My Review of Into The West (1992)

 

Written by Jim Sheridan And David Keating

Directed by Mike Newell

Papa Reilly: "There's a bit of a traveler in everybody, Tito. But very few of us know where we're goin'."

Seeing as it's St. Patrick's Day, I thought I'd review the last Irish movie that I've watched and it's this one. It's one I've watched a few times and one I think would be seen as a favourite among Irish movies.

Taking place on an apartment block in Dublin, you have the former "King of the Travellers" Papa Reilly (Gabriel Byrne). He's lost his way since the death of his wife, Mary and his sons Tito (Ruaidhri Conroy) and Ossie (Ciaran Fitzgerald) are mostly ignored by Papa's penchant for drink.

Then there's the arrival of the lads maternal grandfather (David Kelly) and a mysterious white horse named Tir na nÓg. The lads took to the horse, even keeping him in their small flat while Papa and Grandfather clash over the old ways that Papa had abandoned. Oh and there's the myth of Tir na nÓg itself that played it's part throughout the movie.

Now keeping a horse in a flat wasn't the most practical of ideas and it didn't take long for the guards to seize the horse off the boys. Stepping into the villain role, there was Inspector Bolger (Brendan Gleeson). He's a thoroughly unpleasant character who took a sadistic pleasure in antagonising Papa while also selling Tir na nÓg to a local businessman (John Kavanagh).

On the plus side, when Papa wasn't reconnecting with his roots and getting fellow travellers, Kathleen (Ellen Barkin) and Barreller (Colm Meaney), both Ossie and Tito managed to steal Tir na nÓg off the businessman and go on the run. There's an entertaining plot with the two brothers trying to stay one step ahead of the law while Ossie also learned the hard truth about his mother's passing.

The last few minutes then had an emotional reunion between Papa and his sons, a comeuppance for the likes of Bolger and a supernatural encounter of sorts. On top of that, there's a sense of catharsis with Papa given the way this movie ended.

- Other noteworthy actors in this movie included Jim Norton, Anita Reeves and Ray McBride.

- I did laugh at Ossie and Tito having to pretend to be a part of the Murphy family. The dole crowd now think they have fourteen children.

- Standout music: The Devlins Someone To Talk To and Clannad's In A Lifetime.

- Chronology: 1990s, Ballymun. 

Into The West told a good story, encompassing many issues and a bit of mythology to boot. I liked this movie as a youngster and it's aged pretty well over thirty years later. 

Rating: 8 out of 10