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Donal is a fourteen-year-old boy growing up in Northern Ireland.
His main passion in life is greyhound racing, so when he gets
the chance to have his own dog, The Mighty Celt, he jumps
at the chance, problem is, the dog won't be his unless he
can get it to win a race, the alternative is death at the
hands of Good Joe...
Inevitably,
there are going to be comparisons with Kes the seminal
sixties film by Ken Loach, and I think that the comparison
is courted by this movie, there are scenes which resonate
the same relationship between the animal and the boy. Both
boys inhabit an environment in flux, Billy Casper in the disintegration
of the north of England and Donal in the difficult attempt
at social reintegration following the cessation of the troubles
in Northern Ireland. However, Celt finds its own voice;
it uses more traditional film techniques and not the documentary
style favoured by Kes. The film also contains more
romance and humour than Kes.
The
backdrop to the story is Donal's relationship with Good Joe,
the owner of the greyhound stables and O a returning, unapologetic,
IRA operative. Many of the characters are unhappy about the
peace process, feeling that things have not improved. Good
Joe continues the tradition of violence that O has turned
his back on. These two competing role models challenge Donal's
view of the world. The film is a little ham fisted in having
as its opening scene Joe throwing live puppies off a cliff.
The audience is left in little doubt that Joe is the villain
of the piece and whilst Ken Stott as Joe does his best to
round the character off there is little room for such a rigid
personality, stuck in the violence of the past.
Gillian
Anderson plays Kate, Donal's mother and what a performance.
This is Anderson like you have never seen her before. Mourning
the loss of her brother, feeling little but anger towards
O for surviving, she is initially less than happy with O's
involvement with Donal, although you would have to watch the
film to understand the real reason behind her anger at O.
Anderson has never looked rougher and that is meant as a compliment,
she is highly believable in her role with a very convincing
Irish accent.
Robert
Carlyle as O is, well, Robert Carlyle, a great natural actor
in any role. This was Tyrone McKenna first role as Donal and
what a splendid job he does, his performance really drags
you through the boy's journey, through pain and his inevitable
choice between violence and understanding towards an appreciation
of the genesis of violence.
In
the end, the film is about redemption for many of the characters,
change can often bring anxiety but the film shows that change
is the normal human condition, to grow one needs to embrace
change and at the end of the film the characters which are
happiest are those that embraced change.
At
one hour fifteen minutes, this is a short but worthy film.
Extras include an informative documentary on the making of
the film as well as subtitles. Audio is stereo and the picture
is a little soft, but neither of these detracts from the film.
Charles
Packer
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