Category: Film

Absorbing intrigue in Sistine Chapel balloting

A pope has died. The throne of the Holy See is vacant. A successor must be appointed. Thomas Lawrence (Ralph Fiennes) is Dean of the College of Cardinals. He’s chosen to oversee the selection process. He does so reluctantly as he’s struggling with his prayer life. Tensions rise in St Peter’s Basilica as various contenders…

Feast of fascinating French festival fare

It’s that time of the year again. The French film season at the Irish Film Institute runs from November 13 to 24. France knows a thing or three about making movies. Sometimes, admittedly, they’re too talky. (Eric Rohmer, anyone?) There’s also a danger of pretentiousness. You may come out of a cinema shaking your head…

Convent abuse in 1980s Ireland revisited

The Church comes in for a roasting in Small Things Like These (12A), a film based on Clare Keegan’s novel of the same name dedicated to the “56,000” girls sent to Magdalene laundries for “penance and rehabilitation.” Trailing clouds of glory from his Oscar turn in Oppenheimer, Cillian Murphy gives a sensitive performance as taciturn…

Assuaging a decade of monetary guilt

Frank Burke (Peter Coonan) is a Dublin taxi driver attending the funeral of his father. Flash back ten years to his daughter’s eighth birthday party. He was pulling strings then to stay economically afloat. This brought out an ugly streak in him. Can he forgive himself for it and find peace at last? Exactly what…

Battle of the Bottle on a Scottish Island

A young woman wants to save the planet. But can she save herself? Rona (Saoirse Ronan) is an alcoholic. The condition has cost her dearly. Friends have deserted her. Her boyfriend Deynin (Paapa Essiedu) has fled. She becomes a victim of violence. She enters the 12-Step Programme to try and deal with her problem. For…

Chicanery and double lives in 1930s London

The lengths a ruthless man is willing to go to in order to protect his job is explored with searing authenticity in Anand Tucker’s The Critic (15), a gothic tale of blackmail, bribery and clandestine assignations set in post-Oscar Wilde, post-Jazz Age London. Jimmy Erskine (Ian McKellen) is a theatre reviewer. His secret lifestyle (he’s…

Probing portrait of previous president

When Mary Robinson was young, she used to look out the window of her home in Victoria Terrace, Ballina, and wonder if she could change the world. Her opportunity to do so came in 1990 when she was elected president of Ireland. Aoife Kelleher’s documentary, Mrs Robinson (12A), is a timely tribute to her as…