away with even its cutesiest indulgences.”
Feature Image Source: Pixabay
