Angela's Ashes — scrobble.life

Reviews

Longform community posts about this title

Film Review: Angela's Ashes (1999)@drax1188d

(source:tmdb.org)

(NOTE: Capsule version of the review is available here.)

Today’s Ireland, even with Celtic Tiger becoming a thing of the past, looks like a promised land to the poor people of Eastern and Southern Europe. It was quite different thing nearly century ago when Ireland, despite winning its independence from the British, remained one of the poorest countries in Europe. At least this is the impression you might get from Angela’s Ashes, 1999 period drama based on the eponymous Pulitzer Prize-winning memoir by Irish writer Frank McCourt.

The plot begins in 1930s America during Great Depression. Irish immigrant Malachy McCourt Sr. (played by Robert Carlyle) is convinced that can’t find job so he takes his wife Angela (played by Emily Watson), 6-year old son Frank (played by Joe Breen) and five other children back to his native Ireland. Malachy used to be fight in IRA during Anglo-Irish War and hopes that he would get at least some benefits for his patriotic service. This proves to be an illusion. Because of his Northern Irish accent, Malachy is often mistaken for Protestant and nobody wants to give him job. As a result, McCourts live in destitution, being forced to beg for a living. Next ten years Frank sees how his siblings die, his father spends all his money on drinking and his mother sacrifices last ounces of her self-respect merely to bring few crumbs of bread on the table.

McCourt’s depiction of 1930s and 1940s Ireland was very dark, showing country that despite its nominal freedom is still burdened with institutional chauvinism, hypocrisy of Catholic Church and new state’s nearly complete disregard for the welfare of its citizens. McCourt was actually accused by many for making his and his family’s suffering in those years worse than it really was for the sake of melodrama. Whatever the truth may be, the story attracted the attention of British director Alan Parker, known for his tendency to explore various dark themes in brutal, uncompromising and often unpleasantly naturalistic way. Here Parker stayed away from his tendency to create this effect through rapid MTV-style editing. The plot, narrated by Andrew Bennett, flows much slower and Parker uses opportunity to reconstruct poor neighbourhoods of 1930s Ireland. Cinematography by Michael Sarasin, which uses many blue overtones, adds much to the depressive atmosphere. Parker wisely decides to temper general bleakness of the film with occasional introduction of some humour.

Angela’s Ashes benefits a lot from a very good cast. British actress Emily Watson, who became a star thanks to Breaking the Waves, plays another role of long-suffering wife, but her character is here much different. The role of Angela requires playing someone who goes through losing children, husband and her own self-respect through many years and this performance is both more and less demanding than in Von Trier’s film; Lloyd passes that test with flying colours. Robert Carlyle, who was at the time subscribed to playing psychopathic villains, is somewhat less effective in the role of alcoholic. Among three actors playing Frank at various ages the youngest Joe Breen is the best, while Michael Legge, who plays teenage Frank, is least impressive. The ending is affected by too much sentimentality, but general impression of Angela’s Ashes is more than positive. Although two and half hours of human suffering would hardly represent audience’s idea of entertainment, this film will leave strong impression on those who watch it.

RATING: 7/10 (+++)

Blog in Croatian https://draxblog.com Blog in English https://draxreview.wordpress.com/ Leofinance blog https://leofinance.io/@drax.leo Cent profile https://beta.cent.co/@drax Minds profile https://www.minds.com/drax_rp_nc Uptrennd profile https://www.uptrennd.com/user/MTYzNA

Hiveonboard: https://hiveonboard.com?ref=drax Rising Star game: https://www.risingstargame.com?referrer=drax 1Inch: https://1inch.exchange/#/r/0x83823d8CCB74F828148258BB4457642124b1328e

BTC donations: 1EWxiMiP6iiG9rger3NuUSd6HByaxQWafG ETH donations: 0xB305F144323b99e6f8b1d66f5D7DE78B498C32A7

Permalink·Open on PeakD ↗·Linked from existing Hive post

Comments

No comments yet — be the first.

2 more reviews

›Angela's Ashes (1999) Movie Review@gonklavez91985d

When I look back at my childhood, the first line of Angela's Ashes is how my brothers and I managed to survive at all. They will also wonder how they ever survived when people look back on this film. The film's main flaw is that the length of two and a half hours goes at the pace of a death scene for Leslie Nielson. Misery likes company and seeks a lot of company in this study of this Irish misery to avoid this one excruciating error alone.

Source: IMDB.com

There is no other explanation for what happens in the first 30 minutes: three children die; filmmakers turn to this oldest, most melodramatic method not once, but three times. The job ventures away from the morbid and attempts to find a storyline, as though the film knows that there are only so many characters who can pass out. But there is none to be found; so deaths, just at a slower rate, resume. Hollywood's second-oldest emotional stunt is filling the longer holes now: the Alcoholic Father.

Angelas Ashes has a setting despite the lack of a plot: Ireland at a time when students could freely contemplate "What use is Euclid when the Germans are bombing everything in sight?" The production revolves around a young boy and his family. Angela's mother (Emily Watson, who is much too plump for this poverty-stricken role) has no qualms about picking coals off the street to warm up her often-sick family members.

Source: IMDB.com

Those who are not acquainted with the IRA, Oedipus and "The Consumption" may struggle with what little this highbrow movie offers. Those who prefer popcorn might struggle with a guilt trip while watching this film. Those fans of Monet would fail to have some appreciation of one of his paintings for a re-occurring scenery ripped out. Those of the non-anarchist persuasion may be struggling with the moral anti-debt film. Many with short or even average attention spans are going to struggle with the duration of the movie. Many who enjoy good films will struggle with the lack of quality overall. These hardships are not almost as bad as the poverty portrayed in Angela's Ashes, but there is still no incentive to expose yourself to them willingly, much less pay for them.

Permalink·Open on PeakD ↗·Linked from existing Hive post
›"Angela´s Ashes" [Parker 1999] - movie review@mandibil3597d
Based on an autobiography by Frank McCourt, Angela´s Ashes takes us to a childhood experience of poor catholic Ireland in the first half of the twentieth century. Frankie is born in the USA, but his family moves back to Ireland and during his hardships growing up in this sick society, his dream of sailing back to USA grows within him.

The cinematography is solid, the acting is fine, except maybe the actor playing the father. He looks a bit too middle-classy, to be one who spends the days wage down at the pub. And the parents clothes looks a bit too nice for their level of poverty. The supporting actors are great and everything seems to be fine. It is just boring. You never really get to know either of the characters, primarily because of the time scope of the story. But also because it has to embrace it all and then never gets to show anything particularly deep and involving. And then there is the last part of how he gets the money to go to America. The old moneylender he delivers letters for dies. Then he steals the money from her purse and her stash under her bed. He takes her accounting book down to the river and throws it in saying "They all owed the old bitch money ... well, not any more". The old lady actually helped the neighborhood by lending them money and now she is the villain? They did it voluntarily. And he has just stolen stacks of money from her to finance his wet dream of crossing the Atlantic. Have i sat here watching this movie for a good two hours, supposed to get sympathy for this kid, and then he steals the money from a dead old lady ??? What a marxist asshole.

A problem at the heart of this movie, and one that always comes with adaptations of this type of autobiography, is whether to go by the book or pick and choose. I have not read the book, but judging from the film, Parker chose to go by the book and that rarely ends up as a great movie. There are three different aged boys who plays the main character and when you have gotten used to one, the next takes over. It may just be me, but it destroys the sense of flow in the film for me. It also spends a lot of time, bringing you much of the family daily life details, which are not that interesting. If you have never heard about prewar Ireland before, i guess it is interesting, but it just throws the old cliches at you. And the narrator tries his best to deliver it with a bit of Irish humor, but rarely succeeds. And does it really rain 9 out of 10 days in Ireland?

This is one of those "perfect" movies that looks good on paper, on the poster, in the reviews and so on. But it lacks the most important ingredient. A purpose. Why do i need to see this story? I know about he Irish society, the poverty and the emigration to America and so on. What is the purpose? There is not any really!

Rating: 4/10

Permalink·Open on PeakD ↗·Linked from existing Hive post