Jimmy's Hall (2014)

For many years now, I've been a huge fan of English filmmaker Ken Loach's work. I'm glad I read recently he's reconsidering his retirement announcement. Here, with a sharp screenplay from Paul Laverty, who often collaborates with Loach, the director presents a most powerful drama, inspired by the life of Jimmy Gralton.

Set mostly during the worldwide Great Depression, Gralton is returning home to his native Ireland, after 10 years of self-imposed exile. During political unrest, and facing imminent arrest, he fled his homeland and had been living in New York City.

Although a treaty has been signed following a Civil War, in Ireland, tensions remain high between various factions in the country. Amid this turmoil, Gralton, ably portrayed by Barry Ward, wants to work his family farm in peace, in County Leitrim.

However, he's approached by a group of local youths who ask him to revitalize and re-open the hall he owns, which has been shut for years and is completely dilapidated. The hall used to be a vital community center for the locals, with music, dance, and various lessons being taught there.

With the help of friends and the local citizens, the hall is indeed restored and brought "back to life". However, it becomes the bane of the powerful local Catholic Church, led by Father Sheridan (Jim Norton), who feels it's a threat to his authority, and the playing of such music as jazz (imported from America) is disgraceful. Father Sheridan begins to go to any lengths to disparage all the locals who go there, and brands Gralton and his friends as Communists and subversives.

At the same time, powerful and rich land owners are trying to squeeze out many local farmers, by foreclosing on them without due process. The land barons, supported by the British, join with the Catholic Church and begin a campaign of violence, threats, and intimidation vs. Gralton and his many supporters.

All in all, I found this latest Loach film to be impeccably directed, well written and acted by a top notch cast. Plus, we get some wonderful Irish music and dance along the way.

Fmovies: In 1933, Jimmy Gralton (Barry Ward, "Songs for Amy") became the only Irish citizen ever to have been deported from Ireland when he was exiled to America without a trial. His crime seems to be that he was a Communist who incurred the ire of the Catholic Church and the landlords by daring to establish a dance hall where such sinful pleasures as community dances, singing lessons, poetry readings, boxing lessons, and political debates took place. Written by Paul Laverty ("The Wind That Shakes the Barley") from a play by Donal O'Kelly, Ken Loach's ("The Angel's Share") Jimmy's Hall directs our attention to a not very well known incident in Irish history that followed the Civil War of 1922-23, a war waged between two groups of Irish republicans over the Anglo-Irish Treaty.

Partially filmed in the village of Drumsna, a village only a few kilometers from Gralton's birthplace in Effrinagh, the film begins in 1932 with Jimmy's return to County Leitrim after having lived in New York for ten years. After showing historical footage of New York during the 1930s, particularly its poverty and unemployment during the great depression, we learn that Jimmy's brother has recently died and he is coming home to support his mother (Aileen Henry) in running the family farm. In a flashback to ten years ago, Jimmy is shown pleading with his then girlfriend Oonagh (Simone Kirby, "Season of the Witch") to go to New York with him, but she prefers to remain in Ireland. When he returns, he finds her married with two children, though they obviously still have feelings for each other.

When he responds "Same as ever" to her question about how he is, she tells him that "Nobody's the same after 10 years away." Now named after Patrick Pearse and James Connolly, two martyrs of the 1916 Easter uprising against British rule,Jimmy restores the boarded-up community hall that had been closed by the Catholic Church ten years earlier, stocking it with a wind-up Victrola and jazz records he brought from New York. Once again, the hall becomes a gathering place for workers and farmers and a thorn in the side of the Church. Dances are picketed and classes disrupted, but Jimmy refuses to bend. Fearful of stoking community activism, Father Sheridan (Jim Norton, "Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close") stirs up his congregation by playing the Communist card and by warning his flock about the debasement of the country's morals.

"What is this obsession with pleasure?!" he demands, and asks "Is it Christ, or is it Gralton?" Railing against "the Los Angelization of our culture," the fearful pastor says that the hall has become a place where "the sins of jazz music and the rhythms from darkest Africa with pelvic thrusts may poison the minds," and reads aloud the names of those who went to the hall the previous night. Fortunately for Gralton, neither Karl Marx nor Joseph Stalin could make it. Repercussions do not take long to occur. IRA activist Commander Dennis O'Keefe (Brian F. O'Byrne, "Queen and Country") is shown whipping his daughter because hers was one of the names read aloud, shots are fired into the hall during a dance, and the hall is set on fire and burned to the ground on Christmas Eve, 1932.

The best scenes in the film are Gralton's one-on-one conversations with Father Sheridan in which he reflects on the father's outward display of hatred towards those who are working towar

This is the first time I see a Ken Loach a movie, and I was not disappointed.

All characters deliver solid to very good performances, the scenario is both subtle and not over- complicated, and the setting is enjoyable, as it offers a unique perspective on the 30's, seen from an agrarian Ireland.

It does have its weaknesses though. The movie starts with a good rhythm, a pace it sadly does not manage to keep. The last third of the movie feels needlessly slow and long.

Another problem is the way this movie seems to deliver a very subjective view of the opposition between the working class and politics.

Still very enjoyable and highly recommended.

Jimmy's Hall fmovies. "Jimmy's Hall" (2014 release from Ireland/UK; 109 min.) brings the true story of what happened to Jimmy Gralton upon his return to Ireland in 1932. the movie's opening titles are accompanied by archive footage of New York in the late 20s/early 30s. As the movie opens, we are told it is "County Leitrim, Ireland, 1932", and we see Jimmy coming back to Ireland after 20 years in New York (presumably because of the Depression and related unemployment). It's not long before Jimmy and his friends decide to renovate the Pears-Connelly Hall, so as to give young people and the community a place to gather for dancing, reading, drawing, singing, etc. (we would call it a "community rec center" these days). This does not sit well with the local priest, who claims 'exclusivity' for all things that could be deemed educational, nor are the local landlords pleased. At this point we are 15 min. into the movie, but to tell you more would spoil your viewing experience, you'll just have to see for yourself how it all plays out.

Couple of comments: this is the latest movie be legendary British director Ken Loach, now a crisp 79 years young (and similar to Woody Allen in his never-ceasing output). Loach is well-known for using his films as social commentary, and "Jimmy's Hall" is no exception. For me, that is not an issue, and Loach has made a number of stunningly beautiful and captivating movies over the years. Hence I was ready to like "Jimmy's Hall" very much. Alas, it was not to be, for several reasons: first, the movie is not very helpful to let us understand why certain factions take a particular position (we are never told what beef the landlords have with Jimmy and his friends) or why the issue of the land ownership matters initially, and then a bit later on it doesn't. But the biggest disappointment I have with the film is that at no point did I become emotionally invested in any of the main characters. Yes the local priest is easy to loathe, and we all do, but we are not given a chance to really buy in to Jimmy, or his friends, or his romantic interest. It all just happens, for seemingly no reason. If this was a fictional story, I'd have walked out an hour into the movie, but since this movie is "inspired by the life and times of Jimmy Gralton" (as is announced at the beginning of the movie), I wanted to find out how it would all unfold. There are some fine performances, but I found the chemistry between Jimmy (played by Barry Ward) and his romantic interest (played by Francis Magee) completely lacking and unconvincing. Last but certainly not least, there is a very nice musical score to the movie, featuring both traditional Irish music and jazz from the 20s and 30s.

I had seen the trailer for "Jimmy's Hall" a few times and was really looking forward to this. "Jimmy's Hall" finally opened this weekend at my local art-house theater here in Cincinnati. The early evening screening where I saw this at was attended okay but not great (I counted 12 people, including myself, of which one walked out halfway through and didn't come back). As much as I like Ken Loach, this is not none of his best, I'm afraid. But I certainly encourage you to check it out, be it in the theater, on Amazon Instant Video, or eventually on DVD/Blu-ray, and draw your own conclusion about "Jimmy's Hall".

In the States we didn't get much Irish history in our schools, particularly post-Rebellion history. Had no idea of the politics involved regarding the Socialist/Catholic Church alliance during the Depression, which is the basis of this film. We are influenced to root for the people versus this alliance, which seems to be the correct rooting interest. Jimmy comes back to his hometown after 10 years in exile, and takes up the same cause which got him deported in the first place. Once again the same forces that were against him are still in place, resulting in a duplication of events. Can't imagine how any moviegoer could fault him or his motives and the plot plays along with these sentiments.

That said, the story bogs down in the second half of the film, making the staunchest advocate fidgety and anxious for some movement. It seems longer than the 1hr 49min advertised, but does not impinge on the gorgeous photography and the marvelous acting. Barry Ward as Jimmy was good, Simone Kirby was even better and Jim Norton as Fr. Sheridan was outstanding. I recommend "Jimmy's Hall", especially if you went to school in the U.S. - I guarantee you will be enlightened.

Somewhere slightly better and more sophisticated than Footloose is Jimmy's Hall. Based on a true story about an Irish country man who opened what was pretty much a community Center that allowed the folks of the village to educate themselves in arts and entertainment, but the Catholic church was not fond of people taking any sort of education out of God's hands and into the hands of his children.

The movie really got my blood boiling even if it was very quiet and slow pace, but it hit some interesting marks about tolerance and freedom of expression. A condition needed by every human. I'm use to seeing rebellions in which people get violent in their protest, but this movie was very tamed, but more importantly, still got the message across.

My favorite part of the movie is the cool Irish music that was featured in the movie.

I like it a lot.