-poitín
-Cré na gCille
-Kings
Thats just three irish language feature lenght films made in the last 30 years.
Is é o thuairim, sin scannán a thuilleadh ar nós seo ag rinneadh. (forgive any mistakes in my grammer).
Does anybody know what the situation is with the irish language film industry - feature lenght filsm that is.
If more films like these were made, it would be a positive step towards encouraging Irish to be spoken.
Do Chara Uasle,
Seamás91.

wouldn't it be great if irish language films were made along the lines of Sergio Leone films (the good, the bad and the ugly). maybe there might be potential for TG4 to produce a detective series going along the lines of "Columbo", sin go brea liom a feiceall. (was that correct?-that i would like to see).

Ba bhreá liomsa rud éigin mar sin a fheiceáil freisin. Bunaithe ar leabhair Seán Ó Connor nó Eilís Ní Dhuibhne, bhféidir.

Cé hiad sin? are they detective novelists?

(Message edited by seamás91 on November 04, 2009)

I measc rudaí eile.

B'fheidir, déanfá scannáin ar nós "Watchmen" nó "Gran Torino". Nó déanfá clár dramaíocht ar nós "Columbo". Beadh sin é go hiontach.

B'fheidir, ba mhaith liom ag feacaint sin. Céard faoi an
"Táin Bó Cualligne"(The Cattle Raid of Cooley), ba mhaith liom ag feacaint sin freisin. Chuir stíl Sergio Leone isteach é. Céard faoi sin a dhaoine?
(please correct any mistakes i made in this message)
Do Chara Uasle,
Seamás91.

Seamás (litriú neamhghnách, dála an scéil - bheinn ag súil le Séamas)

Your noble friend -> Do Chara Uasal

Céard faoi "Táin Bó Cuailgne"
Ba mhaith liom é sin a fhéiceáil freisin
I stíl Sergio Leone

---

Ní bhaineann an Ghaeilge feidhm chomh mór as an alt (an) má tá sé soiléir gur rud áirithe atá i gceist.

Ceart go leor, a Aonghus, Rinne me mancóg leis an fhocal "an". Cuirim é ann "le meancóg"(is that right?).
Ar aon nós, cad a cheapann tú foain phlean seo?

(Message edited by seamás91 on November 05, 2009)

Rinne mé lorg faoi Eilís Ní Dhuibhne, thig liom a rá tá intinn maith aici marú. Caithfidh mé ag lorg a leabhar, nuair a faighim an am. Cá geobhaidh mé é, a Aonghus?

(Message edited by seamás91 on November 05, 2009)

http://www.litriocht.com

Nó i siopa leabhair.

Nó, bain triail as do leabharlann áitiúl - muna bhfuil sé acu, is féidir leat é a ordú tríd http://www.borrowbooks.ie

B'fhéidir go ndéanfadh Mel Gibson (de shliocht Éireannach atá sé) scannán i nGaedhilg amháin ar nós "The Passion" agus "Apocolypto"?
Mar shompla, ceann faoi Bhrian Bóroimhe (i gcomhair 2014 - cothrom bliadhna Chath Chluain Tarbh) i MeadhonGhaedhilg agus SeanLochlannais. Ba bhreagh liom é sin fheiceáil.

Beadh scannán faoi Bhrian Bóroimhe go hiontach é a fheiceáil, ceart go leor.

Actually Mel Gibson wanted to make a movie in Scottish Gaelic after his success with Braveheart. He wrote a script, had it translated in Lewis, and pitched it to both the US and the UK. But he couldn't get enough support for it.

Then he tried to have the movie turned into an animation film, and they turned it down because they said no one would go and see a foreign language based animation.

Hello...Japan's been making millions off that for the last 40 years!

(Message edited by do_chinniúint on November 05, 2009)

Oops, didn't finish my thoughts before the 30 minutes.

I think if Irish wants to start building a serious film industry, they need to start with animations and computer animations.

I say this because there just aren't enough Irish speaking actors to make it work.

However, there are plenty of people who can read a script. All you need is an ability to read the Irish language out loud with a voice that fits the character.

Also, you can do more with computers and animations than you could ever attempt to do in real life. You can make films for every level of audience. Old to young, men and women, Fantasy to Science Fiction...and everything in between.

But for some reason, the West has been slow to jump on this. Only recently have we really started to experiment with it outside of children's and family entertainment. And having said that, those who have tried to break into this arena have done so by making some of the most unique films to date.

quote:

I say this because there just aren't enough Irish speaking actors to make it work.

That is a curious idea. Many Irish actors are fluent in Irish. There is a reasonable theatre scene - limited more by lack of audience than by lack of actors.

colm meaney could speak irish, just watch "Kings", not to mention the cast of TG4's various drama series.

Colm Meaney dosen't have any Irish, he just learned the Irish for the film. He said on his interview that he was the weakest out of all of them in terms of Irish.

The thing that I don't get about Kings is that they used so many non fluent speakrs to do the acting, and they had a dialect coach. There is plently of Conamara actors they could have chose look at Rós na Rún for example.

Creidim, the film needed a publicity stunt.

Yes, I think they went for safe, known names instead of actors who could really speak Irish. It's a pity.

Maybe they could have used Colm Meaney and the rest fluent speakers, Colm Meaney is a famous Irish actor so maybe the film would have pulled it off.

Colm Meaney dosen't have any Irish, he just learned the Irish for the film.
There you're wrong. Mr. Meaney had some Irish already but had to learn more (and in particular, learn Connemara Irish instead of Munster) for the film.

Tá agallamh leis anseo: http://www.eventguide.ie/articles.elive?&sku=070926215402

A Aonghus,

"That is a curious idea. Many Irish actors are fluent in Irish. There is a reasonable theatre scene - limited more by lack of audience than by lack of actors."

That's exactly my point. There are plenty of people who could lend their talents to the animated arena, but they don't. They are lending their Irish capable talent somewhere else and not in film. Perhaps it is their choice, or perhaps it is because they want to be actors and there isn't enough work for them.

I think we might be shocked to see who would apply for a voice over in an animated film.

And I will agree that there is a lack of audience, but the question is why?

I think it's because there isn't enough material out there to have created a fan base. They need to start putting stuff out there that is going to attract people to it. With animation, they can appeal to the young and start a following. As the children age, so too can the type and level of animated film.

It is the very model that Japan uses and has been so successful with. Irish can do the same.

A Seamás91,

"colm meaney could speak Irish, just watch "Kings", not to mention the cast of TG4's various drama series."

I have been watching TG4. And while I love the shows, what I still tend to see are the same 20-30 faces being used again and again for most the series.

I think this is because there aren't enough shows being made to create a high demand for live talented actors, so they have the luxury to keep using the same talent that they know are going to deliver.

Whatever their reason, this won't provide the growth to establish a reputable industry.

(Message edited by do_chinniúint on November 06, 2009)

Good animation is expensive. So is good film.

So it is not so much the luxury to keep using the same talent, but that the market is only there for that pool of talent.

LOL

Well, I wouldn't expect any Irish equivalents of "Shrek, Avatar, or Disney's Beauty and the Beast" on their first attempts.

But you bring up an excellent point, and another idea to go along with animation.

Irish language dubbing.

If you can't afford to make the movies, you can at least afford the fraction of the price required to buy the rights and dubb the language into Irish.

This is actually the model that Germany likes to use. And again, it has worked for them. Germans are the masters of matching voice overs to most foreign actors. Which is really nice, because some countries, not saying any names France...LOL...will give an American actor with a medium to hight pictched voice the lowest base they can find and it just doesn't sound right.

Come to think of it, if anyone here has ever seen the Spanish dubbing for the parrot Iago in Disney's Aladdin...then you know what I am taking about. ;-)

Deirim anois, we will have to recruit people out of sinn féin to star in films if thats the case you present to an underpopulation of irish speaking actors.

And that is what TG4 is doing or trying to finance.

And doing pretty well - Telegael has won a couple of Emmies for co-productions, and they started out dubbing stuff.

http://www.telegael.com/

Or Inis Cool

http://www.davidmccamley.com/new_page.htm

Which wouldn't have been made with TG4.

Maybe the president or some multimillionaire with a sense of love for the irish language could finance film production?

Cé mhéad duine, seachas Toireasa Ferris, atá ag Sinn Féin arbh fiú iad a chuir i scannán?

The president? She has just cut her own budget 25%.

i'm not a sinn féin supporter. i'm just saying they have irish. use whatever we have at our disposal.

anybody else with money to burn will do.
caithfidh imeacht, see you later.

(Message edited by seamás91 on November 06, 2009)

And I'm saying they don't have nearly as much Irish as they would like you to believe! They have a handful of fluent speakers - at least in terms of spokespeople. The same as other parties.

okay, fair enough.
still though does anybody know wat the situation is with the irish language film industry?
and does anybody have an ideas for an irish language film?

(Message edited by seamás91 on November 06, 2009)

Ba mhaith liom scannán faoi Caithlín Maude, Daniel O'Connell(labhair sé gaeilge créid é nó ná créid é) nó Douglas Hyde. As Gaeilge ar ndóigh.

an idea for a film as gaeilge:
"Jailtacht".
Set during the Troubles in the H-block prisons, chronicaling the struggles of the imprisoned republicans as they try to survive by their will and the unified sovereignty of their language.

I'm not a Sinn Fein supporter, but when I first heard about how the republicans defied the establishment of British tyranny in the prison by setting up the Jailtachts, it stirred up a great source of admiration for them.

I can tell you one thing, it might be dirt cheap to make considering the fact that you'd only have to film it one one location. Smaoineann sibh faoi sin.

(Message edited by seamás91 on November 06, 2009)

I saw a documentary on TG4 about the men who learned Irish in the jail system, I thought that was kind of interesting also...

But that could be a slippery slope because it is going to eventually come down to the many issues of The Troubles.

And a possible problem with a movie that digs into anything related to "The Troubles," is that it might be too "troubling."

It is still pretty recent and could rub a lot of people the wrong way.

I mean look at Germany's situation. It doesn't matter if it is an American/French/Italian/German movie, the majority of German themed movies in the last 50 years have been about WWII and Nazi Germany. This has fueled a lot of anti-German sentiment over the years.

Does Ireland really want to go down that path? And more importantly, is that the type of start an Irish language film industry would really want to start out with?

Now, I am not saying it can't be done, or that it shouldn't be done. But why not start out with some slightly more positive and more neutral themes?

For example, with the fantasy/historical epic genre in full swing right now, anything Celtic could be a very big hit?

One of my favorite authors is Morgan Llywelyn. I would love to see one of these two novels turned into a feature film like:

The Lion of Ireland
Red Branch

Or if anyone is an Andrew Greenley fan:

Any of the Nuala Anne McGrail novels could be a wonderful basis for mystery suspense.

But I am more a science fiction lover, I could easily see a space based film.

Imagine a film about humanity not being able to live on earth together anymore, so they travel out and colonize hundreds of planets where each planet is given to a particular country/nation/ethnic group...and then there is a war, or a disaster, or something that forces the worlds to come together and rediscover all the worlds cultures and what makes them special...that sort of thing.

That's the beauty of the imagination...the possibilities are endless.

I was thinking along the lines of "Tain Bo Cuailligne", that would be an epic master piece of irish language cinematograhy.
and a film going along the lines of "Jailtacht" (as i have proposed) would be able to get great publicity, good or bad. after all bad publicity is still publicity.

Is maith liom an smaoineamh (ar?) Tain Bo. Céard faoi Naomh Pádraig?

Tain bo would be an interesting film, that's why I would recommend turning the novel "Red Branch" into a film.

It takes the story of Cúchulainn to a whole new level. It is the story of his life and all the challenges he faced including the events of the Tain Bo.

But the beauty of the book, is that the author has a talent for taking larger than life characters and making them into real life people that people can relate to. For example, Cúchulainn suddenly becomes this young insecure hero on a quest to prove to the world that he is not just a bastard son. Throughout the book he is faced with both real world and fantastical events that show real human emotions and reactions.

For example, Cúchulainn is famed for his hair changing in battle to stand up on his head to look like red fire. But in the book, this isn't some magical quality that he was given, but rather a scare tactic he discovers and likes to use after seeing the Scots/Picts put blue on their face and hair.

Also, here we have this massive hero that is capable of doing anything, facing any enemy. But what is his greatest weakness? Women. He is shy around them. So much so, that he is the butt of many jokes by all his friends because of his lack of confidence with them.

...that sort of thing.

This is the type of character that audiences want to see in movies these days. They don't want heroes they can't be. They are tired of anti-heroes they are not. They want heroes that are as real as them, ordinary people in extraordinary situations. And this is the types of characters that you find in most of Morgan's works.

That's why I think her works are scripts waiting to be written.

(Message edited by do_chinniúint on November 07, 2009)

A movie about sport maybe, look at examples such as Raging Bull, Rocky, Chariots of Fire, srl(etc).

I rather like the idea of making a film like Sreic in Irish. The language would be simple, and the children would love it. It would be important to have good subtitles in Irish and English, so that you could study the language and learn the words you didn't know.

the question has to asked what is more important:
An epic landmark film as gaeilge for adults, or
a film for the inheriters of the irish language(na bpaisti).

If properly done, you could get both.

Ceart go leor,
Ach, conas a dheanfa scannan ar nos seo, as fiosrach?
who would you contact with the task of making a feature length film.

quote:

who would you contact with the task of making a feature length film.

Mel (Colm Cille) Gibson. He's got lot's of money, his mother was from Ireland, and he's done movies in other languages before. Plus he loves action movies - maybe he could play the part Cúchulainn!

tis worth lookin' into.

For starters:

http://www.contactvip.com/

Well, I think Mel needs to wait a little longer before he is completely forgiven in the world's eyes to attempt another major foreign language production.

But then again, love him or hate him, we just can't get enough of him.

Actually, I would consider giving Colin Farrell a shot first. He has a big enough name to draw in a crowd, and he has openly spoken in favor of the language in several interviews. I can't remember the award right off, but he even said thanks in Irish on national television. After the award ceremony, a reporter was interviewing him and said, "I didn't know you could speak the Irish language." He just smiled and said, "I'm Irish hun, it comes with the package."

Scannan faoi "Rapairí", beadh e sin go suimuil.

Buy a digital camera. Buy a good editing program. Get a few buddies who have good Irish. Find a good screenplay. Make a movie. There are lots of good examples of good movies made on the cheap. One example that comes to mind is Napoleon Dynamite (originally very cheap). Better yet, come up with a well-done short that could bring interest from the people with more money in Ireland. Just burn the thing in DivX, hand it out to everyone you know, upload it to YouTube. Drop them from planes into Croke Park. My friend does shorts all the time. He eventually joined a film program at a Community College here and made a 30 minute documentary. It was very well done, and cheap! They even let him use the really nice cameras on loan. Isn't this the "you" generation! Time to make our own films while Mel is dealing with his problems.

Nach cainteoir dúchais í Maureen O'Hara? B'fhéidir go mbeadh áthas uirthi ról a imirt saor in aisce ar son na teanga? (:

(Message edited by Hugo on November 08, 2009)

http://www.beo.ie/?page=agallamh_beo&content_id=993

Is agallamh le Bláthnaid Ní Chofaigh é - luaíonn sí a deartháir, Cíaran, agus an scannán nua atá déanta aige. Ceann fíordorcha, de réir dealraimh.

Tá gá le scannán áthasach! An iomarca gruaim mar atá i saol na Gaeilge (agus na hÉireann!).