Jimmy's Hall

alabandical

Set in the 1930s in Leitrim, 'Jimmy's Hall' tells the story of Jimmy Gralton and the Church's opposition to his dancehall that he reopens.

It is a lovely looking film and the landscape and people of Leitrim shine. Ken Loach is never one to shy away from political messages (like 'The Wind that Shakes the Barley') and does lay it on thick at times due to Jimmy Gralton's communist tendencies. However, what makes a lasting impression is the simple humanity of a community coming together despite the grip of the clergy and local powerbrokers. Barry Ward does a fine job as the lead but Jim Norton steals the show in every scene he is in as the parish priest.

Worth it if you fancy a look at an untold tale of Irish history.

TheCitizen

Looking forward to this, a fascinating and instructive story and a great filmmaker to tell it.

candy-gal1

Saw this yesterday on a random pick, and I really enjoyed it!!

Nothing spectacular or anything imho, but a very real and good storytelling type movie, very good ending too!

AnonoBoy

Caught this over the weekend.

Dull.

Some of the amateur actors (Jimmy's mother in particular) are awful. She flubs a line at one point and it still made it into the cut.

The film itself drags - it could have done with losing about twenty minutes. There's scenes that drag on for a few minutes, long after the point has been made.

The dialogue at time was appalling and the start had some of the clunkiest exposition I've seen in a long while. Considering this is from Paul Laverty who has written some great films in his day I was very surprised.

Can't recommend this one, it's a far cry from Wind That Shakes The Barley in terms of quality.

TheCitizen

Did Loach shoot this with no 2nd takes like he has done before. The Wind that Shakes the Barley was like that, sometimes lines are fluffed but it helps to make the film sound more real.

ronano

I enjoyed the film overall but realism should still be conducive to storytelling and the fluffing and at times dire acting just took me out of the film too often.

AnonoBoy

TheCitizen wrote: »

Did Loach shoot this with no 2nd takes like he has done before. The Wind that Shakes the Barley was like that, sometimes lines are fluffed but it helps to make the film sound more real.

I don't know. This didn't make the film sound more real though, it just sounded like actors nearly getting their lines wrong.

bogmanfan

I saw this last night and really liked it. Great story and I thought the acting was very good. I'd definitely recommend it.

TCDStudent1

I enjoyed it as well.

But Loach is way too sympathetic towards characters like Jimmy Gralton. Damien in "The Wind the shakes the barley" and Liam Cunningham's character held similar beliefs to Jimmy. He just makes them out to be such good guys and everybody else to be such bad guys that I find it hard to be sympathetic towards them. I think Loach is making them look much more noble than they probably were.

After the film, I read up a little about Jimmy Gralton. I learnt that he briefly served in the British army but there is no mention of this in the film from what I remember. Surely that was worth mentioning? But Loach sometimes likes to omit certain things as it might blur your view on the character. Knowing that a director is so biassed towards a character just makes me biassed in the other way - maybe that is his plan!

Manco

TCDStudent1 wrote: »

I enjoyed it as well.

But Loach is way too sympathetic towards characters like Jimmy Gralton. Damien in "The Wind the shakes the barley" and Liam Cunningham's character held similar beliefs to Jimmy. He just makes them out to be such good guys and everybody else to be such bad guys that I find it hard to be sympathetic towards them. I think Loach is making them look much more noble than they probably were.

After the film, I read up a little about Jimmy Gralton. I learnt that he briefly served in the British army but there is no mention of this in the film from what I remember. Surely that was worth mentioning? But Loach sometimes likes to omit certain things as it might blur your view on the character. Knowing that a director is so biassed towards a character just makes me biassed in the other way - maybe that is his plan!

It's a film, not a PhD thesis. A lot of the events surrounding Gralton's life were only cursorily alluded to, like the fact his sister was a nun, or ignored, like his brief membership of Fianna Fáil, but any film based on historical events will inevitably have to compress some of the facts to make it a watchable narrative for the audience. Loach and Laverty went out of their way to make Jim Norton's character emphatisable, when in reality the local church weren't unhappy at all about his deportation. Here's a good documentary on Gralton if you're interested. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sy5XeFpBQOA

TheCitizen

Manco wrote: »

It's a film, not a PhD thesis. A lot of the events surrounding Gralton's life were only cursorily alluded to, like the fact his sister was a nun, or ignored, like his brief membership of Fianna Fáil, but any film based on historical events will inevitably have to compress some of the facts to make it a watchable narrative for the audience. Loach and Laverty went out of their way to make Jim Norton's character emphatisable, when in reality the local church weren't unhappy at all about his deportation. Here's a good documentary on Gralton if you're interested.

Thanks will check that out. Very interesting story around Jim Gralton.

TCDStudent1

Manco wrote: »

It's a film, not a PhD thesis. A lot of the events surrounding Gralton's life were only cursorily alluded to, like the fact his sister was a nun, or ignored, like his brief membership of Fianna Fáil, but any film based on historical events will inevitably have to compress some of the facts to make it a watchable narrative for the audience. Loach and Laverty went out of their way to make Jim Norton's character emphatisable, when in reality the local church weren't unhappy at all about his deportation. Here's a good documentary on Gralton if you're interested. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sy5XeFpBQOA

Thanks, wil give it a watch. The problem is they make him too emphatisable; that was the point I was trying to make. You just know he wasnt as great or cleancut as they were trying to suggest!

AnonoBoy

TCDStudent1 wrote: »

Thanks, wil give it a watch. The problem is they make him too emphatisable; that was the point I was trying to make. You just know he wasnt as great or cleancut as they were trying to suggest!

Jim Norton played the priest.

Chuchote

The President is going to apologise on behalf of the government for the deportation, and unveil a memorial to Jimmy Gralton (or Garlton? The Irish Times has both spellings in the same article). http://www.irishtimes.com/news/ireland/irish-news/higgins-to-say-sorry-for-treatment-of-deported-irishman-1.2778656

TheCitizen

Watched it there last night had it taped. Very good film, some of the acting was a bit ropey but you get that with Loach as he instructs the cast to deliver in one take.

Heads up! Its on Film Four tomorrow morning at 1.20 am!

branie2

I thought it was very good

JP Liz V1

Was anyone else expecting a solo hall dance from Jimmy

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j8XGmZ8HDIU