Film: December’s Accessible Screenings in the Irish Film Institute

The IFI have announced their accessible screenings for December 2019: The Irishman, Ordinary Love and Little Women

The Irishman

Thursday, 5th (14.00)

This film adaptation of Charles Brandt’s chronicle of the life and confessions of alleged mafia hitman Frank ‘The Irishman’ Sheeran reunites director Martin Scorsese with previous collaborators including Robert De Niro, Joe Pesci, Harvey Keitel, and writer Steven Zaillian, and also features Al Pacino in his first role for the director.

World War II veteran Sheeran (De Niro) finds a mentor in Russell Bufalino (Pesci), and with his help, rises through the ranks of organised crime, eventually working alongside corrupt labour union leader Jimmy Hoffa (Pacino). While the performances of De Niro, Pacino, and especially Pesci are welcome reminders of their talent, the film is far from a retread of old glories; there is an elegiac, mournful quality, particularly as an elderly Frank considers the consequences of his actions, that shows Scorsese remains as surprising and restless a filmmaker as ever. Book now

Ordinary Love

Sunday, 8th (13.00) and Thursday, 12th December (19.00)

Retired Belfast couple Joan (Lesley Manville) and Tom (Liam Neeson) have, over the years, learned to live with the death of their teenage daughter. Their existence is comfortable if unremarkable, filled with the affectionate bickering that comes from a lifetime together. When Joan is diagnosed with cancer and undergoes surgery and chemotherapy, she bonds with the terminally ill Peter (David Wilmot), who has chosen to stop his treatment. As the illness exposes cracks in their relationship, Tom finds himself isolated. ‘We’re both going through this together’, he angrily protests, to which Joan responds, ‘no, we’re not’.

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Little Women

Sunday 29th (13.00) and Monday 30th December (18.10)

Writer-director Greta Gerwig (‘Lady Bird’) has crafted a ‘Little Women’ that draws on both the classic novel and the writings of Louisa May Alcott, and unfolds as the author’s alter ego, Jo March, reflects back and forth on her fictional life. In Gerwig’s adaptation, the beloved story of the March sisters takes on a self-reflexive tone, as she wryly interrogates some of the more traditional aspects of the story, offering a contemporary, feminist commentary on proceedings.

Portraying Jo, Meg, Amy, and Beth March, the film stars Saoirse Ronan, Emma Watson, Florence Pugh, Eliza Scanlen, with Timothée Chalamet as their wealthy, foppish neighbour Laurie, Laura Dern as their endlessly generous mother, and Meryl Streep as sharp-tongued Aunt March. Book now