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Reviews
I Went Down (1997)
I Really Loved This Film
A rare thing in Irish cinema ...an Irish movie that's not afraid to be authentically Irish. Where other movies attempt to tailor their image and dialogue to suit an American or British market this independent gem from Paddy Breathnach and Conor McPherson depicts believable characters acting and talking in a way that real Irish people would ...a great example being how seriously the lead duo consider the handling of a gun (guns are still not very easy to come across in Irish society and having one is a big deal.
The screenplay has echoes of Tarantino and the Coen brothers while not being a slavish rip-off of either and essentially plays as a buddy, road movie; it even manages to include a scene in an Irish bog without seeming twee! Brendan Gleeson's star turn as bunny provides the perfect foil to McDonald's shy, pent-up lead and the movie manages to evoke laughter, sympathy and ultimately happiness as it winds it's way to a satisfactory, yet not overly sugar-coated, ending.
Be warned ...I watched this film with my old Canadian flatmate and had to explain a lot of the 'Irish-ism's' in the dialogue as it went along so some of the humour may go over the heads of non Irish-viewers.
Irréversible (2002)
One Of The Most Ground Breaking Movies Ever Made
This movie has been the centre of a lot of debate and certainly seems to evoke equal levels of both love and hate for it. I for one think it's a breath-taking piece of cinema.
I had heard the hype before watching it and had always considered myself very hard to shock but when I first watched this film my stomach was churning as though I were witnessing a brutal fight in a nasty nightclub. Even before the first instances of extreme violence are on screen Thomas Bangalter's outstandingly nauseating soundtrack has already set the scene. The camera work, though not to everyone's taste, perfectly matches the intensity of the lead character's mindset throughout the film and the sheer technical brilliance of how the entire thing is shot (long takes, invisible edits and gravity defying steadicam/special FX) is nothing short of breath-taking.
Noe allowed a lot of improvisational dialogue and as such gets very realistic performances from his cast, a lot of whom are incredibly authentic (the rapist being the rather tough, former world kickboxing champion Jo Prestia and the two hoods being originally hired as security guards for the location shooting).
The reverse chronology of the narrative, though it would seem like a rip-off of Chris Nolan's Memento and the movies of Tarantino, is perfectly justified in terms of how it relays the story to the viewer. As Noe himself has said it deconstructs the revenge-movie formula by robbing the audience of their big pay-off at the end and forces them to confront the horrible violence that many revenge movies choose to glamorise.
For me Noe is potentially the most exciting director working today.
Dead Meat (2004)
Watch It For The Character Of The Coach!
Perhaps you have to be Irish to get the most out of this movie as the caricature characters are hilarious exaggerations of the kind of people who actually exist in rural Ireland. The movie is visually not too bad considering it was shot digitally on a low budget. There are some nice Evil Dead style steadicam segments and some of the low budget special effects actually look alright. Unfortunately some scenes look a little under-exposed and under-lit. What truly elevates this movie is the outstanding comic performance of the character of the coach, played by Eoin Whelan. His outstanding instinct for comic timing and ear for rural Irish dialogue, along with his utterly convincing performance (you kind of wonder if he's like that in real life!) raises the game of every scene he features in. The character of his wife, though much more understated is also good.