brianlync Review of Love & Rage

Love & Rage (1999)

Political and sexual allegory set in 19th century Ireland

[8/10 · 24 March 2005]

First, a correction. Love and Rage is based not on a novel but on a work of history by James Carney, 'The Playboy and the Yellow Woman'. The anti-hero of the film, Lynchehaun, was the inspiration (in part) for Christy Mahon in 'The Playboy of the Western World' by John Millington Synge and is mentioned in the play as 'the man (who) bit the yellow woman's nostril on the northern shore'. The film was shot in the house on Achill Island, Co Mayo where the real life events took place. Agnes MacDonnell, the character played by Greta Scacchi, continued to live on the island until her death in 1926, wearing a veil and a silver nose. Lynchehaun escaped from prison in Ireland and fled to the United States where, despite the efforts of the British government, the Supreme Court refused to extradite him on the grounds that his attack on Agnes was a political offence. For American, British and, especially, Irish viewers, the film has a lot of contemporary political relevance.