THE BUTCHER BOY |
| CREDITS: Director: Neil Jordan Cast: Stephen Rea, Fiona Shaw & Eamonn Owens
Ireland-USA 1997 (15) INTRODUCTION: The sudden revival in the Irish film industry has come as a breath of fresh air blowing away the cobwebs of the American, British and French Independents that seem happy just trying to imitate Tarantino. SYNOPSIS: Our hero (Owens), if you can call him that, is a young Irish boy growing up in the shadow of the Cuban Missile crisis. Poor parenting has led him to develop a view of the world, and life in general, based entirely on what he sees on TV and in comic books. As we follow his descent into insanity we meet a violent drunken father, a suicidally depressed mother, a perverted priest, post-apocalyptic survivors, alien body snatchers, Sean Hughes and, perhaps most unbelievably, the Virgin Mary played by Sinead O'Connor. REVIEW: One of the most disturbing films I have seen in a long time. No matter how far the kid degenerates you can't help liking him, which only goes to make his continuing descent all the more disturbing. A stunning performance from Owens, the young new comer, that requires him to switch immediately from charming to threatening, from joyous to depressed and from sane to bonkers in the nut, which would put many of his adult colleagues to shame. You'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll vomit over your date. What more could you want from a movie? Mutts Rating: **** |