LAST WEEKEND, A Date for Mad Mary hit Irish cinemas.
Since then, everyone and their mother has been absolutely raving about it. (It even debuted ahead of Woody Allen’s latest film at the Irish box office last weekend. An impressive feat for a little Irish film, no?)
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The film is set to make an international splash when it premieres at the London Film Festival next month.
But what other Irish films does the world need to know about? We have some ideas…
1. The Snapper
If you are an Irish person, you have probably seen The Snapper at least 3,000 times at this stage. It’s such a part of Irish pop culture that babies are routinely compared to turkeys here and nobody bats an eyelid.
The rest of the world needs to see it.
2. The Commitments
The Commitments has everything you could ever possibly want from a film — proper Dublin accents, deadly tunes and infinitely quotable lines.
Plus it has Baby Glen Hansard and Baby Andrea Corr. The stuff of dreams.
3. War of the Buttons
The film that defined every Irish nineties childhood and made you want to start a button war with the rival housing estate. It had West Cork accents, childhood romance and, of course, Colm Meaney.
Plus it made good use of the word “willy”.
aisling / Twitter
aisling / Twitter / Twitter
Pure magic.
4. Adam and Paul
Before Lenny Abrahamson was an Oscar-nominated director, thank you very much, he was making darkly funny, poignant gems like Adam and Paul, a film that follows a day in the life of two heroin addicts in Dublin.
Sure, it’s a little bit bleak, but it’s essential viewing.
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5. Breakfast on Pluto
Only in Ireland could we make a film that touches on transgender issues and the Troubles.
But really, Breakfast on Pluto is extremely wonderful and features Cillian Murphy at his very best. A beaut of a film.
6. The Stag
You can keep The Hangover. Here in Ireland, we have The Stag, a very enjoyable comedy about a stag gone awry. It may not have tigers and Mike Tyson, but it does have Andrew Scott and pale Irish men walking around in hastily made loin cloths.
And really, what more could you want?
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7. Into The West
Tayto! Ossie! The horse! Tír na nÓg!
If there was any justice, the whole world would know about Into The West. Oh well, at least we can still enjoy it…
8. Circle of Friends
Circle of Friends may fall into the “non-Irish actors do woeful accents for Hollywood movie” category of Irish film, but it is still strangely enjoyable.
Probably because it features (a) the bad accents (b) illicit riding (c) Colin Firth as an absolute slimeball and (d) stellar Maeve Binchy lines like this:
Emma PPD / Twitter
Emma PPD / Twitter / Twitter
The best.
9. Intermission
Now that John Crowley is well known for directing Brooklyn, it’s time the world knew about his first big film, Intermission.
Sure it might be the polar opposite to Brooklyn, but it’s still brilliantly mad and Irish. (And yes, it stars Colm Meaney. Like every Irish film.)
10. Standby
Ireland isn’t particularly known for its romantic comedies (our films tend to skew a bit darker), but Standby is a surprisingly lovely rom-com starring Brian Gleeson and Mad Men’s Jessica Paré.
It also serves as a rather wonderful showcase for Dublin and features Zaytoon. Win win.
