Irish Cinema: A French Perspective

Abstract

Ireland has been celebrated in France for its music, its literature and its poetry for decades, but when it comes to cinema, the country is hardly identifiable. Of course, Ireland is an English-speaking country and, as it is geographically part of the British Isles, Irish cinema may easily be included in the larger concept of British cinema. A filmmaker or an actor may come from one part of the British Isles and work in another: Ken Loach (British) made an Irish film in Ireland with an Irish cast (The Wind That Shakes the Barley [2006]), while Damien O’Donnell (Irish) made a British film (East Is East [1999]) in Great Britain with a British and Indian cast. On numerous occasions, the Irish have proved that they can be part of the wider global marketplace and they have found influential positions in American cinema. They have also attested that they are profoundly hybridized in many aspects of their culture. Why should the paradigm of ‘national cinema’ still pervade in such circumstances? Dudley Andrew reports:

We still parse the world by nations. Film festivals identify entries by country; college courses are labelled ‘Japanese Cinema’, ‘French Film’ and textbooks are coming off the presses with titles such as ‘Screening Ireland’, ‘Screening China’, ‘Italian National Cinema’ and so on.

(2006: 26)