The Small Engine that Could
Country music provided the inspiration for writer/director Niall Heery’s debut feature Small Engine Repair, the story of a mechanic with thwarted ambitions. Niall talked to Sheena Sweeney about the creative process, movie influences and film culture in Ireland,

Sheena: So what’s Small Engine Repair about?

Niall: It’s about a bunch of guys who hang around in a repair shop. The main guy, Doug, is a guitar teacher who’s trying to cut it as a country singer. His best friend, Bill, is the owner of this repair shop; he’s spent his life fixing leaf blowers and hedge cutters, but has aspirations for bigger things, like fixing trucks. So really it’s a film about a bunch of guys whose lives haven’t worked out the way they dreamed, and what happens as you approach middle age and realise that all those dreams you had, aren’t going to come to fruition.

The film has won a good few awards, how do you feel about that?

Eh, y’know, I feel alright about it. Part of you is, ‘Oh I’m happy that the film is being well received’, and a huge amount of work has gone into it so any kind of recognition is appreciated. And then another part of you is like, ‘Well I’d really like to be getting more recognition (laughs) so that it sells well’.

So you’re not thinking like a tortured artist, ‘I don’t care about awards’; you’re like, ‘Gimme more awards’?!

Oh yeah, absolutely; purely because I want people to see the film. I mean it’s so hard to get films distributed, and ultimately if you win awards it means people might get to see your film. And that’s what it’s about. It’s not about having the glory of an award up on your mantelpiece.

Do you think Irish filmmakers struggle with telling stories cinematically because of the long literary tradition in this country?

How do you mean?

Well for example when it comes to exposition that there is an over reliance of dialogue…

You might be right. Certainly it’s something you try and avoid. There’s an old saying by Hitchcock: ‘You write the script and then you put in the dialogue.’ You try and tell the story but it’s a visual medium, so you try and tell the story visually. Dialogue I prefer to be more incidental.

The full article is printed in Film Ireland 117.