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jazzfishJim Sheridan, The Boxer
I originally got interested in this movie because Gavin Friday did the score. (It's a pretty good score, but it doesn't sound much like Gavin's other work, except for the two incredible vocal tracks "In the Shadow of a Gun" and "Everything's Gonna Be Alright.") I first saw it sometime after it'd come out, and I though it was pretty good, but slow and confusing. I've seen it four or five times since then; it gets better and less confusing each time.
Basic plot rundown: boxer Danny Flynn gets out of prison in Belfast after serving fourteen years for involvement in IRA activities. He returns home and starts up a non-sectarian boxing club for the youth of the city. His sweetheart Maggie has gotten married to someone else in that time and had a son; her husband's also an IRA POW. Maggie's father is Joe, the head of the local IRA. Also hanging around are Ike, Danny's trainer, and Harry, who appears to be in charge of the more militant arm of IRA operations. Sheridan weaves the love story, the boxing, and the politics into a quiet, powerful story.
I like it because it's got superb acting, because it's got good Irish accents, because it's a damned fine story; most of all, though, I like it because it's subtle. The ending completely blindsided me the first time I saw it; on subsequent viewings I was able to say "Aha" and pick up on the little clues ("Let her go-- that's from Joe," for instance) that made it all make sense. The expression on Harry's face when he sees the police donating to the boxing club. The magnificent irony of Maggie and the other prisoners' wives singing the Rolling Stones's "Satisfaction" at a wedding. Absolutely brilliant.
Not for everyone, though. It's a slow film, and a complex one. If you're willing to put some effort into it, it can be supremely rewarding. "End of story, peacemaker" still gives me chills.
I originally got interested in this movie because Gavin Friday did the score. (It's a pretty good score, but it doesn't sound much like Gavin's other work, except for the two incredible vocal tracks "In the Shadow of a Gun" and "Everything's Gonna Be Alright.") I first saw it sometime after it'd come out, and I though it was pretty good, but slow and confusing. I've seen it four or five times since then; it gets better and less confusing each time.
Basic plot rundown: boxer Danny Flynn gets out of prison in Belfast after serving fourteen years for involvement in IRA activities. He returns home and starts up a non-sectarian boxing club for the youth of the city. His sweetheart Maggie has gotten married to someone else in that time and had a son; her husband's also an IRA POW. Maggie's father is Joe, the head of the local IRA. Also hanging around are Ike, Danny's trainer, and Harry, who appears to be in charge of the more militant arm of IRA operations. Sheridan weaves the love story, the boxing, and the politics into a quiet, powerful story.
I like it because it's got superb acting, because it's got good Irish accents, because it's a damned fine story; most of all, though, I like it because it's subtle. The ending completely blindsided me the first time I saw it; on subsequent viewings I was able to say "Aha" and pick up on the little clues ("Let her go-- that's from Joe," for instance) that made it all make sense. The expression on Harry's face when he sees the police donating to the boxing club. The magnificent irony of Maggie and the other prisoners' wives singing the Rolling Stones's "Satisfaction" at a wedding. Absolutely brilliant.
Not for everyone, though. It's a slow film, and a complex one. If you're willing to put some effort into it, it can be supremely rewarding. "End of story, peacemaker" still gives me chills.