Film in Ireland
For the last 20 years Europe has had little success in regaining its share of theatrical screens on its home turf. The dominance of Hollywood in Europe has made it difficult for European films to find even a few screens to project its films. Ireland, with a growing film industry, is one of the few successes. Ireland had the highest cinema attendance rate in Europe in 1996 and also achieved the largest rate of video rental in Europe that year. Also, it’s actors and directors are even gaining an even stronger foothold in Hollywood. Irish films were very successful at film festivals in the mid to late 1990’s and were surprisingly successful in many European countries and the U.S. For instance, Neil Jordan’s Michael Collins was the most successful film in 1996 in Ireland and also gained international success. It dealt with the Irish civil war and played very well on many American screens.
What were some of the reasons for the revival of Irish film in the 1990’s? Well, one of the major components of its success would have to include the activities of the European Media Program, which is funded by the European Commission in Brussels. The European Media Program is designed as a fist against the dominance of Hollywood films in Europe. This program includes various programs under its central umbrella such as the EAVE Program, which I also participated. EAVE is part of the European Media Program and is somewhat similar to Sundance. European producers submit a project to the program and if chosen then participate in a year-long series of meetings where top professionals from around the world are brought in to help mentor the producer (and his staff, writers, etc.) to fully develop the project. There are several other programs similar to this in the European Media Program and all of them are designed to help give European films a fighting chance against American films. The European Media Program is key to Ireland’s cinema success. In 1997 the European Media Program gave the Irish Film Board about 48% of it’s funding. It should also be added that production is very small in Northern Ireland, which has mostly support from Ch. 4 London.
Exactly how did Ireland come into such prominence in cinema in the 1990’s? What films, directors, and actors propelled it into this dominance? Probably the greatest influence on these films was the intense Anglo-Irish political war , especially in relationship to Northern Ireland. Most of the films that got international attention dealt with this conflict. What made Neil Jordan’s film Michael Collins so amazing is that it actually was an epic. It didn’t deal with this conflict on a contemporary scale but dealt with it historically during the period from 1916 to 1923. Part of what made this film was a contribution by Warner Brothers of $25 million dollars. The film was extremely successful in Ireland but bombed with English critics and didn’t do well in terms of Oscars. One of the most important aspects of this epic was that it depicted young Ireland torn between two versions of it’s postcolonial future. The film contains graphic violence but so impressed Irish censors with it’s historical importance that they gave it a “PG” rating and hoped it would attract younger viewers.
Terry George and Jim Sheridan collaborated on three important films in the 90’s constituting the following titles:
-
In the Name of the Father (1993)
-
Some Mother’s Son (1996)
-
The Boxer (1998)
These three films played a powerful role in Ireland’s self examination of it’s politics and how it projected itself to the world through cinema. In the Name of the Father inflamed the British government, judicial system, and press. It caused even more anger by the Irish community living in Britain. It exposed the credibility of the British justice system at an international level. All this was done with a fairly simple story line that dealt with the life of Gerry Conlon who was wrongly convicted of a 1974 IRA bombing. It is a compelling story of wrongly convicted people overcoming criminal wrongdoing within the British justice system. It is also a story of some of these people overcoming racism. It was attacked in the British and American press and labeled “pro-IRA” by many critics. In no way was the screenplay pro-IRA as the principal characters were distanced from the IRA prisoner that was also being held in their prison. Some Mother’s Son is a somewhat similar story in that it takes place in prison. What makes it interesting is that it’s told from the viewpoint of the mothers of a group of prisoners who are on a hunger strike, which will lead to their deaths. It shows the complexity of people’s viewpoints in Ireland as these mothers are from very different backgrounds and their various friends have ambivalent opinions. Because of this, many republicans didn’t like the film and it was obviously hated by the British. The Boxer was not near as successful as the other two films. It stars Daniel Day-Lewis and is the story of an IRA man just released from prison that establishes a gym and tries to rebuild his career. As it turns out he is not just boxing people in the ring but is also boxing shadows of his former political life.
What has made Irish film so successful in the past years is the public’s enjoyment of watching others examine the core of their beliefs in such a public medium. This is important stuff and is often the crux of many other war films and documentaries such as news documentaries about the violence in Bosnia. Much can be gained by screening one of these Irish movies. They are about life being lived very intensely.