In 2011, an independent Irish film entitled Parked debuted to somewhat mixed reviews and little attention. While many critics praised the strong performances in the film, its plot and pacing received a mixed response. It won awards and was well-reviewed at several international film festivals, but it didn't seem to get much attention at home. Overall the... Continue Reading →
A look at youth culture in Irish film and television: 2003-2017
In 2016-17, I completed an MA in English, specialising in Irish Writing and Film, at University College Cork. As part of the course, everyone in my class was required to set up and regularly update a blog. The idea of the blog initially filled my classmates and me with dread, as blogging was completely uncharted territory for... Continue Reading →
Dark summer: trauma and grief in Ari Aster’s Midsommar
In this article, I will look at how Ari Aster’s 2019 folk-horror film Midsommar explores the effects of repressed grief and trauma. I went to see the film in July and found it to be one of the most intriguing and deeply disturbing films that I have ever seen. First of all, I would strongly encourage anyone... Continue Reading →
Five Daughters and Murdered By My Boyfriend: Giving a human face to the victims of crime
The following article looks at two BBC productions that recounted true incidents of violence against women. The three-part drama Five Daughters aired on BBC One in April 2010. Written by Stephen Butchard, the mini-series revolves around the Ipswich serial killer case, when Steve Wright murdered five young women during the winter of 2006. The BAFTA... Continue Reading →
Rewind: Looking back at David Gleeson’s Cowboys and Angels
A profile of David Gleeson's 2003 comedy-drama. Contains some spoilers. Set in Limerick city during the boom years, Cowboys and Angels depicts the growing friendship between two very different men and looks at the anxieties and challenges faced by young people trying to establish their identity in a modern city. When shy civil servant Shane... Continue Reading →
Beyond ‘Hip Hedonism’: The darker side of urban Celtic Tiger Ireland
In his 2007 essay "Cinema, city, and imaginative space: 'Hip hedonism' and recent Irish cinema", McLoone outlines how the relative prosperity and optimism of the Celtic Tiger years led a cultural rebirth of Dublin, and a re-imagining of Ireland's capital in film as a space of "sexual freedom and exploration" (213). Films like Goldfish Memory... Continue Reading →
‘Living, in our own terrible way.’* The disorientation of Ireland’s youth culture in contemporary film and television
Through a series of blog posts, I will explore how contemporary Irish film and television portray the difficulties faced by young Irish men and women. The last few years have seen a string of Irish films and TV series that portray a darker side of Irish life with issues like depression, alcohol and drug abuse, alienation,... Continue Reading →