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The Greatest Irish Films

Small Wonder

I would like to hear people's recommendations of the greatest Irish films.

Feel free to add anything but I'm particularly interested in films that aren't spoken about so much. We've all watched The Snapper, but are there old silent movies or other forgotten bits and pieces that are worth exploring?

They can be set in Ireland, actually made in Ireland or have some other link to the country. 'Irish' themed, basically.

Personally, I'm not interested in films like The Killing of a Sacred Deer or I am Not a Serial Killer, but again, it's up to you if you want to extend the category to include the work of Irish directors and production companies.

I'll start things off with Return to Glennascaul, the 1951 short written and directed by Hilton Edwards and produced by Micheál Mac Liammóir (the two founders of the Gate Theatre). It's a ghost story starring Orson Welles, playing himself, and was shot while Welles was on a break from shooting Othello, which of course starred Mac Liammóir as Iago.

I'm already breaking my own thread because it's not a 'great' film, but it's certainly a notable one given Welles' stature within the medium and his own storied past with Ireland and the Gate Theatre. It's one of the bonus supplements on Criterion's Othello release but I'm sure it's available online somewhere.

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vriesmays

There are no great Irish films. Most are average and look like cheap TV movies.

Tammy!

I really liked Breakfast on Pluto.

xlogo

Adam and Paul.

leonffrench

The Crying Game and The Halo Effect are the only 2 "great" ones I think and the rest are "good"

is_that_so

While I'm not in the same negative category as some above, we don't really have world-recognised great films but all of these come in the category of extremely watchable.

The Quiet Man
Man of Arran
Barry Lyndon
The Commitments
The Crying Game
Michael Collins
Ryan's Daughter
Brooklyn

Dutchy

Strawberry Milkshake wrote:

*snip*

Eat the Peach

Small Wonder

vriesmays wrote: »

There are no great Irish films. Most are average and look like cheap TV movies.

None?

I think My Left Foot is one of the great pieces of world cinema.

is_that_so

Small Wonder wrote: »

None?

I think My Left Foot is one of the great pieces of world cinema.

Well Daniel Day Lewis is. The film is OK but his performance is superb.

Small Wonder

is_that_so wrote: »

Well Daniel Day Lewis is. The film is OK but his performance is superb.

I think the movie is too often overlooked for just his performance, which is understandable of course. Anyway...

Insect Overlord

Black 47 was absolutely class.

vriesmays

Small Wonder wrote: »

None?

I think My Left Foot is one of the great pieces of world cinema.

There's a book called Film Review 1989 and My Left Foot was one of their turkeys of the year.

[Deleted User]

Lenny Abrahamson has made some good films.

Adam and Paul , as mentioned.

What Richard Did is also very good as is Garage.

Wind That Shakes the Barley was very well received too.

westcork67

Young Offenders

Insect Overlord

A Date For Mad Mary seemed to slip under the radar for a lot of people, lost in the hype between Sing Street and Young Offenders. That was a great year for Irish movies!

Sad Professor

I love Sensation, probably my favourite Irish film.

Small Wonder

vriesmays wrote: »

There's a book called Film Review 1989 and My Left Foot was one of their turkeys of the year.

My own personal feelings for the film must be wrong then if Film Review 1989 didn't think it worthy of praise.

johnny_ultimate

A couple of Irish documentary filmmakers recently have been knocking it out of the park and making works that are confidently up there with the some of the best non-fiction work out there - they don't need to be praised just on 'Irish film standards'. My personal favourite was last year's The Image You Missed - director Donal Foreman tackles the Troubles through a uniquely personal and fiercely cinematic approach. Emer Reynolds made one of the great space documentaries with The Farthest. Pat Collins has been doing tremendous, formally audacious work with his films that cross the fiction/documentary border with quite giddy abandon. Was also very fond of Tadhg O'Sullivan's The Great Wall, which is mesmerising slow cinema.

If we're counting Derry (although let's not get into all of that :P) Chris Kelly's A Cambodian Spring is also a superb, furious documentary about broken politics and injustice.

rhubarbcustard

Intermission gets my vote!

E mac

I Went Down.

sydthebeat

Loved date for mad Mary as well....

But my top Irish film is disco pigs.

Dark and funny, and translated to screen extremely well from the play.

Abel Ruiz

vriesmays wrote: »

There's a book called Film Review 1989 and My Left Foot was one of their turkeys of the year.

Well the book was wrong.
One of the greatest films ever

pixelburp

rhubarbcustard wrote: »

Intermission gets my vote!

That was a film that really, really wanted to be a Tarantino feature. Hasn't aged too well IMO.

I have to say I'm impressed nobody has mentioned Fatal Deviation yet

Find "Irish cinema" a tough beast to get into TBH. For me, cinema is often about escapism, so given how often Irish Film goes for gritty, domestic dramas above all else I simply stay clear of its output. If I do dabble, it's with genre outliers like Black 47, Siege of Jadotville or uh, Grabbers

gmisk

There are some excellent Irish films IMO

Sing street
The farthest
Brooklyn
In the name of the father

I don't think our output is too bad for a small country.

[Deleted User]

Ken Loach's War Of Independence Movie with "The Wind that shakes the Barley", Killian Murphy is fantastic

The Van

Intermission

Collie D

Hotel Rwanda

tvercetti

My favorites would be
The Guard - I like it more and more with each viewing, there was alot of hype when it came out so maybe I had built it up too much on first viewing. Love it now.

Angelas Ashes is superb

The General and Veronica Guerin - 2 engaging stories that make for very good movies

I enjoy Intermission, Butcher Boy and Adam and Paul but find them a bit overrated by alot.

Six Shooter - only a short movie but worth a watch
Accelerator - so bad but I like it

[Deleted User]

I think Kings is the best Irish film of all time.

banie01

I have to take exception to Black 47 being on a best of Irish List.
Unless that list relates specifically to Irish Language films.
It is a disjointed Peckinpah style revenge western that is not at all special in any other way IMO.

For best movies, I suppose as "Irish" movies go...
You can go with those movies that spark nostalgia or you can go with those few movies that really stand against the best of other countries.
With that in mind, my list is a mixed bag of both.

Lamb,
I went down,
The Guard,
The crying game,
The Magdalene Sisters
The Snapper (whole barrytown trilogy really)
Calvary
Michael Collins
The Field ( Amazing casting and powerhouse performances)
Philomena,
In the name of the Father
My left foot
Waking Ned
Into the west
Angel

So many other great Irish movies without even touching on animation

We really do punch above our weight artistically IMHO.

Special mention too for the war of the buttons!
Ye tosspots!!!

Conall Cernach

The Butcher Boy
Odd Man Out
Shake Hands With the Devil

donegal_man

"It Came From Connemara" the 2014 documentary about Roger Corman's Concorde Anois studios.