Róise & Frank: Irish tale of befriended mutt will melt your heart
Bríd Ní Neachtain with Barley the dog in Róise & Frank.
When it came to her latest movie role, Irish actress Bríd Ní Neachtain opted to work with both animals and children. The result is another Irish-language joy, following on the growing international success of An Cailín Ciúin.
Ní Neachtain stars opposite Barley, one of the must loveable mutts you’ll ever see onscreen, in Róise & Frank, a tender tale of bereavement and rediscovering yourself.
Filmed in Ring in Co Waterford, she plays Róise, a woman broken and isolated by bereavement following the sudden death of her husband Frank. When a stray dog comes into her life, she starts to believe it could be her reincarnated husband following a series of extraordinary coincidences. The animal seems fixated with GAA, for example, and has a penchant for Frank’s favourite chair.
“There were a couple of coincidences for her — like sitting on his chair, the games and the GAA and bringing her to their favourite spot where they used to walk. In spite of herself, she thought: ‘There's something here’.”
Playing a woman looking for hope in the depths of grief was a draw for Ní Neachtain ever since she first read the screenplay from writers-directors Rachael Moriarty and Peter Murphy. “Suddenly her life has ended as she knew it. Frank the husband was obviously quite a big character in the community and they lived in this small community where everybody knew everybody else and they were very much part of it. She was in the choir, and he was in the GAA, and then he dies suddenly and she just withdrew within herself.
“Her life in a way revolved around him, and when that kind of personality went, she was distraught. And then the dog kept coming, he kept coming.”
Filming the movie involved working in close quarters with Barley, a dog of considerable star wattage, who previously played Demelza’s dog in Poldark. Despite a love of sausages he was no diva, smiles Ní Neachtain.
“He was absolutely brilliant, he was so focused. He had a personality, you know what I mean? He looks great on screen — he had everything going for him.”
Ní Neachtain, too, brings heart and soul to the movie. A theatre actress of some repute, she is currently in rehearsals for Joyce’s Women, written by Enda O’Brien, which comes to the Abbey as part of The Dublin Theatre Festival. “I play Nora Barnacle. Edna O'Brien has been in the room with us at the age of 92, and she's as sharp as a 20 year old, and it's just fantastic to watch her. It's all about James Joyce and the women in his life.”
But Róise & Frank is one of two anticipated films she stars in this year. Following the success of An Cailín Ciúin, Arracht and Song of Granite, it’s clear Irish-language cinema is having a moment, and she’s excited to be a part of it.
“It’s fantastic,” she says. “I've always loved the Irish language. I had done Cré na Cille a couple of years ago with Robert Quinn, and I'd watched people like Bob Quinn's work right back with Donal McCann and Cyril Cusack.
“We have our stories. It's fantastic that TG4 and Screen Ireland [co-funders of the Ciné 4 scheme along with the BAI] have come together to go: ‘Yeah, let's go with this’. We’re so used to seeing French films, German films, so why not? Let's step up to the mark and let's tell our stories in our own language. I think it's wonderful. And I feel very privileged to be a small part of it.”
Next month we will again see her onscreen in The Banshees of Inisherin, Martin McDonagh’s highly anticipated period drama which will reunite the writer-director with his In Bruges stars Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson.
“We do the self tapes over zoom and all of that sort of thing, then suddenly, I found myself being cast in it. He was just amazing. I play a small role — it’s Colin and Brendan, really, that carry it. It's about a relationship. It's about two friends, the falling out.
“I play Mrs Reardon and Colin's character, Patrick, comes to her shop. She's a busy body, and she wants to know everything about everybody. I was so thrilled to be part of it. And I was so thrilled to work with Martin. He just loves actors, and he respects actors and his attention to detail. We shot it in the Aran Islands, and we had the most beautiful weather. So I think Ireland will be seen in the most glorious, glorious way.”
- Róise & Frank comes to cinemas on Friday, September 16
Writer-director Martin McDonagh is reunited with his In Bruges co-stars Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson for this highly anticipated period drama shot on the Aran Islands. Farrell and Gleeson are Pádraic and Colm, lifelong friends who come to a crossroads when the latter decides to end their friendship. Farrell — a best actor winner at Venice Film Festival — and Gleeson are generating awards-season buzz, as is Kerry Condon, who plays Farrell’s sister.
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