Our last hurrah before the summer break will be Kings, a film by Tom Collins nominated as Ireland’s entry for the best foreign film award at the Oscars in 2008 and starring Colm Meaney. It tells the story of that quintessentially Irish experience of emigration to England. In this case it’s about a group of friends who leave Ireland from the Connemara Gaeltacht in the 1970s and then meet up 30 years later when one of them dies, having ploughed different furrows in London, some trying to forget the homeland and the mother tongue, others still attached to it. We see them in the full flight of their youth and then later looking back at the different paths they have taken, with all the attendant drama, longing and frustrations.
Made at a time when Ireland was turning from a country of emigrants and becoming one of immigrants, it’s an interesting look at that in-between world of the ex-pat and here it’s that peculiar species of Irish ex-pat, the “Paddy” living in an England that was at once familiar and foreign. It should be a very good show, so come and join us if you can on the 18th at the usual place (Maison des Européens, 5 rue Pizay) from 7:45. Refreshments and conversation provided after the screening. See you there!
Facebook link: https://www.facebook.com/events/948253191362913