The Van - 11:45 BBC1 [NI]

Johnny_the_fox

Basq

Saw this was on...

..definantly the weakest of the Barrytown trilogy!

So watched 'The Believer' on Network 2 instead.

Great film (reminded me a little of 'American History X' though)!

irlirishkev

I watched this last night, for the first time in a few years.

Few trivia questions (of which I do not know the answers)

1) What pub did they film Larry and Bimbo's argument in, after the fight, and before Larry and Bimbo go and drown the van?

2) Just before the lads go to see the van for the first time, they cross a set of railway tracks(dart line), right beside a set of high rise flats.. Anyone know where this is?

3) What estate did they film in.. where the two family's are supposed to live..

Those are a few things that popped into my head while watching.. Anyone know the answers?

Kev.

BaZmO*

I watched this movie for the first time last night and was shocked at how bad it was. Being a Roddy Doyle film it had it's few funny moments, and the nostaglia of "Italia 90" was great as I'm old enough to remember it first hand, but I just thought it was painful to watch sometimes with the acting being so bad, Brendan O'Carroll was painful to watch, Donal O'Kelly as Bimbo was gormless and souless and even Colm Meaney wasn't too great either.
The character development was non-existant which made it very hard to relate to the characters or to feel any empathy for them. The direction was piss poor. The lighting was atrociuos, they couldn't decide on gritty realism or a Hollywood interpetation of Oirishness, I kept waiting for Bing Crosby to jump out from the badly lit background shouting, "Top of the morning t'ya!!" Need I go on?!
The thing that annoyed me the most is that I was really looking forward to this movie as I've seen "The Commitments" and "The Snapper" and really really enjoyed them and I suppose I was just dissapointed that "The Van" didn't come close to these two!

B.

BaZmO*

Oh btw, I think it's supposed to be set in Ballymun or at least the high rise flats that you're talking about were the Ballymun Towers.

iasc

NO ibarrytown is kilbarrack, they were the kilbarrak flats that u saw, which were knocked down around 99 i tihnk, the pub is called the foxhoud, i dont know the name of the estate but its the east side of the kilbarrack bridge, and the beach was dollymount

BaZmO*

Originally posted by iasc
NO ibarrytown is kilbarrack, they were the kilbarrak flats that u saw, which were knocked down around 99 i tihnk, the pub is called the foxhoud, i dont know the name of the estate but its the east side of the kilbarrack bridge, and the beach was dollymount

Oops!! :dunno: Sorry! I wasn't too sure if it was Kilbarrack or Ballymun, me being an uppity Southsider!! So I thought Ballymun would be the safe bet, although having said that, the Dart doesn't go by the Ballymun Flats. :rolleyes:

B.

kirn

the buke is deadly.
the film had a few funny moments but yeah, it was kinda dopey.
pity though. i didn't think brendan o'carroll or colm meaney was that bad. bimbo was crap though.

why was his name Larry in it?
it's supposed to be the Rabbite's isn't it?

BaZmO*

I didn't think that Colm Meaney was too bad, I just think the character didn't suit him or at least the character wasn't that believable. On one hand he was being portrayed as a loving father and friend and on the other he was being portrayed as a womanising lout, which for me, just didn't seem to work.

B.

smoke.me.a.kipper

watched it last night too. i personally thought it was very funny. hadnt seen it in ages, tho of course it doesnt come close to the snapper or the commitments

Draupnir

I wouldnt expect anyone who admits to being an "uppity southsider" to appreciate this movie. I think its brilliant and is a very good reflection of what life was like for people on the dole in the late 80's and early 90's around Dublin.

The pub in the film is now gone, has been for a few years. Indeed they are the flats in Kilbarrack and the estate is in Kilbarrack aswell.

They decided to change the characters names because the three movies werent made as a trilogy as the books were. So Jimmy Rabbite senior became Larry. It was also made on a tiny budget so that explains the "lighting". But in fairness, what kind of pleb gives a monkeys about the lighting in a film unless its a film about lights.

lodgepole

Originally posted by Draupnir
I wouldnt expect anyone who admits to being an "uppity southsider" to appreciate this movie. I think its brilliant and is a very good reflection of what life was like for people on the dole in the late 80's and early 90's around Dublin.

The pub in the film is now gone, has been for a few years. Indeed they are the flats in Kilbarrack and the estate is in Kilbarrack aswell.

They decided to change the characters names because the three movies werent made as a trilogy as the books were. So Jimmy Rabbite senior became Larry. It was also made on a tiny budget so that explains the "lighting". But in fairness, what kind of pleb gives a monkeys about the lighting in a film unless its a film about lights.

What does being a southsider have to do with enjoying a piece of drama?

The film is by far and away the worst of the three films, and the novel is the same. The novel however is still excellent, the film is only mediocre.

The question of lighting... Lighting is not expensive. It's actually incredibly cheap, especially for a small scale film like this. As anyone who have made a short film knows, lighting can make or break you. Even if the quality of the acting and script are high, aesthetics like lighting and framing can ruin it. Same goes for sound. Most "plebs" should care about good lighting and good sound in films. Just because you don't care about the process of getting there doesn't mean you shouldn't care about low film making standards.

lee_baby_simms

Originally posted by Draupnir
I wouldnt expect anyone who admits to being an "uppity southsider" to appreciate this movie.

True. i didnt appreciate it. a very greasy film altogether.

Originally posted by Draupnir
But in fairness, what kind of pleb gives a monkeys about the lighting in a film unless its a film about lights.

i dont get it. please explain.

BaZmO*

Originally posted by Draupnir
I wouldnt expect anyone who admits to being an "uppity southsider" to appreciate this movie. I think its brilliant and is a very good reflection of what life was like for people on the dole in the late 80's and early 90's around Dublin.

Maybe I didn't make it clear enough but I was being sarcastic and reflecting a clichéd image that is portrayed in most of Roddy Doyle's work about being an "uppity southsider". I come from Ballyfermot, which is an extremely working class area on the southside of Dublin. So I very familiar with Doyle's working class depiction, which I never critisised. I was criticising the general structure of the script, plot development, character development, acting, lighting etc.

As far as you calling me a "pleb" for commenting on the lighting, I think Lodgepole answered that one quite sufficiently.

B.

Draupnir

Well I like it cos it makes me laugh, the lighting is not an issue for me at all.

And Ballyfermot is on the southside, and in the words of Jimmy Rabbite Junior,

"Southsiders need not apply" and therefore they do not apply in a debate about any of the barrytown trilogy books or movies.

I cant put the full quote here for obvious reasons.

Oh and I agree, for production quality, it is the worst of the three movies. But I dont think its a factor.

lodgepole

Originally posted by Draupnir
"Southsiders need not apply" and therefore they do not apply in a debate about any of the barrytown trilogy books or movies.

Load of cock. Even if it was said light heartedly.

Shaque attack

who cares if you are north or south side the film is still crap

lee_baby_simms

here, here!

its awfully trying when ones television depicts images of the riff raff, poking fun at their suffering while they merely exist on the bread line.

Seriously, should we laugh at these commoners, bickering and swearing all the way to the labour exchange?