Ouarzazate, Morocco. Officially, the Moroccan city of Ouarzazate is nicknamed "The door of the desert," resting south of the High Atlas Mountains and on the edge of the Draa Valley. Thanks to the presence of Atlas Studios, though, Ouarzazate is perhaps more appropriately known as The Hollywood of Central Morocco, or perhaps even The Hollywood of Morocco. Ouarzazate has a population of just over 50,000, but in late October of 2014, that population includes a disproportionate number of Jesuses, Judases and an absurd number of Marys, both Jesus' mom and of the Magdalene variety. It's late October of 2014 and Ouarzazate is the beating heart of TV's Biblical world. "It's a very holy town right now," laughs Haaz Sleiman, one of the Ouarzazate Jesi -- Yes, that should be the name of a fantasy baseball team -- specifically playing the title role in National Geographic's "Killing Jesus," the project that has brought me to this region.
- 3/27/2015
- by Daniel Fienberg
- Hitfix
The winners of the 6th Annual Irish Film and Television Awards have been announced at a gala ceremony held in Dublin's Burlington Hotel tonight, 14th of February 2009. Hunger was named Best Film, also picking up IFTAs for Actor in a Lead Role Film Michael Fassbender, Actor in a Supporting Role Film Liam Cunningham, Original Score David Holmes, Production Design Tom McCullagh and Sound Ronan Hill and Mervyn Moore. 'Hunger' actor Michael Fassbender was also presented with the Irish Film Board Rising Star Award. 'The Tudors' won Best Drama Series / Soap, in addition to Director Film Ciaran Donnelly, Actor in a Supporting Role Television Peter O'Toole, Actress in a Supporting Role Television Maria Doyle Kennedy, Costume Design Joan Bergin and Makeup and Hair Sharon Doyle and Dee Corcoran. Kisses director Lance Daly picked up the Director Film Ifta while Martin McDonagh received the Best Script Film Award for 'In Bruges'.
- 2/19/2009
- IFTN
Film Review: Hunger
Cannes, Un Certain Regard
Turner Prize-winning artist Steve McQueen brings the key tenets required to win Britain's top honor for modern art to directing his first film, "Hunger", and so it is trite, grim and feebly provocative.
It tells of the last days of Bobby Sands, a Northern Irishman who died in 1981 in Belfast's hellish Maze Prison following a 66-day hunger strike. The film, which opened the Festival de Cannes' Un Certain Regard sidebar, combines scenes more suited to an art installation with static theatrical encounters and cliched flights of artistic fancy.
Violent, bleak and depressing, "Hunger" depicts lifelong Irish Republican Army fighter Sands (Michael Fassbender) as a martyr and may prosper where audiences are already inclined to that view, with prospects slim elsewhere.
No context is provided beyond the steely but patronizing words of British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and there is no mention of the nature of the violent crimes perpetrated by Sands and his fellow inmates. Convicted on charges involving armed attacks and arson, Sands demanded the rights of a prisoner of war, which included wearing civilian clothes and the receipt of gift parcels.
Lacking any new insights on the fateful paradox that one man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter or that the imposition of punitive measures demeans all parties, the film adds nothing to the debate over broader issues involving such places as Guantanamo Bay and Abu Graib.
McQueen and co-scripter Enda Walsh break the film into four uneven parts, with first the introduction of a brutal prison guard (Stuart Graham) and his suburban home life, which is prosaic save for the constant threat of being bombed or shot.
A new prisoner (Brian Milligan) enters the cell of an entrenched convict (Liam McMahon) who teaches him the ways of IRA rebellion, which included smearing the walls with blood and feces, smuggling notes and small items using bodily orifices, and bracing for the malevolent treatment of the prison guards.
Attention then moves to Sands, with a 22-minute scene in which he relates his ideals and plans to a weary priest (Liam Cunningham). The remainder of the film, in which Fassbender demonstrates a commitment to the demands of the role beyond the call of duty, shows in great detail the gruesome effect on a man's body of completely rejecting nourishment. It's not a pretty sight.
Cast: Michael Fassbender, Liam Cunningham, Stuart Graham, Brian Milligan, Liam McMahon. Director: Steve McQueen. Screenwriters: Enda Walsh, Steve McQueen. Producer: Laura Hastings-Smith, Robin Glitch; Director of Photography: Sean Bobbitt. Production Designer: Tom McCullagh. Music: David Holmes, Leo Abrahams. Costume designers: Anushia Nieradzik. Editor: Joe Walker. Executive producers: Jan Younghusband, Peter Carlton, Linda James, Edmund Coulthard, Iain Canning.
Sales agent: Icon Entertainment International
No MPAA rating, running time 100 mins.
Cannes, Un Certain Regard
Turner Prize-winning artist Steve McQueen brings the key tenets required to win Britain's top honor for modern art to directing his first film, "Hunger", and so it is trite, grim and feebly provocative.
It tells of the last days of Bobby Sands, a Northern Irishman who died in 1981 in Belfast's hellish Maze Prison following a 66-day hunger strike. The film, which opened the Festival de Cannes' Un Certain Regard sidebar, combines scenes more suited to an art installation with static theatrical encounters and cliched flights of artistic fancy.
Violent, bleak and depressing, "Hunger" depicts lifelong Irish Republican Army fighter Sands (Michael Fassbender) as a martyr and may prosper where audiences are already inclined to that view, with prospects slim elsewhere.
No context is provided beyond the steely but patronizing words of British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and there is no mention of the nature of the violent crimes perpetrated by Sands and his fellow inmates. Convicted on charges involving armed attacks and arson, Sands demanded the rights of a prisoner of war, which included wearing civilian clothes and the receipt of gift parcels.
Lacking any new insights on the fateful paradox that one man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter or that the imposition of punitive measures demeans all parties, the film adds nothing to the debate over broader issues involving such places as Guantanamo Bay and Abu Graib.
McQueen and co-scripter Enda Walsh break the film into four uneven parts, with first the introduction of a brutal prison guard (Stuart Graham) and his suburban home life, which is prosaic save for the constant threat of being bombed or shot.
A new prisoner (Brian Milligan) enters the cell of an entrenched convict (Liam McMahon) who teaches him the ways of IRA rebellion, which included smearing the walls with blood and feces, smuggling notes and small items using bodily orifices, and bracing for the malevolent treatment of the prison guards.
Attention then moves to Sands, with a 22-minute scene in which he relates his ideals and plans to a weary priest (Liam Cunningham). The remainder of the film, in which Fassbender demonstrates a commitment to the demands of the role beyond the call of duty, shows in great detail the gruesome effect on a man's body of completely rejecting nourishment. It's not a pretty sight.
Cast: Michael Fassbender, Liam Cunningham, Stuart Graham, Brian Milligan, Liam McMahon. Director: Steve McQueen. Screenwriters: Enda Walsh, Steve McQueen. Producer: Laura Hastings-Smith, Robin Glitch; Director of Photography: Sean Bobbitt. Production Designer: Tom McCullagh. Music: David Holmes, Leo Abrahams. Costume designers: Anushia Nieradzik. Editor: Joe Walker. Executive producers: Jan Younghusband, Peter Carlton, Linda James, Edmund Coulthard, Iain Canning.
Sales agent: Icon Entertainment International
No MPAA rating, running time 100 mins.
- 5/16/2008
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Screened
Toronto International Film Festival
TORONTO -- "The Boys From County Clare" wraps a banal story of young love and old family quarrels in the lively sights and sounds of Ceili music. This most traditional of Irish dance or party music sweeps the characters up in its happy tunes, all emanating from bands that consist of several fiddles, a flute, piano, drum, some kind of accordion and perhaps a banjo or guitar.
The characters feel drawn from life, and the actors do their best to give them sass. Although the story ultimately lets them down, the movie does allow you to mingle in the rehearsal halls, pubs and a small village where the All Ireland Traditional Music Competition takes place. Directed by John Irvin, "Boys" makes an attractive light comedy-drama that is just offbeat enough to please adult audiences hankering for something a little different.
Nicholas Adams' story takes place during the '60s, when the Liverpool sound has conquered the pop world but not the world of Ceili music. (It's pronounced "KAY-lee".) The annual Ceili competition sets the stage for a reunion of two estranged brothers, who haven't seen each other in 20-odd years.
Dapper yet still driven Jimmy MacMahon (Colm Meaney), who left County Clare for success, fine threads and multiple wives in Liverpool, aims to return home with his English band to snatch the trophy away from a band headed by his older brother, John Joe Bernard Hill). A lifelong bachelor who stayed behind on the family farm, John Joe has no intention of letting this happen. Mind you, each brother is more than willing to stoop to sabotage to keep the other from attending.
Despite their worst intentions, both wind up in a small west Irish village that nearly doubles in size to accommodate all the bands and musicians. Some, such as the English lads and a hippie couple, pitch camp by the beach. When Jimmy's flute player, Teddy (Shaun Evans), falls in love at first sight with John Joe's fiddle player, Anne (Andrea Corr), all hell breaks loose.
Only now -- and rather implausibly -- does Anne's overprotective mother, Maisie (Charlotte Bradley), the Irish band's piano player, tell her daughter that Jimmy is her long-lost father. This is a shaky plot device that forces first-time screenwriter Adams to concoct a series of confrontations that will lead to snappy resolutions of a lifetime of grief and resentment. Fortunately, the music frequently interrupts the melodrama, and the romance between the two musicians keeps the movie cheerful.
Meaney and Hill play the feuding brothers as a study in contrasts -- one flashy and insincere and the other stolid and reserved. Yet each is passionate about the music. Corr, lead singer of Irish pop band the Corrs, has a charm and sweet gentleness onscreen, though the depth of her acting ability is hard to gauge from this role.
Bradley must play the same note of shrill bitterness throughout, which robs her of a complexity that might have made Maisie a more touching character. Evans is convincing in his puppy-dog devotion to his new love, just as Philip Barantini, playing his buddy Alex, is convincing in his pursuit of female contestants for recreational purposes.
Shot, interestingly enough, not in Ireland but Northern Ireland and the Isle of Man, "Boys" benefits from cinematographer Thomas Burstyn's warm, romantic lighting and the true Irish grit supplied by designer Tom McCullagh, who makes the small town's narrow streets and crowded pubs brim with life as musicians celebrate the glory of their music. Composer Fiachra Trench and Scott Gorham, lead guitarist with the rock band Thin Lizzy, supply a spirited Irish score combined with music from the period.
THE BOYS FROM COUNTY CLARE
First Look Media presents a Studio Hamburg Worldwide Pictures production in association with the Isle of Mann Commission, TPC and Kolar/Rufus Isaacs
Credits:
Director: John Irvin
Screenwriter: Nicholas Adams
Producers: Evzen Kolar, Wolfgang Esenwein, Ellen Little
Executive producers: Anthony Rufus Isaacs, Martyn Auty, Steve Christian, David Korda, Jim Reeve, Dieter Stempnierwsky, Bill Kenwright
Director of photography: Thomas Burstyn
Production designer: Tom McCullagh
Music: Fiachra Trench
Costume designer: Hazel Webb-Crozier
Editor: Ian Crafford
Cast:
Jimmy: Colm Meaney
John Joe: Bernard Hill
Anne: Andrea Corr
Teddy: Shaun Evans
Alex: Philip Barantini
Maisie: Charlotte Bradley
Padjo: Patrick Bergin
Bernie: Catherine Byrne
Running time -- 90 minutes
No MPAA rating...
Toronto International Film Festival
TORONTO -- "The Boys From County Clare" wraps a banal story of young love and old family quarrels in the lively sights and sounds of Ceili music. This most traditional of Irish dance or party music sweeps the characters up in its happy tunes, all emanating from bands that consist of several fiddles, a flute, piano, drum, some kind of accordion and perhaps a banjo or guitar.
The characters feel drawn from life, and the actors do their best to give them sass. Although the story ultimately lets them down, the movie does allow you to mingle in the rehearsal halls, pubs and a small village where the All Ireland Traditional Music Competition takes place. Directed by John Irvin, "Boys" makes an attractive light comedy-drama that is just offbeat enough to please adult audiences hankering for something a little different.
Nicholas Adams' story takes place during the '60s, when the Liverpool sound has conquered the pop world but not the world of Ceili music. (It's pronounced "KAY-lee".) The annual Ceili competition sets the stage for a reunion of two estranged brothers, who haven't seen each other in 20-odd years.
Dapper yet still driven Jimmy MacMahon (Colm Meaney), who left County Clare for success, fine threads and multiple wives in Liverpool, aims to return home with his English band to snatch the trophy away from a band headed by his older brother, John Joe Bernard Hill). A lifelong bachelor who stayed behind on the family farm, John Joe has no intention of letting this happen. Mind you, each brother is more than willing to stoop to sabotage to keep the other from attending.
Despite their worst intentions, both wind up in a small west Irish village that nearly doubles in size to accommodate all the bands and musicians. Some, such as the English lads and a hippie couple, pitch camp by the beach. When Jimmy's flute player, Teddy (Shaun Evans), falls in love at first sight with John Joe's fiddle player, Anne (Andrea Corr), all hell breaks loose.
Only now -- and rather implausibly -- does Anne's overprotective mother, Maisie (Charlotte Bradley), the Irish band's piano player, tell her daughter that Jimmy is her long-lost father. This is a shaky plot device that forces first-time screenwriter Adams to concoct a series of confrontations that will lead to snappy resolutions of a lifetime of grief and resentment. Fortunately, the music frequently interrupts the melodrama, and the romance between the two musicians keeps the movie cheerful.
Meaney and Hill play the feuding brothers as a study in contrasts -- one flashy and insincere and the other stolid and reserved. Yet each is passionate about the music. Corr, lead singer of Irish pop band the Corrs, has a charm and sweet gentleness onscreen, though the depth of her acting ability is hard to gauge from this role.
Bradley must play the same note of shrill bitterness throughout, which robs her of a complexity that might have made Maisie a more touching character. Evans is convincing in his puppy-dog devotion to his new love, just as Philip Barantini, playing his buddy Alex, is convincing in his pursuit of female contestants for recreational purposes.
Shot, interestingly enough, not in Ireland but Northern Ireland and the Isle of Man, "Boys" benefits from cinematographer Thomas Burstyn's warm, romantic lighting and the true Irish grit supplied by designer Tom McCullagh, who makes the small town's narrow streets and crowded pubs brim with life as musicians celebrate the glory of their music. Composer Fiachra Trench and Scott Gorham, lead guitarist with the rock band Thin Lizzy, supply a spirited Irish score combined with music from the period.
THE BOYS FROM COUNTY CLARE
First Look Media presents a Studio Hamburg Worldwide Pictures production in association with the Isle of Mann Commission, TPC and Kolar/Rufus Isaacs
Credits:
Director: John Irvin
Screenwriter: Nicholas Adams
Producers: Evzen Kolar, Wolfgang Esenwein, Ellen Little
Executive producers: Anthony Rufus Isaacs, Martyn Auty, Steve Christian, David Korda, Jim Reeve, Dieter Stempnierwsky, Bill Kenwright
Director of photography: Thomas Burstyn
Production designer: Tom McCullagh
Music: Fiachra Trench
Costume designer: Hazel Webb-Crozier
Editor: Ian Crafford
Cast:
Jimmy: Colm Meaney
John Joe: Bernard Hill
Anne: Andrea Corr
Teddy: Shaun Evans
Alex: Philip Barantini
Maisie: Charlotte Bradley
Padjo: Patrick Bergin
Bernie: Catherine Byrne
Running time -- 90 minutes
No MPAA rating...
Screened
Toronto International Film Festival
TORONTO -- "The Boys From County Clare" wraps a banal story of young love and old family quarrels in the lively sights and sounds of Ceili music. This most traditional of Irish dance or party music sweeps the characters up in its happy tunes, all emanating from bands that consist of several fiddles, a flute, piano, drum, some kind of accordion and perhaps a banjo or guitar.
The characters feel drawn from life, and the actors do their best to give them sass. Although the story ultimately lets them down, the movie does allow you to mingle in the rehearsal halls, pubs and a small village where the All Ireland Traditional Music Competition takes place. Directed by John Irvin, "Boys" makes an attractive light comedy-drama that is just offbeat enough to please adult audiences hankering for something a little different.
Nicholas Adams' story takes place during the '60s, when the Liverpool sound has conquered the pop world but not the world of Ceili music. (It's pronounced "KAY-lee".) The annual Ceili competition sets the stage for a reunion of two estranged brothers, who haven't seen each other in 20-odd years.
Dapper yet still driven Jimmy MacMahon (Colm Meaney), who left County Clare for success, fine threads and multiple wives in Liverpool, aims to return home with his English band to snatch the trophy away from a band headed by his older brother, John Joe Bernard Hill). A lifelong bachelor who stayed behind on the family farm, John Joe has no intention of letting this happen. Mind you, each brother is more than willing to stoop to sabotage to keep the other from attending.
Despite their worst intentions, both wind up in a small west Irish village that nearly doubles in size to accommodate all the bands and musicians. Some, such as the English lads and a hippie couple, pitch camp by the beach. When Jimmy's flute player, Teddy (Shaun Evans), falls in love at first sight with John Joe's fiddle player, Anne (Andrea Corr), all hell breaks loose.
Only now -- and rather implausibly -- does Anne's overprotective mother, Maisie (Charlotte Bradley), the Irish band's piano player, tell her daughter that Jimmy is her long-lost father. This is a shaky plot device that forces first-time screenwriter Adams to concoct a series of confrontations that will lead to snappy resolutions of a lifetime of grief and resentment. Fortunately, the music frequently interrupts the melodrama, and the romance between the two musicians keeps the movie cheerful.
Meaney and Hill play the feuding brothers as a study in contrasts -- one flashy and insincere and the other stolid and reserved. Yet each is passionate about the music. Corr, lead singer of Irish pop band the Corrs, has a charm and sweet gentleness onscreen, though the depth of her acting ability is hard to gauge from this role.
Bradley must play the same note of shrill bitterness throughout, which robs her of a complexity that might have made Maisie a more touching character. Evans is convincing in his puppy-dog devotion to his new love, just as Philip Barantini, playing his buddy Alex, is convincing in his pursuit of female contestants for recreational purposes.
Shot, interestingly enough, not in Ireland but Northern Ireland and the Isle of Man, "Boys" benefits from cinematographer Thomas Burstyn's warm, romantic lighting and the true Irish grit supplied by designer Tom McCullagh, who makes the small town's narrow streets and crowded pubs brim with life as musicians celebrate the glory of their music. Composer Fiachra Trench and Scott Gorham, lead guitarist with the rock band Thin Lizzy, supply a spirited Irish score combined with music from the period.
THE BOYS FROM COUNTY CLARE
First Look Media presents a Studio Hamburg Worldwide Pictures production in association with the Isle of Mann Commission, TPC and Kolar/Rufus Isaacs
Credits:
Director: John Irvin
Screenwriter: Nicholas Adams
Producers: Evzen Kolar, Wolfgang Esenwein, Ellen Little
Executive producers: Anthony Rufus Isaacs, Martyn Auty, Steve Christian, David Korda, Jim Reeve, Dieter Stempnierwsky, Bill Kenwright
Director of photography: Thomas Burstyn
Production designer: Tom McCullagh
Music: Fiachra Trench
Costume designer: Hazel Webb-Crozier
Editor: Ian Crafford
Cast:
Jimmy: Colm Meaney
John Joe: Bernard Hill
Anne: Andrea Corr
Teddy: Shaun Evans
Alex: Philip Barantini
Maisie: Charlotte Bradley
Padjo: Patrick Bergin
Bernie: Catherine Byrne
Running time -- 90 minutes
No MPAA rating...
Toronto International Film Festival
TORONTO -- "The Boys From County Clare" wraps a banal story of young love and old family quarrels in the lively sights and sounds of Ceili music. This most traditional of Irish dance or party music sweeps the characters up in its happy tunes, all emanating from bands that consist of several fiddles, a flute, piano, drum, some kind of accordion and perhaps a banjo or guitar.
The characters feel drawn from life, and the actors do their best to give them sass. Although the story ultimately lets them down, the movie does allow you to mingle in the rehearsal halls, pubs and a small village where the All Ireland Traditional Music Competition takes place. Directed by John Irvin, "Boys" makes an attractive light comedy-drama that is just offbeat enough to please adult audiences hankering for something a little different.
Nicholas Adams' story takes place during the '60s, when the Liverpool sound has conquered the pop world but not the world of Ceili music. (It's pronounced "KAY-lee".) The annual Ceili competition sets the stage for a reunion of two estranged brothers, who haven't seen each other in 20-odd years.
Dapper yet still driven Jimmy MacMahon (Colm Meaney), who left County Clare for success, fine threads and multiple wives in Liverpool, aims to return home with his English band to snatch the trophy away from a band headed by his older brother, John Joe Bernard Hill). A lifelong bachelor who stayed behind on the family farm, John Joe has no intention of letting this happen. Mind you, each brother is more than willing to stoop to sabotage to keep the other from attending.
Despite their worst intentions, both wind up in a small west Irish village that nearly doubles in size to accommodate all the bands and musicians. Some, such as the English lads and a hippie couple, pitch camp by the beach. When Jimmy's flute player, Teddy (Shaun Evans), falls in love at first sight with John Joe's fiddle player, Anne (Andrea Corr), all hell breaks loose.
Only now -- and rather implausibly -- does Anne's overprotective mother, Maisie (Charlotte Bradley), the Irish band's piano player, tell her daughter that Jimmy is her long-lost father. This is a shaky plot device that forces first-time screenwriter Adams to concoct a series of confrontations that will lead to snappy resolutions of a lifetime of grief and resentment. Fortunately, the music frequently interrupts the melodrama, and the romance between the two musicians keeps the movie cheerful.
Meaney and Hill play the feuding brothers as a study in contrasts -- one flashy and insincere and the other stolid and reserved. Yet each is passionate about the music. Corr, lead singer of Irish pop band the Corrs, has a charm and sweet gentleness onscreen, though the depth of her acting ability is hard to gauge from this role.
Bradley must play the same note of shrill bitterness throughout, which robs her of a complexity that might have made Maisie a more touching character. Evans is convincing in his puppy-dog devotion to his new love, just as Philip Barantini, playing his buddy Alex, is convincing in his pursuit of female contestants for recreational purposes.
Shot, interestingly enough, not in Ireland but Northern Ireland and the Isle of Man, "Boys" benefits from cinematographer Thomas Burstyn's warm, romantic lighting and the true Irish grit supplied by designer Tom McCullagh, who makes the small town's narrow streets and crowded pubs brim with life as musicians celebrate the glory of their music. Composer Fiachra Trench and Scott Gorham, lead guitarist with the rock band Thin Lizzy, supply a spirited Irish score combined with music from the period.
THE BOYS FROM COUNTY CLARE
First Look Media presents a Studio Hamburg Worldwide Pictures production in association with the Isle of Mann Commission, TPC and Kolar/Rufus Isaacs
Credits:
Director: John Irvin
Screenwriter: Nicholas Adams
Producers: Evzen Kolar, Wolfgang Esenwein, Ellen Little
Executive producers: Anthony Rufus Isaacs, Martyn Auty, Steve Christian, David Korda, Jim Reeve, Dieter Stempnierwsky, Bill Kenwright
Director of photography: Thomas Burstyn
Production designer: Tom McCullagh
Music: Fiachra Trench
Costume designer: Hazel Webb-Crozier
Editor: Ian Crafford
Cast:
Jimmy: Colm Meaney
John Joe: Bernard Hill
Anne: Andrea Corr
Teddy: Shaun Evans
Alex: Philip Barantini
Maisie: Charlotte Bradley
Padjo: Patrick Bergin
Bernie: Catherine Byrne
Running time -- 90 minutes
No MPAA rating...
- 9/15/2003
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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