Angela's Ashes
Posted: Sat Feb 23, 2008 9:02 amUnited Kingdom/United States, 1999
U.S. Release Date: 12/22/99 (NY, LA), 1/14/00 (wide)
Running Length: 2:25
MPAA Classification: R (Profanity, nudity, *censured*, violence, mature themes)
Theatrical Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
Cast: Emily Watson, Robert Carlyle, Joe Breen, Ciaran Owens, Michael Legge
Director: Alan Parker
Producers: Scott Rudin, David Brown, Alan Parker
Screenplay: Laura Jones and Alan Parker, based on the novel by Frank McCourt
Cinematography: Michael Seresin
Music: John Williams
U.S. Distributor: Paramount Pictures
Angela's Ashes is a deftly realized and beautifully filmed story of a boy coming of age during the 1930s and 1940s in the Catholic portion of Ireland. We have seen movies of this sort before, and most of them end in an ideological clash between the Irish Catholics and their Protestant counterparts. Here, however, the primary foe is not religious intolerance. Instead, it is one of the oldest enemies of humanity: poverty and hunger. Yet, while the film contains lengthy stretches in which the characters are subjected to ever more demeaning spates of pain and abject misery, the movie as a whole turns out to be a quietly triumphant experience - a testimony to the fortitude of the human spirit under even the worst circumstances.
The director is Alan Parker, who is known to be a meticulous craftsman. His version of Evita, for example, boasted a tremendous visual style, and that same characteristic applies to Angela's Ashes. Here, Parker fashions a section of Limerick, Ireland where the rain pours down incessantly and there is mud everywhere. The only time the skies seem to clear is on the night of a total lunar eclipse, and then they do so only briefly. If the sun ever shines during the course of this film, it's a rare occasion. Parker refuses to romanticize any aspect of the setting - this movie takes place in a dirty, grimy world where chamber pots have to be emptied and cleanliness is an afterthought.
Angela's Ashes is based on the memoirs of Frank McCourt. As such, the story is told from his perspective. While the voiceover narration tends to ramble on a little too long, it stops short of becoming intrusive or annoying, primarily because McCourt's musings tend to be wry, and they bring out elements of understated humor. The film follows roughly ten years in Frank's life, beginning when he's five years old (going on six), and ending some time shortly after his 16th birthday. During the course of the movie, he is played by three different actors: Joe Breen (the young Frank), Ciaran Owens (the middle Frank), and Michael Legge (the older Frank). Parker effectively handles both of the transitions between leads. Breen, Owens, and Legge are all capable performers, and their physical appearances are similar enough that the changes are not jarring.
Angela's Ashes opens in 1935 Brooklyn, where Frank's family is struggling to ward off poverty and disease. Frank's father, Malachy McCourt (Robert Carlyle), is unemployed and his mother, Angela (Emily Watson), has just given birth to a baby girl - the fifth child in the family. But the new addition doesn't live long, and, after her death, the family decides to return to Ireland. As Frank points out in his voiceover, "We must be the only family in Irish history to say goodbye to the Statue of Liberty." As it turns out, things are even worse across the Atlantic. The house into which Frank's family moves is damp, and, due to its proximity to the community privy, there's a permanent stench. When it rains, which is almost all the time, the first floor floods. In quick succession, Frank's two youngest brothers fall ill and die. Meanwhile, every scrap of money that Malachy earns goes to buying a pint or two at the pub. He comes home drunk at night, sleeps wherever he falls down, then spends his days in a fruitless search for a new job. Through all of this, Frank faces the usual traumas of youth: coping with bigotry (Malachy is from Protestant-dominated North Ireland), facing peer pressure, learning about sexuality, and enduring the necessary Catholic rites of passage - especially the First Confession and First Communion.
One refreshing aspect of Angela's Ashes is that the family is not dysfunctional. All too often in movies that deal with the economically impoverished, family life is depicted as something horrific, filled with abuse and neglect. Here, however, while human frailties create some tension, there is also a great deal of affection. Angela loves her husband and children, and will do almost anything for them, including subjecting herself to the "worst kind of shame." And, while Frank does not idolize Malachy, he loves and respects him in spite of his failings.
Angela's Ashes is a film of moments and incidents, and the collage of Frank's life is formed by piecing them together. Some are particularly memorable. During his First Communion, Frank chokes on the host. Later, he throws up outside his grandmother's house, and she exclaims in horror, "I have God in my backyard!" She then marches Frank to the church and has him enter the confessional to seek a penance for what he has just done. On another occasion, we see Frank and his friends trying to peer through an open window at a group of half-naked girls. And, later in the movie, when Frank has his first pint at the pub, he proves to be his father's son. His blistering verbal assault on his mother represents one of the film's most raw emotional moments.
Despite having first billing, Emily Watson plays a supporting character. This is Frank's story. His mother occupies a critical role, but she is rarely the focal point of the tale. Watson, one of the best actresses of her generation, understands this, and never moves to steal a scene or upstage any of her co-stars. Her performance is quiet, subdued, and powerful. And, while her work here is not as visible as that in Breaking the Waves or Hilary and Jackie, it is no less effective. Like Watson, Robert Carlyle does not seek the spotlight. His part is that of the flawed-but-loving father who cares for his family, but, at the same time, carries a great burden of guilt. Carlyle, who is best known for over-the-top roles (such as the bad guy in the 19th James Bond film, The World Is Not Enough), shows that he, like Watson, is capable of underplaying a part.
As is true of nearly every movie to be released in North America during the month of December, Angela's Ashes clocks in at well over the two hour mark, but, in contrast to many of the others, this film seems to be about the right length. The story is consistently involving, so the proceedings do not drag. We become entwined in Frank's life, and view each new struggle with ever-growing interest. Nothing that he does is extraordinary, but, because of his courage and perseverance, he is a hero in the truest sense of the word. There are times when he (like many children) does reprehensible things, but these are more than counterbalanced by acts of courage and nobility. Frank is a real character with genuine failings and dreams, and one undeniable goal: to return to America, "where no one has bad teeth and every man has a lavatory." That idealized description of the United States, which concentrates on simple details rather than great treasures, points out what kind of person Frank McCourt is, and why watching his story makes for a worthwhile experience.
U.S. Release Date: 12/22/99 (NY, LA), 1/14/00 (wide)
Running Length: 2:25
MPAA Classification: R (Profanity, nudity, *censured*, violence, mature themes)
Theatrical Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
Cast: Emily Watson, Robert Carlyle, Joe Breen, Ciaran Owens, Michael Legge
Director: Alan Parker
Producers: Scott Rudin, David Brown, Alan Parker
Screenplay: Laura Jones and Alan Parker, based on the novel by Frank McCourt
Cinematography: Michael Seresin
Music: John Williams
U.S. Distributor: Paramount Pictures
Angela's Ashes is a deftly realized and beautifully filmed story of a boy coming of age during the 1930s and 1940s in the Catholic portion of Ireland. We have seen movies of this sort before, and most of them end in an ideological clash between the Irish Catholics and their Protestant counterparts. Here, however, the primary foe is not religious intolerance. Instead, it is one of the oldest enemies of humanity: poverty and hunger. Yet, while the film contains lengthy stretches in which the characters are subjected to ever more demeaning spates of pain and abject misery, the movie as a whole turns out to be a quietly triumphant experience - a testimony to the fortitude of the human spirit under even the worst circumstances.
The director is Alan Parker, who is known to be a meticulous craftsman. His version of Evita, for example, boasted a tremendous visual style, and that same characteristic applies to Angela's Ashes. Here, Parker fashions a section of Limerick, Ireland where the rain pours down incessantly and there is mud everywhere. The only time the skies seem to clear is on the night of a total lunar eclipse, and then they do so only briefly. If the sun ever shines during the course of this film, it's a rare occasion. Parker refuses to romanticize any aspect of the setting - this movie takes place in a dirty, grimy world where chamber pots have to be emptied and cleanliness is an afterthought.
Angela's Ashes is based on the memoirs of Frank McCourt. As such, the story is told from his perspective. While the voiceover narration tends to ramble on a little too long, it stops short of becoming intrusive or annoying, primarily because McCourt's musings tend to be wry, and they bring out elements of understated humor. The film follows roughly ten years in Frank's life, beginning when he's five years old (going on six), and ending some time shortly after his 16th birthday. During the course of the movie, he is played by three different actors: Joe Breen (the young Frank), Ciaran Owens (the middle Frank), and Michael Legge (the older Frank). Parker effectively handles both of the transitions between leads. Breen, Owens, and Legge are all capable performers, and their physical appearances are similar enough that the changes are not jarring.
Angela's Ashes opens in 1935 Brooklyn, where Frank's family is struggling to ward off poverty and disease. Frank's father, Malachy McCourt (Robert Carlyle), is unemployed and his mother, Angela (Emily Watson), has just given birth to a baby girl - the fifth child in the family. But the new addition doesn't live long, and, after her death, the family decides to return to Ireland. As Frank points out in his voiceover, "We must be the only family in Irish history to say goodbye to the Statue of Liberty." As it turns out, things are even worse across the Atlantic. The house into which Frank's family moves is damp, and, due to its proximity to the community privy, there's a permanent stench. When it rains, which is almost all the time, the first floor floods. In quick succession, Frank's two youngest brothers fall ill and die. Meanwhile, every scrap of money that Malachy earns goes to buying a pint or two at the pub. He comes home drunk at night, sleeps wherever he falls down, then spends his days in a fruitless search for a new job. Through all of this, Frank faces the usual traumas of youth: coping with bigotry (Malachy is from Protestant-dominated North Ireland), facing peer pressure, learning about sexuality, and enduring the necessary Catholic rites of passage - especially the First Confession and First Communion.
One refreshing aspect of Angela's Ashes is that the family is not dysfunctional. All too often in movies that deal with the economically impoverished, family life is depicted as something horrific, filled with abuse and neglect. Here, however, while human frailties create some tension, there is also a great deal of affection. Angela loves her husband and children, and will do almost anything for them, including subjecting herself to the "worst kind of shame." And, while Frank does not idolize Malachy, he loves and respects him in spite of his failings.
Angela's Ashes is a film of moments and incidents, and the collage of Frank's life is formed by piecing them together. Some are particularly memorable. During his First Communion, Frank chokes on the host. Later, he throws up outside his grandmother's house, and she exclaims in horror, "I have God in my backyard!" She then marches Frank to the church and has him enter the confessional to seek a penance for what he has just done. On another occasion, we see Frank and his friends trying to peer through an open window at a group of half-naked girls. And, later in the movie, when Frank has his first pint at the pub, he proves to be his father's son. His blistering verbal assault on his mother represents one of the film's most raw emotional moments.
Despite having first billing, Emily Watson plays a supporting character. This is Frank's story. His mother occupies a critical role, but she is rarely the focal point of the tale. Watson, one of the best actresses of her generation, understands this, and never moves to steal a scene or upstage any of her co-stars. Her performance is quiet, subdued, and powerful. And, while her work here is not as visible as that in Breaking the Waves or Hilary and Jackie, it is no less effective. Like Watson, Robert Carlyle does not seek the spotlight. His part is that of the flawed-but-loving father who cares for his family, but, at the same time, carries a great burden of guilt. Carlyle, who is best known for over-the-top roles (such as the bad guy in the 19th James Bond film, The World Is Not Enough), shows that he, like Watson, is capable of underplaying a part.
As is true of nearly every movie to be released in North America during the month of December, Angela's Ashes clocks in at well over the two hour mark, but, in contrast to many of the others, this film seems to be about the right length. The story is consistently involving, so the proceedings do not drag. We become entwined in Frank's life, and view each new struggle with ever-growing interest. Nothing that he does is extraordinary, but, because of his courage and perseverance, he is a hero in the truest sense of the word. There are times when he (like many children) does reprehensible things, but these are more than counterbalanced by acts of courage and nobility. Frank is a real character with genuine failings and dreams, and one undeniable goal: to return to America, "where no one has bad teeth and every man has a lavatory." That idealized description of the United States, which concentrates on simple details rather than great treasures, points out what kind of person Frank McCourt is, and why watching his story makes for a worthwhile experience.