Before "The Wind That Shakes...," There was "Cal"

The St. Patrick's Day weekend is giving notice to 'all things Irish.' I saw on a local news station, out of Greensboro, that there was an Irish festival at Wake Forest University (with the NCAA tournament at the same location, one would probably need the luck of the Irish to find a parking place!) and there was a St. Patty's Day Parade in downtown Raleigh yesterday as well.

The focus of all things Irish has lead to more media exposure to Ireland. Today, NPR broadcast a story about a controversial film about the origins of the IRA from liberal filmmaker Ken Loach called "The Wind That Shakes the Barley." Loach told NPR that some in the UK have gone so far as to compare him to Nazi-era documentarian Leni Riefenstahl!

But, this is not the first film about the IRA which has caused controversy in Britian and elsewhere.

I remember when I was attending college at Radford University and the Internet was becoming a hip waste of time. I had joined an Internet movie group. Basically, one of us shose a film and the rest of us watched it and told the others what we thought of the film. One recommendation was for the small Irish film "Cal," which came out in 1984.

The film was directed by Pat O'Connor, whose biggest 'hit' is the Keanu Reeves wheeper "Sweet November." And, it starred Helen Mirren, who recently won an Oscar as "The Queen" and an unknown actor John Lynch in the starring role. Lynch has been in other films about Ireland, including "The Secret of Roan Irish" (1994), a film which is unusual because its director John Sayles is an American independent film director.

"Cal" was based on a novel by Bernard McCaverty, who also wrote the screenplay.

The story of "Cal" is about a young man on the fringes of the IRA who falls in love with a married widow, played by Mirren, who lost her husband in an act of political violence.

The film's tag reads: "Out of Ireland's struggle, a pasionate love is born." I remember the film had a quite passionate love scene, which is quite tame compared with those which involved Mirren in "The Cook, The Thief, The Wife, and Her Lover."

"Cal" also came out when a number of trendy film were coming out of England, the most noteable of which is "Local Hero," which Al Gore_ of all people, has cited as his favorite movie.

It has been a good 12 years since I've seen "Cal." I remember as being a moving piece of social commentary which is actually well-balanced by the love story. It is available now on DVD.

For more info:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0087019