https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jimmy%27s_Hall
Melanie and I saw "Jimmy's Hall" last night at the Angelika and we didn't think much of it, which seems to put us in the minority. We found it unrealized and vague.
The film is about Jimmy who returns to Ireland in the early 1930s after being in New York for ten years. During the first 20 minutes of the film we learn he left because of controversy over a sort of public meeting hall he helped fix up. When he returns the locals convince him to get the hall back in shape because they have no place to socialize and have fun.
The conservatives in the town and the Catholic church especially hate Jimmy for it because they're threatened for some reason by it. They call him and the people that hang out in the hall communists, even though the hall is for the most part just a place to socialize, dance, play and listen to music, and learn things. The figure of Jimmy is not especially political and you wonder what the fuss is all about. True, it was a different time, but the movie seems to be missing things to explain the aversion everyone has.
As usual the Catholic church is depicted as cruel and power-mongering, but to what point? The whole movie left me scratching my head, thinking, "So?" Clearly others disagree and seem to enjoy the movie, but I can't really recommend it. I liked the actor Barry Ward in the lead, even though his character like all the rest isn't very fleshed out. The movie has a lot going for it - great look, interesting time period and location, interesting subject matter - but it doesn't really come together.
No comments:
Post a Comment