Cork director takes the quiet approach to adapting John McGahern's last novel
Barry Ward and Anna Bederke with other cast members in a scene from That They May Face The Rising Sun.
John McGahern’s much-loved final novel is brought to the big screen by Pat Collins in That They May Face the Rising Sun, the tale of everyday life among a small Irish community.
In many ways, the West Cork filmmaker is the perfect candidate to adapt McGahern’s graceful, contemplative novel, portraying a period in the life of a rural lakeside community.
The film deservedly won Best Film at this week’s Irish Film and Television Awards (IFTA). For Collins, who counts the novel as one of his favourites, there were certain elements that particularly appealed to him.
“I think it was the accuracy of the characters,” he says. “It was the Ireland he was capturing. There was a recognition when I read the book, there were some elements that were almost exhilarating for me, to read something in 2002 that tapped into an Ireland that was already kind of fading at that point.
“I love the structure of the book. I love the way that one of the big themes in the book, without really stating it, was time passing and the seasons passing, the repetition in life of spring and summer and then everything dies away and comes back again in spring as fresh as ever.”
The period film centres around the home of Joe and Kate Ruttledge (Barry Ward and Anna Bederke) as they return to live in a small lakeside community near where Joe grew up. What emerges is a subtle film, both touching and funny, as we get to know the couple and the people woven into their lives.
“One of the most beautiful things about it in a way, is the story is almost secondary to the time passing,” says Collins.
“It gives you lots of scope when you're making a film to introduce elements of landscape and quiet and that sense of time passing.
“It means the story or the narrative isn't dominant. It's on a par with the other stuff, so atmosphere was as important as the story in a way even though the story is important, of course. I like cinema where you're immersed in the film and you lose a sense of time and you feel connected to the place that's on screen.”
Though the film is very much about Irish life, Collins has found that it is resonating with international audiences in similar ways. Recently, he has been present at festival screenings in Gothenburg and Italy.
“The reaction seems to be very similar everywhere. Everybody seems to see the same things that Irish people see,” he says. “McGahern was very clear about that too in his own way. When he was writing a book he would say that being culturally specific is a way of getting to the universal but you can't really start with the universal.
“McGahern said that everything interesting starts with one person in one room and the whole world grows out from that. I think the more specific you are, in a way, the more universal it is. You have to be true to your material and then worry about the other stuff later.”
That They May Face the Rising Sun captures rural Irish life in all its glory and looks striking on the big screen. Collins had hoped to film in Leitrim, where McGahern was from and the novel was set, but it was not to be.
“We did try to shoot in Leitrim, and we were months actually trying to find the right lake and the right area to shoot in and we just couldn't find the one that felt like the book,” he says.
“Even the lake that's in front of John McGahern's house wasn't right. It [film] was a different medium and you needed the houses to look down on the lake and see them. We just couldn't make it work logistically, but I think we're still true to the spirit of the place.
“The central lake is in Lough Na Fooey, up on the Galway-Mayo border. We were based in Clonbur and Cornamona. It's really gorgeous countryside.”
Born in Drimoleague and based in Baltimore, Collins first worked as a documentary filmmaker - he still makes a couple every year - before turning his hand to drama features.
In the years since, films like Silence, a powerful account of a sound recordist’s search for spaces untouched by man-made sound; and Song of Granite, a drama about sean-nós singer Joe Heaney, have resonated with audiences at home and abroad.
“I was in my very late twenties or maybe 30 before I made my first documentary, which was on [Irish poet] Michael Hartnett. You get the opportunity to make one thing and then it buys you a little bit of space and the next thing buys you a little bit of space.
“It's been very gradual. I'm continuously learning. I've always had really good people around me, working with me, and it's added hugely to the work that I've done. I feel like I've just been working steadily all the time to this point, and I'm going to keep going for as long as I can.”
As well as Rising Sun, released in cinemas by Break Out Pictures following critical acclaim on the festival circuit, he has a new documentary coming to RTÉ. Songlines, focusing on the work of Traveller singers across the country, will air in May. He has also completed Making, a documentary about the work of furniture makers Joseph Walsh Studio based in a rural setting outside Kinsale.
In recent months, Collins has started working with singer-songwriter Lisa O’Neill on a unique drama on Cork singer Margaret Barry. “She was a great traditional singer from Cork city. It's drama based but it's not a biopic. It's an unusual structure, but it's Lisa O'Neill as Margaret Barry. Lisa O'Neill is a singer who has been influenced by Margaret Barry in her own singing style.”
- That They Might Face the Rising Sun is in cinemas from Friday, April 26. Triskel in Cork is also running a series of Collins' films to coincide with the release of the new feature
This drama tells the story of one of Ireland’s greatest sean-nós singers, Joe Heaney, as it traces his journey from Connemara to New York.
Collins’ highly praised film sees a sound recordist (Eoghan Mac Giolla Bhride) set out on a journey in search of a place free from man-made noise.
Collins looks at the work of acclaimed choreographer Michael Keegan-Dolan as he prepares to bring Teac Damhsa’s MÁM to the stage.
Field Work A portrait of the celebrated folklorist, this film immerses audiences in the work of artists around the world including Turkey, North Carolina and Ireland.
Collins’ film provides an insight into the life and work of one of Ireland’s best-known actors.
