Irish make their mark at festival
Gerard Hurley wrote, directed, produced and starred in The Pier. The film is set in west Cork, and concerns a young man returning from America to spend time with his dying father after an absence of 20 years. That might well sound like the plot of a thousand other movies, but Hurley puts a new spin on it, largely by having the father, played by Karl Johnson, engage in the most curmudgeonly behaviour imaginable. As the story progresses, and the father succumbs to cancer, his vulnerability is slowly revealed. The Pier proved to be a highlight of the festival. It is expected to go on release early in the new year.
Patrick O’Shea’s new feature, Tree Keeper, was shot around Cork in 2010. Doire, the young man at its centre, inherits a parcel of woodland from his father, and moves into an old cottage to protect it. His peace is disturbed by the antics of an unscrupulous businessman who plans on developing the woodland as a landfill site. James Browne as Doire, Ciarán Ruby as Tom, and Pascal Scott as his father, Jim, all give fine performances in a film that was probably the most enthusiastically received at the festival.
