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CONTENTS
The 5 Most Romantic Irish Movies Ever
Irish Quotations about Love & Romance
Hello again from Ireland where today we present our list of the most romantic Irish movies ever. Maybe there are a couple you have never heard of?
Until next time!
Michael
http://www.ireland-information.com
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THE 5 MOST ROMANTIC IRISH MOVIES EVER
#1: HEAR MY SONG
A movie you may have missed is the little gem 'Hear my Song'.
This charming movie is based loosely on the life of famed Irish singer
Josef Locke who escaped the English taxman by hiding out in Ireland. Locke could
make women cry with his singing!
Mickey O'Neill (played by Adrian Dunbar), is the owner of a
working class nightclub that caters to the older generation
by booking such dubious acts as 'Frank Cinatra'. He has a line
of Blarney for every situation but cannot commit to his
girlfriend played by Tara Fitzgerald.
Desperate to boost his flagging business he books 'Mr. X'
who is popularly believed to be the famous tax-exiled
singer. He plays to a packed house but is exposed as a
fraud, a cheap imitation, much to the chagrin of Mickey
O'Neill and his investors who close the club down.
Prompted by the loss of his girlfriend and his club he sets
off for Ireland to track down the genuine article to try
to convince him to return for one last performance.
He has trouble finding the real singer (played by Ned Beatty), but
when he does he has even more trouble convincing him to
return as the taxman (played by David McCallum), is still
waiting to get his hands on him.
Will he return? Will he be caught? Can O'Neill do it?
'Hear My Song' is riddled with gentle comedy and backed up
by the wonderful songs of the day. It is a forgivable and
unoffensive collection of blarney, stereotypes and good
humor that is just perfect for a dreary cold wet night
when you need cheering up. Very enjoyable!
#2: THE BALLROOM OF ROMANCE
While 'The Quiet man' and 'the Field' offered competing views of Irish life in the middle of the twentieth century the widely regarded 'The Ballroom of Romance' offers perhaps the most mundane view.
That is not to diminish its power. 1950's Ireland was often a fairly desperate place. Emigration was for many the chosen route to a new life while for those who stayed in Ireland the opportunities were very limited.
The movie is centered on the lonely figure of Bridie (played by Brenda Fricker), who has dreams but little hope of fulfilling them.
Bridie has been attending the local village dance for years. Finding a husband in rural Ireland in the 1950s was easier said than done. Most of the younger men had emigrated while many of those who remained were more interested in drinking than settling down to life as a farmer.
Bridie slowly faces the realization that she must settle, and settle she does for the hard-drinking Bowser Egan (played by John Kavanagh).
'The Ballroom of Romance' is based on the William Trevor short-story of the same name. So influential is this work that the very phrase 'ballroom of romance' has now entered the lexicon of purely Irish phrases that everyone of a certain age in Ireland readily understands. It describes an older time, a time long past, possibly even quaint in a way but certainly sombre and sad upon closer inspection.
This is romance gone wrong. Anti-romance.
And yet superbly conceived and presented in this fine landmark Irish movie that is an antidote to the falseness of other pretenders.
#3: THE QUIET MAN
It would be difficult to create any list of the most romantic Irish films without including 'The Quiet Man'. The by now legendary 1952 production of the tale of love, greed and brawling that was set against the Connemara wilderness has been an enduring success for over half a century.
Quite simply put, 'The Quiet Man' is a classic.
That is not to say that everyone is obliged to love it but
at the same time it is easy enough to find plenty to like.
This movie is set in rural Ireland and was filmed in the
depths of Connemara. Sean Thornton is a returning emigrant
who had previously been a boxer. He is haunted by his last
fight when his opponent had died at his hands. He longs to
return to the place of his birth and eventually fulfills the
dream of countless generations when he restores his old
family thatched cottage to pristine condition and soon
settles down to his new life.
Romance soon blossoms in the form of Mary Kate Danaher who
is every bit the image of Irish red-headed fierce-tempered
feistiness that is typical of so many Irish women to this
very day.
Trouble brews when the issue of a 'dowry' divides the couple
who ultimately reconcile after the grandstand fight scene
which stretches over several acres.
There are some memorable comic moments in this film provided
mainly by the village matchmaker, played by Barry Fitzgerald.
Mary Kate Danaher: 'Could you use a little water in your whiskey?'
Michaleen Flynn: 'When I drink whiskey, I drink whiskey, and when I drink water, I drink water.'
The relationship between the Catholic and Protestant churches
in the village is made light off. An old English gentleman
sits easily in the bar whilst chaos reigns about him,
oblivious to all but his newspaper! The IRA soldier is
presented in traditional clothing, acknowledged but not
threatening.
This may smack of stereotyping and there is a good reason for
this: They are stereotypes!
The film is riddled with stereotypes, from the cute conniving matchmaker to the helpful
villagers discussing the whereabouts of a man who knows the
answer to a question but who isn't there to answer it! The
ability of the Irish to laugh at themselves is well known
- and it is just as well.
John Wayne and Maureen O'Hara are fantastic in the lead
roles. It is surprising the ease with which John Wayne played
the role of 'Trooper Thornton' given his reputation at the time for playing war heroes and cowboys.
And Maureen O'Hara is simply
fierce as the bride to be. 'God bless all in this house'
her brother says as he is about to enter her new home,
'WIPE YOUR FEET!' she barks back in reply.
Great stuff - but be warned. This is fantasy. The reality of
Irish rural life can be better observed in other films such
as 'The Field' which, like 'The Quiet Man', also deals with
the issue of money and property in the way only the Irish can.
For those who wax lyrical about 'The Quiet Man' it is proposed that
they simply MUST also view 'The Field' - its exact opposite in many ways,
and yet containing many of the same characters and scenes.
#4: THE CRYING GAME
As far removed from the world of Sean Thornton and Mary-Kate is the domain inhabited by Stephen Rea in the movie 'The Crying Game'.
'The Crying Game' is heavy duty adult entertainment that is
typical of director Neil Jordan, who also directed 'Interview
with the Vampire' and 'Michael Collins'.
The fine cast includes
Stephen Rea as the lead with Forest Whitaker as the English
soldier that he and fellow IRA conspirators Adrian Dunbar
and Miranda Richardson kidnap.
The plot centers around IRA volunteer Fergus, played by
Stephen Rea, who is less than fully committed to the methods
of his IRA colleagues. He befriends the captive soldier but
is ordered to kill him in the woods where they are hiding.
The British Army intervene just as the soldier looks set to
escape but he is killed by accident by the very soldiers who
are trying to rescue him.
Fergus escapes to London where he seeks out the soldier's
girlfriend, superbly portrayed by then newcomer Jaye Davidson. He
befriends her and it seems that salvation may be at hand but
it is not to be.
His old IRA comrades track him down and
again order him to carry out a political killing. Desperate
to avoid any more violence he hatches a plan to protect the
girl whilst keeping the IRA at bay.
'The Crying Game' engages the viewer right from the very start
and the actors are in top form. Rea is typically understated,
impish and charming.
Whitaker is seldom better as the
distraught soldier who knows he is facing execution at any
moment.
After the initial excitement of the scenes in the
forest the plot slows down considerably to allow the viewer
to appreciate the dilemma facing Rea and the motivation
behind his transformation from prospective IRA killer to
someone seeking redemption and even love.
The pace then quickens seamlessly as expert Irish director Neil Jordan leads us to
the violent finale and the realization that humanity can
triumph in even the bleakest of situations.
Top class.
#5: INTO THE WEST
A different kind of romantic vision of Ireland is displayed in the popular Irish Movie 'Into the West'.
'Into the West' is a highly romantic vision of the life experienced
by Ireland's traveling community. It centers around two
small boys, Tayto and Ozzie, who are sons to John Reilly who
was once 'The King of the Travelers'.
Gabriel Byrne plays the lead as a man who wants to settle down and who has turned
his back on his previous life after his wife died. He is stuck in time, unable to move on with his life, grieving his lost love while his children suffer.
This film is very much seen through the eyes of the two
young children who are immersed in the old Gaelic folklore
by their Grandfather who tells them the tales of Tir na nOg
(the land of the young).
This is another romantic vision but one which provides some of the best verbal exchanges in the movie:
Ossie: 'What did the princess look like?'
Grandfather: 'Close your eyes. Now do you see a beautiful woman?'
Ossie: 'Yea.'
Grandfather: 'Well, that's her. That's the beautiful princess.'
They own a white horse which leads
them away from the Dublin slums and into the countryside on
a journey of discovery, about who they are and where they came from.
Ossie: (at the moment of seeing mother's gravestone)
'Why did she die on my birthday?'
The law is not far behind though and a ruthless Garda played
by Brendan Gleeson follows then across the country at the
behest of a racehorse mogul who wants the horse for himself.
John Reilly's fellow travelers are played by Ellen Barkin
and Colm Meaney who accompany the boy's father as they
revisit their old haunts, reliving their old adventures and
drawing ever nearer to the West coast of Ireland, their
homeland.
This is a very entertaining film, perfectly suitable for
children's viewing and is not without humor. The fact that
it displays a very sanitized version of the life experienced
by many Travelers and by the people they encounter is in
many respects irrelevant.
This is not meant to be a documentary about the rights and wrongs, the good and the
bad of Travelers.
Rather, it is an adventure, brilliantly played by the cast,
especially the two child actors, who lead us from the worst
of urban Dublin to the best of the countryside and onto the
beauty of the Irish West coast before it reaches its emotional conclusion.
This is a roller-coaster ride set against the wildness of modern and ancient Ireland and is pure romance.
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14 IRISH QUOTES ABOUT LOVE AND ROMANCE
I chose my wife, as she did her wedding gown, for qualities that would wear well.
Oliver Goldsmith
Women are made to be loved, not understood
Oscar Wilde
The most important things in the world to do are to get something to eat, something to drink, and somebody to love you.
Brendan Behan
They lived and laughed and loved and left.
James Joyce
You dont love someone for their looks, or their clothes, or for their fancy car, but because they sing a song only you can hear.
Oscar Wilde
Whatever else is unsure in this stinking dunghill of a world, a mother's love is not.
James Joyce
Love will heal what language fails to know.
Eavan Boland
It often occurs to me that we love most what makes us miserable. In my opinion the damned are damned because they enjoy being damned.
Patrick Kavanagh
How can a woman be expected to be happy with a man who insists on treating her as if she was a perfectly normal human being.
Oscar Wilde
Noli Timere
Seamus Heaney - meaning 'dont be afraid'. These were the last words the poet sent to his wife, just before he passed away.
Gravitation can't be held responsible for people falling in love.
Albert Einstein
Put your hand on a hot stove for a minute, and it seems like an hour. Sit with a pretty girl for an hour, and it seems like a minute. That's relativity.
Albert Einstein
I haven't spoken to my wife in years. I didn't want to interrupt her.
Rodney Dangerfield
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