I have picked some “Irish’ films to celebrate in style. You might not want to add all of these movies to your home collection, so I suggest you rent them first, they are worth watching, and I bet one or two make it into your collection!
The list below is in no particular order they are all worth a look-see.
All in favour say “AYE!”
The Boondock Saints (1999): Directed by Troy Duffy and starring, Willem Dafoe, Sean Patrick Flannery, Billy Conelly, and Norman Reedus. The film opens with mass in a Boston Catholic church, where Irish American fraternal twin brothers Connor McManus (Sean Patrick Flanery) and Murphy McManus (Norman Reedus) pray while a sermon is read, mentioning Kitty Genovese, a real-life crime victim brutally murdered while her neighbours watched without intervening. The brothers take it upon themselves to do something about the injustice, and believe it is their calling. This is one of the movies you will either love or hate, but worth seeing at least once.
State of Grace (1990): If you like films like Gangs of New York and The Godfather, State of Grace is a good St. Patrick's Day film for you. State of Grace tells the story of a group of Irish gangsters in New York City's infamous Hell's Kitchen neighbourhood. ''State of Grace'' has a comparable figure in Jackie Flannery, (played by Gary Oldman) the toughest and most volatile of the Hell's Kitchen Irish-American hoods who are this film's unflinching focus. Jackie is someone who can open his freezer and cheerfully show off a pair of severed hands, explaining that these fingerprint-producing props are the perfect thing for someone who's tired of throwing away his favourite gun after every killing. He's someone who, when torching a building, prefers to drop his lighted cigarette far inside rather than at the front door, just to see how fast he can run!
The Crying Game (1992): Starring one of Ireland's best, Stephen Rea and Forest Whitaker, the Crying Game follows a couple of underdog characters trying to navigate through the reign of the IRA. British soldier Jody (Forest Whitaker) is taken captive by Fergus (Stephan Rea), Jude (Miranda Richardson), Maguire (Adrian Dunbar) and others. He is held to be exchanged for an IRA prisoner the British are holding. During the three days Jody is held, he and Fergus become friends as they talk about their lives. Jody tells Fergus about his girlfriend back in London named Dil. Jody says she is his type of woman. Jody tells Fergus he won't shoot him when it's time because it's not in Fergus' nature. He tells him a parable about the scorpion and the frog. The scorpion asks the frog to take him across the river because the scorpion can't swim. The frog says no because you'll sting me. The scorpion says trust me. Half way across, the frog feels a sharp sting and says to the scorpion as they sink, why did you sting me? Now we'll both die. I couldn't help it, said the scorpion, it's in my nature. If you're looking for an intense story carried by the weight of its characters, this is the one for you.
So there you have it my fellow movie madness cohorts. Be sure to let me know which ones you loved! movies@mainstreetmagazine.net Happy Saint Patrick’s Day!
By Suzzanne McNab
As seen in teh March issue of Main Street Magazine
Copyright Main Street Magazine
Canadian ISSN:1920-4299
