March 17 is St. Patrick’s Day, and to help celebrate the occasion, Rosendale Theatre is recommending four Irish cinema films that will be the basis for a free online Zoom discussion about Irish cinema by two of NYC’s film professors that live in the Hudson Valley. The series includes David Lean’s Academy-award winning romantic drama RYAN’S DAUGHTER, starring Robert Mitchum, Sarah Miles, and John Mills, and Martin McDonagh’s 2008 black comedy IN BRUGES, starring Colin Farrell, Brendan Gleeson and Ralph Fiennes. Other films in the series include Alan Parker’s rocking 1991 hymn to Dublin bar bands THE COMMITMENTS, with a largely amateur cast led by Robert Arkin, and Neil Jordan’s Academy Award-winning 1994 thriller THE CRYING GAME, starring Stephen Rea, Forrest Whitaker and Jaye Davidson. All four of these films are streaming on popular platforms including Amazon Prime for $2.99-$4.99. The Zoom chat by Professors Ted Folke and Howard Menikoff will be available without charge on the Rosendale Theatre website (rosendaletheatre.dreamhosters.com) along with the movie trailers from March15 through the end of the month.
Anyone who has been fortunate enough to visit Western Ireland knows that, thanks to the Gulf Stream, the West coast of the country is blessed with a beautiful lush green landscape year around, and, thanks to the Academy Award-winning cinematography of Freddie Young, we see that landscape in its full splendor in RYAN’S DAUGHTER. Alan Parker’s THE COMMITMENTS takes us to another side of Ireland – the rollicking Dublin bar scene. It is worth noting that the directors of both of these films are English; although Ireland has been the home of many great poets and dramatists, the country took a while to develop a viable indigenous film industry. This is no longer the case. THE CRYING GAME and IN BRUGES provide a glimpse into the cool world of contemporary Irish cinema, and reveal a vibrant cinema which transcends some of the ethnic stereotypes perpetuated by Hollywood and reveals a dynamic and living culture in full bloom.
All four of these films are streaming on popular platforms including Amazon Prime for $2.99-$4.99
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WATCH THE TRAILERS:
RYAN’S DAUGHTER
R 1970 ‧ Romance/Drama ‧ 3h 27m
Set in the wake of the 1916 Easter Rising, a married woman in a small Irish village has an affair with a troubled British officer.
Director: David Lean. Stars: Robert Mitchum, Trevor Howard, John Mills
IN BRUGES
R 2008 ‧ Comedy/Action ‧ 1h 47m
Guilt-stricken after a job gone wrong, hitman Ray and his partner await orders from their ruthless boss in Bruges, Belgium, the last place in the world Ray wants to be.
Director: Martin McDonagh. Stars: Colin Farrell, Brendan Gleeson, Ciarán Hinds
THE COMMITMENTS
R 1991 ‧ Comedy/Drama ‧ 1h 59m
Jimmy Rabbitte, an unemployed Dublin boy, decides to put together a soul band made up entirely of the Irish working class.
Director: Alan Parker. Stars: Robert Arkins, Michael Aherne, Angeline Ball
THE CRYING GAME
R 1992 ‧ Thriller/Drama ‧ 1h 52m
A British soldier kidnapped by IRA terrorists soon befriends one of his captors, who then becomes drawn into the soldier’s world.
Director: Neil Jordan. Stars: Stephen Rea, Jaye Davidson, Forest Whitaker