Black 47 - new Irish film about The Great Hunger

Waitsian

Having seen the 10 min short that led to the script for this new feature length movie I was intrigued to hear it's finished and awaiting general release. Anyone know when that might be? Any sign of a trailer? I've seen a few clips and will reserve judgement. Anybody see it at the film festival recently?

I'm looking forward to it at any rate. Has there been any other movies to tackle this catastrophic event in our history?

Sarxos

That's a lot of questions! It hasn't got a release date yet, but it will be towards the end of the year. There's no trailer yet as it only completed post-production a short while before the Berlin Film Festival. I saw it at ADIFF. It's very good. A classic western narrative set against the famine. The famine has not been covered by any feature film before.

delbertgrady

It was much better than I thought it would be, and at almost the halfway point of the festival, is still - remarkably - holding its own as one of the better films of the eight I've seen so far. A little more of a cash injection would have allowed them do more with it, but they did remarkably well with the production design. As I remarked in the ADIFF thread, the visuals of the exposed, barren countryside reminded me a lot of Polanski's Macbeth.

aidanodr

"Black 47" famine film is a must-see so we can end the Great Hunger amnesia

This important movie goes a little way towards increasing the understanding of what Ireland's desperate famine times were like.
The new Irish-made film Black 47 directed by Lance Daly got a very positive reception when it opened at the Berlin Film Festival.

Jessica Kiang in Variety wrote that Daly has delivered “a resonant, beautifully performed Irish Western that benefits from the exotic sound of Irish Gaelic spoken as a living language.”

The film played the Dublin Film Festival last week and as you might expect got a great reception.

It is a very important film that goes a little way towards increasing the understanding of what those desperate famine times were really like.

Asked some Qs about the Famine and the "amnesia" about it over at the history forum, thought more suited. Chime in if interested:

https://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=106369612#post106369612

Catcher7791

The IFI are doing a screening followed by a Q&A with the director on March 21st:

http://ifi.ie/black47/

qm1bv4p8i92aoj

Anyone have any idea when this is being released in Ireland?
No sign of it anywhere yet.
IMDb is saying it had a release date of the 21st of February.

Sarxos

Oaklynn Stale Gunboat wrote: »

Anyone have any idea when this is being released in Ireland?
No sign of it anywhere yet.
IMDb is saying it had a release date of the 21st of February.

It will be late this year. Wildcard Distribution have it for release but want to hit a few more festivals first. The February 21st date was the premiere at ADIFF.

PirateShampoo

New trailer released

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q1W1DLwg3lk

JP Liz V1

Sarxos wrote: »

It will be late this year. Wildcard Distribution have it for release but want to hit a few more festivals first. The February 21st date was the premiere at ADIFF.

Any date yet?

Arghus

It's playing in my local cinema from this midweek onwards, so I imagine it's general across the country.

Technocentral

Seen it at ADIFF, it's a mess, terrible Direction, main character is a plank, 1.5/5.

Mr E

I liked it a lot, but it had issues. Some of the digital work was patchy.
I heard the director interviewed last week and he said that there were about 250 digitally enhanced scenes in there.

I didn't like some of the score either. Some of the action scenes had a very 70s percussive jazz score (like random drum beats and sounds) which didn't fit for me.
Some of the soundtrack/score was beautiful though - some great singing and uilleann pipes).

The story was good and so was most of the acting, particularly Weaving and Rea.

Technocentral

Mr E wrote: »

I liked it a lot, but it had issues. Some of the digital work was patchy.
I heard the director interviewed last week and he said that there were about 250 digitally enhanced scenes in there.

I didn't like some of the score either. Some of the action scenes had a very 70s percussive jazz score (like random drum beats and sounds) which didn't fit for me.
Some of the soundtrack/score was beautiful though - some great singing and uilleann pipes).

The story was good and so was most of the acting, particularly Weaving and Rea.

Main problem was the director had no vision or passion for the film, was an amateur affair, I went with 3 friends all film buffs and they thought it was woeful too.

Gwynplaine

Saw it tonight. I liked it it. Some CGI bits were done on a commodore 64. There's a part where yer man is going along on a horse and it looks like he's walking through a painting.

NIMAN

How come all the rave reviews so?

ancapailldorcha

Excellent. Nowhere in London seems to be showing it.

D3V!L

ancapailldorcha wrote: »

Excellent. Nowhere in London seems to be showing it.

Strange that !! :pac:

Technocentral

NIMAN wrote: »

How come all the rave reviews so?

Went with 3 of my friends, we are all big cinema fans with varying tastes and we all found it a mess. Wheres the rave reviews?

Smegging hell

Technocentral wrote: »

Went with 3 of my friends, we are all big cinema fans with varying tastes and we all found it a mess. Wheres the rave reviews?

It has a 50% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, albeit based on only six reviews.

harr

Seen this morning, enjoyed it but could have been better. I think they needed a stronger main character he definitely seemed a bit wooden. The acting in parts was bad and seemed amateurish , I don’t know maybe with a different director it would have been better. CGI bad in parts and didn’t use the natural scenery enough.
Enjoyable but could have been better, probably 6 out of 10 ..

Technocentral

Smegging hell wrote: »

Technocentral wrote: »

Went with 3 of my friends, we are all big cinema fans with varying tastes and we all found it a mess. Wheres the rave reviews?

It has a 50% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, albeit based on only six reviews.

Nuff said.

cbyrd

Mr E wrote:

I didn't like some of the score either. Some of the action scenes had a very 70s percussive jazz score (like random drum beats and sounds) which didn't fit for me. Some of the soundtrack/score was beautiful though - some great singing and uilleann pipes).

My brother did the music..

Mr E

Whoops.

Irish Times. 4/5 review.

https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/film/black-47-brain-twitching-great-irish-famine-revenge-thriller-1.3618023

NIMAN

Technocentral wrote: »

Went with 3 of my friends, we are all big cinema fans with varying tastes and we all found it a mess. Wheres the rave reviews?

On the trailer links.

Although I have always suspected reviewers have been getting paid off to say good things about films for years, and not just Irish ones.

I have seen too many average films that get good reviews in the media to think otherwise.

Then again, films are like music, very subjective.

fatknacker

Connemara Rambo. Some decent actors in it so was watchable. CGI was a bit ropey, I agree.
Entertaining, nonetheless. And good to see a film about Ireland that's not an all American cast with dodgy accents.

zapitastas

Was a middle of the road film. I had been looking forward to this after seeing An Ranger. The short had a great premise, the setting was terrific, the actors were ideally suited to the roles and the dialogue as gaeilge set the atmosphere.

This film looked good in parts, particularly those as gaeilge added an authenticity to it. But the GCI in other parts looked terrible, should have been a bit more imaginative and left those parts out. The remnants of the barracks were shockingly bad. How anyone could think that scene in the doorway was passable is beyond me. Surely they could have come up with an alternative way to shoot the scene. Think it would have been better going full on bloody revenge rather than a PG effort. Didn't really care to much about the protagonist and therefore his revenge mission didn't really matter too much. After the short I was invested in the character and wanted to see him go and wreak havoc on all who wronged him and his family.

gmisk

I just left a screening in the lighthouse, bumped into Stephen rea and Hugo weaving while leaving.... Before the q and a awkward.. Jesus Hugo weaving is very dashing.

The film was alright the cgi in parts was flipping awful like a painting... It was distracting.
The acting in general was excellent Hugo weaving and the main guy especially, I have to say Barry Keoghan was bloody awful, he did about 3 accents all of them poor.
The action scenes were fairly well done.
5/10

The Crowman

gmisk wrote: »

I just left a screening in the lighthouse, bumped into Stephen rea and Hugo weaving while leaving.... Before the q and a awkward.. Jesus Hugo weaving is very dashing.

The film was alright the cgi in parts was flipping awful like a painting... It was distracting.
The acting in general was excellent Hugo weaving and the main guy especially, I have to say Barry Keoghan was bloody awful, he did about 3 accents all of them poor.
The action scenes were fairly well done.
5/10

Is his character supposed to be Irish? In the brief bit in the trailer where he speaks he sounds like he's doing a Liverpool accent

zapitastas

The Crowman wrote: »

Is his character supposed to be Irish? In the brief bit in the trailer where he speaks he sounds like he's doing a Liverpool accent

Yeah he was supposed to be from Liverpool.

badtoro

Saw it tonight and thought it was very good. Particularly liked characters Coneelly and Hannah.

wp_rathead

I didnt know much about it but I foolishly went in expecting something like Schindlers List but for the Irish Famine, I wasn't expecting to see a bad action film ..
Very disappointing

Best scenes were the eviction, the courtroom, the soup kitchen, and the Lord of the estate talking about "the aborigines"- basically all the scenes that weren't the dumb Rambo stuff

Also the Irish language was the star of the film

Dakota Dan

The idiots laughing at a few scenes, they must've been either bored or didn't understand it. Either way educate the Brits about the famine it will not. The title was all wrong they should've called it the famine Rambo.

Hippo

Very disappointing. No dramatic tension, awful script. A real missed opportunity.

restive

I thought the first half quite good. The actual depiction of the famine. The second half turned into a complete Hollywood film. Also everyone at the end looked a little too well fed.

A nice crowd in the cinema for a Monday night. Looks like it will do a good box office especially after the weekend. Nice to see it. Credit to all involved.

homerun_homer

Thought it was a fairly bad movie. It couldn't decide who the central character was. The cgi work was brutal and distracting. I do hate to criticise a home made movie with grander aspirations but if it starts with a script, then it was a very weak foundation to begin with.

I went to Stella to see it, and the the guy who played Feeney showed up for the Q&A with the director and Hugo Weaving, though he wasn't on the listing to be there. He did most of the talking and was so low toned, boring and drawn out. We were sitting there just thinking "let Hugo speak!!!" I must admit, for all his time in Ireland doing promo for it, Hugo didn't have much to say about it.

The Crowman

Interesting piece of oral history.

https://twitter.com/corkfolklore/status/1039483835342352384

J Mysterio

Saw it tonight and thoroughly enjoyed it. I must confess I was quite ignorant of the CGI abuse - what might be some examples of these horrible CGI moments?

I can see the point RE: 'Famine Rambo'. That's a funny and catchy descriptor for the film, but probably a bit harsh. It was certainly a big challenge to take this subject on and make a 2 hour odd film out of it, possibly one reason it hasnt been done before. I think they covered a lot of bases:

Irish 'taking the kings coin'
Some Irish helping the administration
Crop failure
Indifferent or actively cruel English administration
Land grabs, evictions
Food being transported out of Ireland
Some mention of 'soup for conversion' (but didnt really cover the workhouses so well).
Mass emigration

The film was quite sympathetic to the English characters in Keoghan and Weaving. I doubt there were many examples of individuals displaying that character at that time.

I also thought that the film could have been a bit stronger in terms of showing what people starving to death look like (be it through CGI or whatever). Emaciated bodies etc were not really on show. Equally, disease was not particularly well covered. There were some thoughtful moments though, such as Rea's conversation with Broadbent (the English girl V Irish girl) and the general devastation of Ireland and its people was reasonably well conveyed.

Overall, a good first foray into the topic, but can be inproved upon. 7/10.

CatFromHue

J Mysterio wrote: »

I also thought that the film could have been a bit stronger in terms of showing what people starving to death look like (be it through CGI or whatever). Emaciated bodies etc were not really on show.

I heard the director being interviewed and he said this was a problem for them.

they couldn't find any sick or very thin people

J Mysterio

CatFromHue wrote: »

I heard the director being interviewed and he said this was a problem for them.

they couldn't find any sick or very thin people

Not sure if sarcastic or not. There are ways and means and CGI was one mentioned. What I mean really is that the film does not quite visualise the utter horror of the time, it is more hinted at or alluded to, rather than tackled face on. The Pianist managed this, for example.

Mantis Toboggan

Saw this last night, decent enough probably a 6/10. First half set the scene well but the second half turned into an action movie and a little OTT imo. Worth seeing but maybe not worth the €36.00 for two popcorn's and 2 tickets.

Addle

CatFromHue wrote: »

I heard the director being interviewed and he said this was a problem for them.

they couldn't find any sick or very thin people

There was one man and one woman in the whole thing that looked emaciated.

I enjoyed it anyways. Feeney had very good eyes I thought.

Where can I get info about the shoot locations? Particularly the landlords house?
Google just tells me 'shot on location in connemara'.

gmisk

Addle wrote: »

There was one man and one woman in the whole thing that looked emaciated.

I enjoyed it anyways. Feeney had very good eyes I thought.

Where can I get info about the shoot locations? Particularly the landlords house?
Google just tells me 'shot on location in connemara'.

Quick Google gave me below

https://www.kftv.com/news/2018/02/23/berlinale-black-47-films-in-western-ireland

Addle

Perfect, thanks.

CatFromHue

J Mysterio wrote: »

Not sure if sarcastic or not. There are ways and means and CGI was one mentioned. What I mean really is that the film does not quite visualise the utter horror of the time, it is more hinted at or alluded to, rather than tackled face on. The Pianist managed this, for example.

I'm being serious, that's what the director said.

branie2

I saw it this evening, and I thought it was very good.

goose2005

Addle wrote: »

There was one man and one woman in the whole thing that looked emaciated.

I enjoyed it anyways. Feeney had very good eyes I thought.

Where can I get info about the shoot locations? Particularly the landlords house?
Google just tells me 'shot on location in connemara'.

The landlord's house was Russborough House, Wicklow.

goose2005

Feeney had very good eyes I thought.

unfortunately I couldn't but be reminded of Joe Wilkinson whenever he did the thousand-yard stare

The Crowman

A minor quibble but men in the 1840's most likely wouldn't have sported beards like the main characters in this. That look didn't become popular till the Crimean War when returning bearded veterans sparked the trend.

Spon Farmer

Utterly fantastic film.

I confused about the pigs though.

Wouldn't someone have stolen then from the house were the cousin kept them and why was the pig's body left to lie out outside his house. I thought at first that maybe as hungry as they were that people were too afraid because of what Feeney did but Connelly later said it would be eaten regardless.

And it actually had a happy ending with Róisín heading to America.

I wouldn't have recognised Sarah Greene at all except I happened to see her name on the poster on my way into the cinema.

The Crowman wrote: »

A minor quibble but men in the 1840's most likely wouldn't have sported beards like the main characters in this. That look didn't become popular till the Crimean War when returning bearded veterans sparked the trend.

Do you mean beards in general were not fashion or the type of beard?

Feeney and Hannah weren't the type to be influenced by trends and Feeney's beard was probably grown simply because he hadn't bothered to shave.

I don't think anyone else except Moe Dunford's character had a beard.

gmisk

Spon Farmer wrote: »

Utterly fantastic film.

I confused about the pigs though.

Wouldn't someone have stolen then from the house were the cousin kept them and why was the pig's body left to lie out outside his house. I thought at first that maybe as hungry as they were that people were too afraid because of what Feeney did but Connelly later said it would be eaten regardless.

RE the pigs body, they mentioned they were going to eat it. I would guess they were maybe scared of stealing a pig given the consequences?