20/20 Hindsight
To mark twenty years of Film Ireland, Lir Mac Cárthaigh selects twenty noteworthy indigenous films from the past two decades.

In 2004, Film Ireland celebrated its 100th issue by conducting a poll to determine what the magazine’s readers considered the best Irish films of all time. The list that follows is not another ‘best of’ list, instead it is an attempt to identify some indigenous feature films that have tried to say something new or original. My criteria for inclusion were that the film must have been released – in some form – between 1987 and 2007, that it be Irish-produced and ‘feature-length’, for these purposes over sixty minutes.

The twenty films listed here are a personal selection, they are not intended as a definitive selection of creative filmmaking in Ireland. These films are disparate in style and intention, and not all of them are masterpieces. What they have in common is that ever-so-cheapened word, ‘vision’. The people who made these films had something new to say, or wanted to say something familiar in a new way. It is this vision that makes a film worth watching, and all of these films deserve a second look – or, in the case of the more obscure titles, a first look.

Adam & Paul (Lenny Abrahamson, 2004)
Boasting remarkable performances from the leads as two Dublin junkies, this is Beckett meeting Laurel & Hardy under Kaurismaaki circumstances. The result is unsettling, funny, and expertly crafted.
What we said in 2004: ‘Served by a wonderful script from Mark O’Halloran, director Abrahamson has managed to delve into an arena barbed with “social issue” and managed to wrest from it a very universal and human story…’ (Paul Farren, FI 101)

Ailsa (Paddy Breathnach, 1994)
Atmospheric 16mm cinematography by Cian de Buitléar and a refreshingly low-tech score by Dario Marianelli aid the transformation of Joseph O’Connor’s short story into a moody screen drama. Paddy Breathnach’s debut feature is a slow-building tale of romantic obsession with protagonist Miles (Brendan Coyle) at the centre of every scene. Watch out for the expressive dream sequences and Kazantzakis-style moment of indecision at the denouement.
What we said in 1995: ‘It is technically excellent and, while its slow pace and “literary-ness” might not be everyone’s pint of beer, this writer puts it alongside Cathal Black’s Pigs as a small but powerful film which gets inside the skin of the main character, leaving images charged with emotion lingering in the mind.’ (Mike Collins, FI 45)

The full article is printed in Film Ireland 116.