Into the West (1992)

User Rating:

6.7/10   

Director:

Mike Newell

Writers:

Jim Sheridan (written by) and
David Keating (additional writing)

Release Date:

17 September 1993 (USA)

Genre:

Family | Adventure

Tagline:

Accused of a crime they didn't commit, two city kids and a magical horse are about to become the coolest outlaws ever to ride Into The West.

Plot:

Grandpa Ward gives a horse he found to his grandchildren, who keep it in their tower-block flat in Dublin...

Plot Keywords:

Horse | Irish | Young Boy | Escape | Caravan

Awards:

5 wins

Cast

Gabriel Byrne	...	Papa Reilly
Ellen Barkin	...	Kathleen
Ciarán Fitzgerald	...	Ossie
Rúaidhrí Conroy	...	Tito (as Ruaidhrí Conroy)
David Kelly	...	Grandfather
Johnny Murphy	...	Tracker
Colm Meaney	...	Barreller
John Kavanagh	...	Hartnett
Brendan Gleeson	...	Inspector Bolger
Jim Norton	...	Superintendant O'Mara
Anita Reeves	...	Mrs. Murphy
Ray McBride	...	Mr. Murphy
Dave Duffy	...	Morrissey
Stuart Dannell-Foran	...	Conor Murphy (as Stuart Dannell)
Becca Hollinshead	...	Birdy Murphy

Runtime:

USA:97 min

Country:

Ireland | UK

Language:

English

Colour:

Colour (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Certification:

Iceland:L | Taiwan:GP | South Korea:All | Australia:M | Finland:K-8/5 | Germany:6 | Sweden:11 | UK:PG | USA:PG | Singapore:PG | Australia:PG

Company:

Channel Four Films

Trivia:

Ellen Barkin and Gabriel Byrne were married to each other when the film was made.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: In several shots of Tito and Ossie riding, Ossie is represented by a very floppy dummy that's obviously tied and pinned to the stunt rider playing Tito.

Quotes:

Ossie: What's his name?
Grandfather: He's called Tír na nÓg.
Ossie: But why's he called that?
Grandfather: Because he came from a land under the sea.

Movie Connections:

References Shane (1953)

Mysticism, social realism, and action/adventure

"There are certain things that happen in the film that cannot happen unless the world is a very odd, mysterious, and unreal sort of place" - Mike Newell

In Mike Newell's 1992 film Into the West, Papa Reilly (Gabriel Byrne), a member of a little known Irish sect of Celtic origin called "The Travellers", is left to care for his two young boys after his wife Mary dies giving birth. Like Gypsies, the Travellers live a nomadic life, existing on the fringes of society. Buoyed by a humorous script by Jim Sheridan (My Left Foot), the film aims for light family entertainment but the depiction of the poor and outcast and a shift toward the spiritual takes it into deeper territory.

The film opens in a dark place. Reilly, depressed by the death of his wife, has left the Travellers and is drinking heavily and living on welfare in Dublin. When the boys, 8-year old Ossie (Ciaran Fitzgerald) and his protective brother, 12-year old Tito (Ruaidhri Conroy), are given a snow-white horse as a gift from their grandfather (David Kelly), however, the film turns a corner. Grandpa Ward tells the boys about the Celtic legend of a white horse named Tir na nOg who comes from the land of eternal youth, and they promptly call their horse Tir na nOg. When the authorities find the horse in the Reilly's flat, however, they sell him to a wealthy businessman who discovers that the horse is a graceful jumper and primes him for competition.

The boys, who have formed a strange bond with their horse, promptly steal him back. Escaping from the pursuit of villainous authorities, they embark on a journey to the west of Ireland, following the white horse wherever he takes them. Pretending they are cowboys, the boys get into one harrowing escapade after another, at one time taking the horse to a movie theatre and another time for an elevator ride in an apartment building. Redeemed by a relationship with a "fellow Traveller", Kathleen (Byrne's real-life wife Ellen Barkin), Reilly realizes he must save both himself and his children and takes off after them with renewed vigor.

Into the West is a spirited adventure combining mysticism, social realism, and action/adventure that transcends the facile Disney genre and has a universal appeal. If you think you are too jaded by modern society to enjoy this film, just close your eyes and remember how the world looked when you were 12-years old. Now climb onto your magic horse and go where it goes.