Ireland on Film

The Oscars have come and gone. Did you have a favorite moment? Besides the obvious where the winning Americans thank everyone including the parking lot attendant while the Europeans gave classy acceptance speeches, the moment I liked the best was when Jon Stewart brought back Marketa Irglova from Once back to the stage. She had been unceremoniously cut off. She then gave a heartfelt, smart acceptance speech.

This got me thinking.

A small Irish film, Once, wins at the Oscars. St. Patrick's Day is around the corner and the 'Kiss Me I'm Irish' lapel pins will blossom like so many shamrocks. Green beer will flow like so much blarney. The racist icons of Ireland will festoon every shop window, and yet very few will realize these images of Ireland are out of date. This is especially true in film. A quick look at the Irish in films reveals how we went from making fun of them to honoring the films being made today.

As with most immigrants, the early Irish portrayal in film was xenophobic, rife with caricature and two dimensional. They were beguiling drunks, saucy maids or troublesome agitators.  Barry Fitzgerald's performance in the classic Bringing Up Baby is an example. As the grounds keeper for Katharine Hepburn's wealthy aunt, he talks to himself, sneaks drinks, is easily provoked into fighting and is fearful of everything.  It is as stereotypical a depiction as you can find in the movies.

Other portrayals of the Irish focused in on the 'troubles'. John Ford's The Informer won acclaim at the Oscars as did Carol Reed's Odd Man Out. Both dealt with the IRA. When the fight for independence and rebellion went to the movie house, Hollywood found romance and tragedy. A one-two punch for ticket selling. This same combination re-emerged with The Crying Game, In the Name of the Father and all the other film that came out of Ireland near the end of last century.

A more enduring depiction is the 'auld' country. This is a wistful look at the emerald Ireland through rose colored glasses. A place where rural tranquility and the simple life is at once quaint and unrealistic. These are fantasies. John Ford's The Quiet Man is exactly that. An American looking for peace from his violent past returns to his parent's Irish cottage. There he finds a red-haired wife, a titanic fight and the peace he sought. It was a popular film when it came out in 1952, and it will be all over the TVs this month. Heck, I'll watch it again even if it is nonsense and politically incorrect. I like that fantasy as much as anyone.

More recently, Waking Ned Devine is the same sort of fantasy. Colorful characters in a rural community put one over on the sophisticated urban dwellers. We can take some good natured solace in their good natured swindling.

Sadly this column is too short to really explore Irish films. Maybe I'll poke around it again, but a we get ready to celebrate St. Patrick's Day and all things Irish, think about how the Irish have become great story tellers using film. Think about how a simple story like Once brings something new to Hollywood.

Garen has been sitting in the dark for over 30 years as an film exhibitor, consultant and reviewer. You may have seen him on NE Cable or some other Boston station.  More likely you heard him pontificating about films on NPR, TKK, RKO, New Hampshire Public Radio, or any number of other stations he's been on, but one thing is certain, he loves, and knows, film.