In this episode, we sit down with co-writer/directors John-Paul Davidson and Stephen Warbeck to discuss their latest film The Three Urns, in cinemas from April 17th. They chat about their creative partnership, their fascinating (and very different) career paths, and what they learned from making their first feature that they brought onto this one.
Having lived in France for many decades, Mr. O’Connor (Ciarán Hinds) sets out on a pilgrimage following the death of his wife. Inspired by a letter she wrote encouraging him to reconnect with his family, he travels to Ireland.
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The Three Urns
Equal parts picturesque and picaresque, Mr. O’Connor's journey across Ireland is filled with playful misadventures and serendipitous encounters. Along the way, he stumbles upon a cohort of colourful characters: a Lithuanian painter, an itinerant priest, horse traders and whisperers, and a Choctaw native travelling to commemorate the Great Famine. He is also given refuge by a group of mystic women, whom he finds worshipping at the ancient Beltany Stone Circle.
He visits his brother, who still runs the family dairy farm, and uncovers the truth about his wife’s favourite cousin. Yet misfortune dogs his path. From the outset, Mr. O’Connor is followed by a mysterious Woman in Black, who trails him in a diminutive electric car plagued by persistent charging issues.
Film Ireland Editor
John-Paul Davidson and Stephen Warbeck
Stephen Warwick is one of Britain’s most successful composers, soundtracking films such as Shakespeare in Love (for which he won an Oscar), Captain Corelli’s Mandolin, and Billy Elliott.
John-Paul Davidson is best known for his documentary travelogue series with Michael Palin and Stephen Fry In America
John-Paul Davidson and Stephen Warbeck go back a long way. They have known each other since they attended Bristol University in the mid-1970’s. They lived together in a London squat and although their lives within the creative sphere spiralled off into different directions – Stephen becoming one of Britain’s most successful composers, soundtracking films such as Shakespeare in Love (for which he won an Oscar), Captain Corelli’s Mandolin, and Billy Elliott, and John-Paul Davidson becoming a director and film producer, best known for his documentary travelogue series with Michael Palin – they remained friends.
“We have known each other since Bristol University,” says Warbeck. “We often spend holidays together in France and our children are all friends with each other.” Davidson and Warbeck are friends and creative partners. Davidson adds: “I got Stephen to do some music for films I was making at the BBC and that’s how our working collaboration started again after university.” Both schools of absurd comedy were manifested in The Man in the Hat (2020), Davidson and Warbeck’s first directorial collaboration.”
