The name of the author, the length of the film and the description certainly put me off on picking this up and giving it a chance, but once I got into it (about half an hour in), I was hooked. It's probably what has been referred to as "the unfilmable novel" turns into an "impossible dream" fulfilled for fellow screenwriter Fred Haines and writer/director Joseph Strick who create an outstanding analogy of the absurdities of humanity and society in general, a dream like (or nightmarish) view of one man's journey through a day in Dublin and the theater of the absurd like accusation he faces. This turns the film into a silent movie like film with dialog, giving veteran character Milo O'Shea his greatest role, surrounded by a brilliant cast most likely a majority Irish, although in research I did discover that some were either British or Scottish.
The story, such as there is one, is impossible to describe outside of what I've already written, starting with O'Shea and T. P. McKenna out for a day's stroll around Dublin (of which there is great location footage), then becoming avant garde in a fast talking alternative world view of what is going on. The opening has the two men basically observing the various people they encounter or pass by, some delightful slice of life situations which are all of a sudden replaced by the seemingly fantasy switch to the courtroom and later a circus, and all I could figure out was this was just part of their conversation, a tale told to McKenna by O'Shea, with Milo the defendent in court and victimized by circus performers, at one point completely naked with his privates coveted by a hat.
Playing O'Shea's wife, Barbara Jeffords is wonderful in the courtroom sequence, with memorable performances by veteran character actresses Anna Manahan and Fionnula Flanagan standing out as well. I'll never sit down and read the book, and will admit that you have to be in the right mood for this, but ultimately, an open mind will help see how brilliant this is even though some cultural references did go over my head. So the urge to praise this simply because of feeling like I had no choice is replaced with praise for genuinely loving it.
The story, such as there is one, is impossible to describe outside of what I've already written, starting with O'Shea and T. P. McKenna out for a day's stroll around Dublin (of which there is great location footage), then becoming avant garde in a fast talking alternative world view of what is going on. The opening has the two men basically observing the various people they encounter or pass by, some delightful slice of life situations which are all of a sudden replaced by the seemingly fantasy switch to the courtroom and later a circus, and all I could figure out was this was just part of their conversation, a tale told to McKenna by O'Shea, with Milo the defendent in court and victimized by circus performers, at one point completely naked with his privates coveted by a hat.
Playing O'Shea's wife, Barbara Jeffords is wonderful in the courtroom sequence, with memorable performances by veteran character actresses Anna Manahan and Fionnula Flanagan standing out as well. I'll never sit down and read the book, and will admit that you have to be in the right mood for this, but ultimately, an open mind will help see how brilliant this is even though some cultural references did go over my head. So the urge to praise this simply because of feeling like I had no choice is replaced with praise for genuinely loving it.