Review: "The Boys and Girl of County Claire"?

[jim_n_virginia]

I saw it the other day at the theater and it was very funny and Colm Meaney is hilarious.

It is about a yearly Celi contest in Ireland and the competition between two (three?) brothers to win it. The Irish scenery is breathtaking and the fiddle playing is great.

Andrea Corr (from the Corrs) is in it and she is not only stunning but talented too.

What was so fun was that the theater (this was a local art house not super mall cineplex) owners brought in a Celi band to play before and after the film and I knew several of the members from local Celtic jams I go to around town.

I went there with two fiddle players and it was funny to watch them watch the movie, they knew EVERY song that was played. Not much mandolin music, in fact I don't remember seeing a mandolin but if you like Celi music (who doesn't?) then you gotta see this movie.

One question.... does anyone who has seen this movie (or lives over there close) know if this yearly Celi contest is real? Me and a couple of people I jam with at our local Celtic jam were fantasizing that it would be the journey of a lifetime to something like this.

http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/mandosmiley.gif

[steve V. johnson]

We just heard about this movie from a couple who play in our regular Irish sessions (she plays mando/OM and he plays fiddle and concertina), and they enjoyed it a lot. They did say that the music, while good, was not really authentic ceili band music, which is very different from session music, and even from country dance musics.

Along with the 'usual' instrumentation (pipes, button accordions, fiddles, flutes, whistles), ceili bands have included reeds and piano, and most unusual to other Irish trad forms, snare drum. They tend to be big bands, too, regularly with six, eight or more folks. Many of the best known (the Kilfenora, the Tulla, etc.) have been around for many decades and are traditions of their within their communities. My modern favorite is the Abbey Ceili band, which is small, with banjo, fiddle, button accordion and keyboard. The keyboard player programs a snare beat on his keyboard! We first heard them at a ceili dance in a tiny village hall, and the sure do know how to play for the dancers!

Also, ceili band music is played in sets and the sets have names. The sets are combinations of dance tempos, usually three, sometimes four, for instance, "polka, reel, reel" or "reel, jig, reel". Each of those two combinations would have a name, and the band posted lists of the sets they would play around the village, so all the dancers know what to expect. Some set names are The Kerry Set, The Cameronian Set. It seems not to matter what the tunes are in those sets (tho I'm sure that there is some consistency in the tunes for some bands and communities...) as long as the tunes follow the dance combination that the name of the set connotes.

I'm not up on current competitions in Ireland, but all of the ceili band recordings that I have make mention of success in competitions, so there have been ceili band competitions probably as long as there have been ceili bands. <GG>

I'm no expert on this stuff, so if I have it wrong, I'll be glad to learn and mend the errors of my ways! <GG>

I'm really eager to see the film, too! I had no idea it's in theatres!! Our friends found it on DVD at a local rental shop.
Thanks for mentioning it!

Irish trad music in films, and is there Irish mandolin music in films??... is a -whole- other thread.... <GGG>

Thanks!

stv

[Tim]

I watched this on DVD just last night and was planning to ask the "how authentic" question here.

Normally I don't worry about spelling on the cafe but just in case someone is looking it is "County Clare".

[steve V. johnson]

Hey Tim,

Did you enjoy it? Feel like popping the DVD back to the cue points and playing along?

<GG>

stv

[jim_n_virginia]

Normally I don't worry about spelling on the cafe but just in case someone is looking it is "County Clare".
OOOPS I guess it is County Clare! Sorry for the typo!

Since the film was filmed in Ireland with an Irish cast I would have thought the music was traditional, sure sounded like it.

But I am no expert at Celi music I'll admit. I just like playing fiddle tunes and just naturally graduated from bluegrass to Reels and Jigs.

Authentic or not I laughed very hard several times thoughout the movie.

But even though I know this was an Irish film and there was drinking in just about every scene I think THREE vomiting scenes were TWO too many! (The beautiful Andrea Corr was one of the splashers so I'd probably LET her... errrr... splash me!!!) http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/tounge.gif

[steve V. johnson]

J'n'V sez: #"Since the film was filmed in Ireland with an Irish cast I would have thought the music was traditional, sure sounded like it."

Not that it ain't (I -haven't- seen the movie...), just to add to the noise... <GG> #There are different flavors of tradition. #It's all good.

"But I am no expert at Celi music I'll admit. I just like playing fiddle tunes and just naturally graduated from bluegrass to Reels and Jigs."

Cool! #Bluegrass and Irish are ... kinda... cousins... or maybe better as grandfather and grandson. #Whenever we play Irish around BG folks they say, 'Man I don't know how you play that stuff so fast!' #And we feel the same about the BG!!! #LOL!!

"But even though I know this was an Irish film and there was drinking in just about every scene I think THREE vomiting scenes were TWO too many!"

I hope the point was aesthetic and not just that folks were too drunk... # In my travels in Ireland, I've only seen the youngest, stupidest, wildest ones hurl. #It's pretty rare, even on festival weekends. #But.. I've not been there in the summer, when all the tourists are there...

Thanks,

stv

[Tim]

I first looked for the movie because of Andrea Corr. #I liked the music - authentic or not. #I got it from Netflix but I'm sure most large video rental places would have it.

I never saw a listing for it at a theater in northern Virginia.

[steve V. johnson]

OK, we found one to rent at our local vidshop. We did have to wait some days. They have two copies and they are -always- out.

First, I want to apologize for sounding like some Trad Cop. I'm don't mean to be and I'm always running afoul of self-appointed Guardians of Tradition, so I sure don't want to be (even be -like-) one.

This is a great, fun movie. I do have to say that I about split my sides laughing because the director (or somebody) told the principal actors not to move their fretting hands on their instruments, but I guess that's a valid choice (as opposed to spending $$/time in teaching them something about playing!) for a director. The music itself is great, the story is fun, and Andrea Corr has a real future as an actress, IMO.

Filmed on the Isle of Man, which is twice interesting because it's very easy to feel that we're in Clare while watching the film, then you can go back and have a Manx travelogue just looking at the scenery! <GG>

Great fun!

Thanks,

stv

[Scott Tichenor]

What a great find this thread is. My wife was literally ready to step out the door to return a DVD to the local rental store when I found this so I sent her along with the request to hunt this one down. Great reviews from amazon.com (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B0009G3BCY/104-0527358-7997550?v=glance).

Thanks to jim_n_virgina for pointing this out. Looking forward to seeing it.

[Russ Jordan]

I'll chime in with a thanks for mentioning this movie too. We rented it from Blockbuster yuesterday. Great music and very funny. Not for the "little ones" if you don't want them to hear the "f" word, though.

[mad dawg]

I really enjoyed the film -- and the music -- myself, but as a point of clarification, I believe I heard it was filmed on the Isle of Man (like "Ned Devine"), as well as in remote areas of the North, rather than on location in County Clare. (I forgot to check the location credits at the end, but I saw at the beginning of the movie that it was an Isle of Man Films production.)

[Paul Kotapish]

It's a very sweet, funny movie. The tune repertoire is pretty accurate for the period, and the sound of the céilí bands is a reasonably accurate recreation of the style at that time, too.

There are some great little bits in the film that are almost throwaways, such as when one player tells another that he just met (button accordion player) Kevin Keegan, and didn't really know who he was. Keegan was in a famous céilí band in the 1950s, and he had a huge influence on the tradional Irish music scene in America when he moved here following a 1956 U.S. tour. At about the time this movie is set, Keegan was becoming guru to dozens of young players in the budding San Francisco Irish music scene, for example, and a lot of the tunes still played here are called "Keegan's." http://www.copperplatedistribution.com/cicd156.html

The "All Ireland" competion--or Fleadh Cheoil (music festival, in Irish)--was started back in the early 1950s by the Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann, an organization that fosters tradional Irish music and culture, and is going strong as ever today. Each year it is held in a different town or village. A lot of the great players today--young and old--proudly include the "All-Ireland Champion" title on their CVs. Every year dozens of great Irish musicians from the U.S. make the trek to Ireland to compete.

Here's a link to the official site for the competition: http://www.comhaltas.com/fleadh/index.htm

[jim_n_virginia]

The "All Ireland" competion--or Fleadh Cheoil (music festival, in Irish--was started back in the early 1950s by the Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann, an organization that fosters tradional Irish music and culture, and is going strong as ever today. Each year it is held in a different town or village. A lot of the great players today--young and old--proudly include the "All-Ireland Champion" title on their CVs. Every year dozens of great Irish musicians from the U.S. make the trek to Ireland to compete.

Here's a link to the official site for the competition: http://www.comhaltas.com/fleadh/index.htm
Thanks Paul thats what I was looking for.

In the movie remember they had participants from America. They called themselves the Kentucky All-Stars and they were all loud and dressed in garrish red, white and blue uniforms, it was hilarious. http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/mandosmiley.gif

[TeleMark]

We watched this last night (thanks, NetFlix!). Very enjoyable movie. We've decided that we have to have a "quirky British Isles" collection. We already have Local Hero, The Committments, and Greenfingers. This, Waking Ned Devine and some others would make for a fun film weekend!

[steve V. johnson]

Low Mando Content! <GG>

Films in/about Ireland...

"Evelyn" is nice, even with Pierce Brosnan in the lead. The kids are great actors. The 'band' that plays behind 'pub singer' Brosnan and his Da are fine musicians from Co. Meath, whom we met at a fleadh in the west of Co. Limerick. There isn't a lot of music in it, but it's a sweet story and taken from actual history.

"The Matchmaker" is funny, not a lot of music, Jeanine Garofalo. In the Paul Newman/Tom Hanks film, whose name I can't remember, there is an Irish wake scene, supposedly in/near Chicago, that features piper Kieran O'Hare and accordionist/multi-instrumentalist John Williams, both Chicagoans. The scene is really funny because Williams acts all tough and mob-ish, with a cigarette hanging from his mouth, definitely "playing against type"!! <GGG>

"Agnes Brown" with Angelica Huston in the lead is a lovely film. "Michael Collins" with Liam Neeson has some lovely shots and scenes done in Ireland. There's a scene in a very small pub that was shot in Hollywood, Co. Wicklow, in a famous pub called Tutty's, which is a familiar of the Chieftains.

"The Playboys" is a nice film with Robin Wright Penn, Aidan Quinn (who is also in Evelyn) and Albert Finney, is set in the Ireland of the '50's. Good, tough story, not much music, either...

"The Rat" is one of the funniest films I've ever seen, set in Ireland in the '70's, I think. Pete Posthlewait is a harried small businessman who turns into a rat, to surprising reactions from his family and neighbors. No live or trad music to speak of, but it's a real hoot.

"Into The West" is a lovely film with Gabriel Byrne and Ellen Barkin. Byrne is a Traveler who took his kids from the road to urban life to please his now-deceased wife. The tensions of Travelers in the city is heightened by Byrne's kids' relationship with their grandfather and big doses of Old Irish magic.

File under Quirky Irish ... <GGGG> ... and enjoy!

stv

[mad dawg]

I agree with recommendations for the above films, and I also recommended the following...

First, some quirky ones:
Everlasting Piece (not a typo: it's about a couple of guys working in a Belfast prison barbershop who start their own haipiece business; the soundtrack includes a lot of great original trad-inspired tunes, with quite a bit of mandolin)
The Van*
The Snapper*
(* Both are part of the trilogy that includes the Committments.)
Moondance

And some not-so-quirky ones that also come to mind:
The Field
The Secret of Roan Inish
The General
Bloody Sunday
The Boxer
Dancing at Lughnasa
The Magdalene Sisters

[steve V. johnson]

Well done, MadDawg!! #Good stuff!

Thanks!

stv

[mad dawg]

(I think I spend too much time in the theaters and in front of the DVD player. http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/wink.gif )

[steve V. johnson]

mad dawg sez: "(I think I spend too much time in the theaters and in front of the DVD player. ) "

I call it "multi-tasking" since I work at home and on the computer a lot, I can just let stuff run... <GGG> "in the background"...

stv

[glauber]

I finally watched "Boys & Girl of Co Clare" today. Can't recommend it highly enough. Probably not the best movie of all times, but certainly one of the best music movies ever. Lots and lots of little things that only musicians will get. Lots of insider jokes, and all the bodhran jokes they could fit in. Some amazing playing too. Unfortunately, no mandolins. http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif The music sounded absolutely authentic, to me. The casting is like Start Trek meets Lord of the Rings in a Coors concert, but in the end it all works out. If you're into Irish music, you must watch this.

[glauber]

One question.... does anyone who has seen this movie (or lives over there close) know if this yearly Celi contest is real? Me and a couple of people I jam with at our local Celtic jam were fantasizing that it would be the journey of a lifetime to something like this.
It's real, and if you're into Irish music, you either think it's the best thing in the world or the worst. No middle ground, really.

You compete in the regional competitions first, and if you place first or second in your category, you can go to the All-Ireland. It used to be that anybody who wants to be anything in Irish music had to have one or more All-Ireland titles under their belt, but these days more and more people snub the competition. Mike Flatley, for example (Lord of the Dance) was a solo flute champion. There are more categories than you can think of, divided by age level. All the gory details here (http://www.comhaltas.com/fleadh/index.htm).

[mad dawg]

I just watched Bitter Harvest last night on DVD, with Colm Meaney as a bitter widower in a black comedy set in 1920's Ireland. It is not a music film, but as several key scenes take place in the pub and at a couple of celebrations, it has some good music in it. (NB, if you watch it, be on the look out for the Canturbury Tale about the blind man and his adulterous wife being retold in an interesting manner.)

[glauber]

While we're talking about other movies about Ireland, let me mention one of my favourites: The Quiet Man (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0045061/). That movie was one of the first to be filmed on location. Many (most?) of the principals are Irish, and it's a throughly enjoyable story and good John Wayne to boot.

[John Uhrig]

Finally got this movie through Netflix. It's been on the list for quite awhile now.(Should have moved it up my list) I thought it was great! No mando content, as was previously stated, but it had some great music. Very funny. Recommed it to all

[steve V. johnson]

Another non-music film, but a goodn...

We just saw "The Mighty Celt" on the Sundance Channel, nice. Set in Norn Iron, story of a boy who learns to train greyhounds to race, with a post-Troubles subplot of sorts. Good cast, including Gillain Anderson who was in the X-Files.

stv

[celtic_knut]

A few recent netflix rentals that I recommend:

American Women (2000) - another quirky one taking place in a small town in the west

Cowboys & Angels (2003) - sort of a Kiss Me Guido, but with a dark side, and set in Limerick instead of Manhattan

Ordinary Decent Criminal (2000) - think of The General, but with a happier ending

Widow's Peak (1994) - an interesting period piece of a dark comedy, with several plot twists to keep you guessing