Calvary (John McDonagh, director of The Guard)

RobbingBandit

Very messed up film, didn't read anything up on it before watching, great acting again by Brendan Gleeson, won't look at Chris O'Dowd the same again, the guy is a master. Dylan Morgan was excellent too. Pat Short very reminiscent of his Father Ted role funny but stupid.

JohnK

I'm just after watching this tonight and honestly I'm baffled at how well received it was. About the only good thing it had going for it was Brendan Gleeson; the rest was crap populated by absurdly over the top caricatures that just made it seem like some utterly ridiculous pantomime.

smallgarden

JohnK wrote: »

I'm just after watching this tonight and honestly I'm baffled at how well received it was. About the only good thing it had going for it was Brendan Gleeson; the rest was crap populated by absurdly over the top caricatures that just made it seem like some utterly ridiculous pantomime.

Terrible accent upon terrible accent, it didn't quite decide if it was going to be a drama or a comedy and it failed at both

Fescue

Just watched this. I hadn't actually heard anything about it as I'm living in France so went into it with an open mind. Gleeson as usual was excellent but I must say the film as a whole was really poor.

Surprised it was so well received.

Really poor.

Snake Plisken

Heard on Newstalk McDonagh claim that this wasn't an "Irish" movie even though it was funded to the tune of €1M from the irish film board, its set in Ireland and has nearly all irish actors!
He sounded like a bit of a dick tbh!

osnola ibax

Is it just me or is Aiden Gillen the most unconvincing actor of all time, I just don't get it. I didn't really notice too much in the wire, or the first season of GOT, but Calvary and Love Hate, he's just terrible

TomoBhoy

figges wrote:

Saw this yesterday. Brendan Gleeson in the lead is terrific - his character looked like James Robertson Justice - someone whose look demanded respect and deference in a time when the public accepted respectability without question. Brendan represents a good man trying to do a job when the institution he represents is now treated with disdain and contempt. But even he cant help but interfere in other peoples lives as heavy handiedly as the church he represents.


The comedy is dark and some scenes are a bit clunky or even not very believable. But what it has to say about hypocrisy and the end of deference makes it worth watching.


The characters aren't all so believable but are used to good effect. Milo is great - especially in the church scene and the brutally heartless Dr. seemed almost unbelievable but then arent the money men, religious men and others sometimes equally as cynical/depraved in their treatment of people they are supposed to serve. A good film - not a great one - 8/10.

Pretty much agree with everything above, I thought it was pretty good.

enda1

Just watched it over the weekend.

Annoyingly I'd read McDonagh's comments about Irish film the day before so hopefully it didn't colour my interpretation and watching of it.

However, I couldn't help but feel that the writer and director had a deep hatred for a subset of the Irish population. Most aspects of small town Ireland were caricatured and ridiculed. Gleeson truly was awesome in his role, but he was almost Beatified and held up as a shining light of virtue in the face of a hateful and lost country. I don't understand the message that McDonagh was trying to tell. Is it that the priests have had enough - to leave them alone? Is it that modern Ireland has lost it's moral compass (banker, adultery, prostitution). Is it that the present can not be found guilty for their parents/predecessors? Is it all three!?

Strange movie but starkly depressing especially in its conclusion.

Oh and the writer is an American actor. Why's everyone saying he has a fake accent??

crybaby

osnola ibax wrote: »

Is it just me or is Aiden Gillen the most unconvincing actor of all time, I just don't get it. I didn't really notice too much in the wire, or the first season of GOT, but Calvary and Love Hate, he's just terrible

He's brilliant in The Wire and GOT but jesus he is atrocious in Love Hate a realy awful piece of casting.

tunguska

Snake Plisken wrote: »

Heard on Newstalk McDonagh claim that this wasn't an "Irish" movie even though it was funded to the tune of €1M from the irish film board, its set in Ireland and has nearly all irish actors!
He sounded like a bit of a dick tbh!

I can understand his point of view though. He was basically saying films shouldnt be classified by nationality, that a film is a film regardless of what country it was made in. I agree with him, I dont care where a movie was made, if its good thats the only thing that matters. He also said that Irish films are awful(which they are) and that he doesnt want his movies lumped into the Irish film category because there could be a preconception say in the States for example.

Banjaxed82

tunguska wrote: »

I can understand his point of view though. He was basically saying films shouldnt be classified by nationality, that a film is a film regardless of what country it was made in. I agree with him, I dont care where a movie was made, if its good thats the only thing that matters. He also said that Irish films are awful(which they are) and that he doesnt want his movies lumped into the Irish film category because there could be a preconception say in the States for example.

Great storytelling is universal, and in theory you could tell the story anywhere in the world. I could not imagine another country making Calvary, so I don't know what McDonagh is going on about. Couldn't be any more Irish.

crybaby

crybaby wrote: »

He's brilliant in The Wire and GOT but jesus he is atrocious in Love Hate a realy awful piece of casting.

I think that in something like The Wire you don't notice how bad an actor he is as he's generally surrounded by such great performances. He's been pretty much the worst thing in anything I've seen in him such bar perhaps Blitz where the manic nature of the character suited him. In 12 Rounds John Cena acted him off the screen and if I recall correctly in Identity he's bested by Tamer Hassan.

Crooked Jack

just saw thins, it seems to have really divided people, which i can understand. Personally, however, i loved it. Thought it was absolutely brilliant. Gleeson is being rightly praised from the mountaintops for his portrayal in it but fu(k me if Chris O'Dowd wasnt also tremendous. Definitely didnt see that coming.
One of the best films of the year for me. Maybe the bst, although I havent seen that many this year to be fair.

Crooked Jack

FloatingVoter wrote: »

The scenery is good. Which on a good day in that part of the world involves pointing a camera anywhere involving a wide shot and pressing record. The acting is dire - those who can actually act are visibly bored, those who can't (the child, Dylan Moran) wouldn't be allowed in a school production. The script is nonsensical. It'll sell abroad as a piece of Irish whimsy like Darby O' Gill but that's all it is.
I loved The Guard so I came at this with high hopes. But this is just a bad movie in and of itself.

What??????????? Did we watch the same film? It was about as far from Darby O'Gill whimsy as Schindler's List

TOEJOE

Gleeson is really good. I did not enjoy the film it was too depressing.

Crooked Jack

TOEJOE wrote: »

Gleeson is really good. I did not enjoy the film it was too depressing.

well it was dealing with some very weighty subject matter. I think its important to distinguish between a happy film and a good film

5uspect

TOEJOE wrote: »

Gleeson is really good. I did not enjoy the film it was too depressing.

I have no problem with depressing movies, some of my favourite movies are depressing. This movie was just depressingly bad.

It is interesting how well it has been received outside of Ireland - it certainly seems to speak to a certain perception of Ireland.

RichyX

5uspect wrote: »

It is interesting how well it has been received outside of Ireland - it certainly seems to speak to a certain perception of Ireland.

I know.
I got talking with a guy from Nottingham while abroad recently. He got excited about an Irish film he'd seen and straight away I knew it was this POS.

Brief_Lives

I saw this last night... unusual Twin Peaksy sort of movie.... Gleeson, his daughter and his dog were the best actors and then everyone else completely insane and over the top... I suppose Chris Dowd did well too...

It´s very slow moving, I know some serious themes are being explored... Old Values versus New... FInance/Banking, Aldultery, Prostitution/drugs in a mini town representing life on a greater scale... The role of the CC in Ireland past and present...

Do we still include spoilers in 2015 for this movie, better safe than sorry... I have my views but,

Who killed the dog and why didn´t Gleeson decide to take the flight after seeing the airport lad leaning on the coffin....

Gleeson is truly a colossos of Irish cinema, it´s ridiculously easy for him to carry and dominate every scene...

5uspect

Brief_Lives wrote: »

I saw this last night... unusual Twin Peaksy sort of movie.... Gleeson, his daughter and his dog were the best actors and then everyone else completely insane and over the top... I suppose Chris Dowd did well too...

It´s very slow moving, I know some serious themes are being explored... Old Values versus New... FInance/Banking, Aldultery, Prostitution/drugs in a mini town representing life on a greater scale... The role of the CC in Ireland past and present...

Do we still include spoilers in 2015 for this movie, better safe than sorry... I have my views but,

Who killed the dog and why didn´t Gleeson decide to take the flight after seeing the airport lad leaning on the coffin....

Gleeson is truly a colossos of Irish cinema, it´s ridiculously easy for him to carry and dominate every scene...

There's nothing remotely Twin Peaksy about this movie, even the poorer bits the second season.

Brief_Lives

5uspect wrote: »

There's nothing remotely Twin Peaksy about this movie, even the poorer bits the second season.

I think there is something very twin peaksy about it, in the way all the characters are over the top weird..
Do I think it has the same weirdness\surrealness as twin peaks, of course not I never implied that...

I haven't seen a film with so many weird characters (outside a super hero flick) since Twin Peaks.

Aidric

'I think forgiveness has been highly underrated'. A quote near the end of the movie when Gleeson is conversing with his daughter and words that carry through to the final scene.

Gleeson, in a powerhouse performance, carries the weight of the world on his shoulders. He is keenly aware of the antipathy directed at him, undeserved in the personal sense, but justified on a wider scale.

A strong ensemble cast, all lost in one way or another, see Gleeson as the touchstone against which blame can be apportioned for their lost direction. Unlike other posters I didn't see any duff performances from the supporting cast. Focusing on Gillen's accent seems like nit picking to me, his lines carried weight. O' Dowd was probably the stand out for me, quietly menacing.

Overall I thought this was a very strong effort, not quite on the level of masterpiece espoused by foreign critics. If I'm still thinking about a movie a few days after seeing it then that's usually a sound measure of its quality.

AndrewJRenko

Crooked Jack wrote: »

just saw thins, it seems to have really divided people, which i can understand. Personally, however, i loved it. Thought it was absolutely brilliant. Gleeson is being rightly praised from the mountaintops for his portrayal in it but fu(k me if Chris O'Dowd wasnt also tremendous. Definitely didnt see that coming.
One of the best films of the year for me. Maybe the bst, although I havent seen that many this year to be fair.

Caught this on TV over the break and really enjoyed it. It was fairly slow, but lots of dark humour, and slightly Twin Peaksy, as someone else pointed out. Shame about the lack of decent female characters - the main female was the local bike, not really very imaginative.

razorblunt

AndrewJRenko wrote: »

Caught this on TV over the break and really enjoyed it. It was fairly slow, but lots of dark humour, and slightly Twin Peaksy, as someone else pointed out. Shame about the lack of decent female characters - the main female was the local bike, not really very imaginative.

Would his daughter not be seen as the female lead?

Elemonator

I remember when they were filming this in Rush. They built the church on a grass embankment beside Rush Harbour.

Half the town turned up to watch them burn it down

AndrewJRenko

razorblunt wrote: »

AndrewJRenko wrote: »

Caught this on TV over the break and really enjoyed it. It was fairly slow, but lots of dark humour, and slightly Twin Peaksy, as someone else pointed out. Shame about the lack of decent female characters - the main female was the local bike, not really very imaginative.

Would his daughter not be seen as the female lead?

Fair point, though she got a bit lost for me amongst the large cast.

Bowlardo

I remember watching this in the cinema and hating it probably because it was maketed as an out and out comedy.
Saw it again just now and loved it

El Duda

I thought this was a very absorbing and moody piece of work. Much like Three Billboards, this will stay with you afterwards and compel you to reflect on it. Brendan Gleeson is such an effortlessly brilliant actor and this feels like it was tailor made for him. Certain scenes/characters have much more impact than others but generally this is a really solidly written piece about one mans struggle with his faith dwindling community.
I really need to see it again but its one of the more memorable films of recent years with its gripping dialogue set pieces.
In another world this script would make a really bleak episode of Father Ted.