There is a built in bias in me for Irish cinema, especially when it is of any significant quality. I will usually enjoy an Irish film, but it feels good to like it and know its worth liking too. Ballywalter is a small film, about building an unlikely relationship with two characters who are hesitant to let anyone else into their lives. Set in Ballywalter, a village in Co Down, about 0.015 times the size of Belfast, with a population of around 2,000 people. We don’t spend a lot of time there though, we actually spend most of our time in somewhere about 8.26087e-9 times the size of Belfast. For those uneducated, that is the average size of a car in comparison to Belfast and it took me too much brain power to even try to work that out. Probably wrong too.
Well anyway, this tiny vehicle fits about five people in it, six if you kidnap someone and throw them in the boot. Eileen is a noble and non kidnapping taxi driver though, who has come back from studying in London to make some money and start again. She is the type of taxi driver I would like, not into talking, not into driving. We get some painful examples of the small talk she is subjected to, before a breath of fresh and silent air of Shane, who sits in the back, with his earphones in travelling all the way into Belfast. Not to bring maths back into the review but that taxi journey is going to cost about £150 each way. Patrick Kielty is throwing away his new Late Late money.
Shane enquiries if he could book on a regular basis with Eileen, he is planning on coming back into Belfast every Friday for 12 weeks. She doesn’t agree to it but after taking him back a forth a few times, they start to bond, chatting more about each other’s lives and opening up about repressed emotions they’re both harbouring.
From then on, we watch a delightful story about two people finding themselves and reasons to keep going through their friendship. Classic My Little Pony influence.
I went into this having only seen one trailer, I was pretty interested in its look, with a muted style and anti-flashy presentation, allowing the performances and story to do the actual story telling. They do do that too! Seana Kerslake, an indie regular of the Irish film scene, not only does an excellently consistent Co Down accent, but she also does an excellently consistent performance, with depth and passion in her portrayal of Eileen.
Eileen as a character is cold and closed off, with a clear depth to her that you can just about see through the murky surface of her hardened exterior. She has been beaten down by life and struggles a lot with self acceptance. There is a clear intent to this performance, slowly letting out the vulnerability and the realisation of her openness in those moments. She is also dry in her wit and adds so much comedy to the film, in a very specifically Irish way.
Patrick Kielty is doing a lot recently, on the lips and minds of old women across the country as he takes the daunting task of hosting the Late Late Show on RTÉ. He now further steps into the spotlight with an unguarded presentation of Shane as a character. He is shrouded in mystery of his circumstances through the film, opening up as we go along. The more we learn, the more endearing Shane becomes. He opens up, showing more emotion and past hurt, leading him to where he is today.
The simplicity and slow pace in the film are not felt, with so much heart and light flickers being packed into the lulls. I never felt the time pass while watching the film, enjoying both the light and heavy conversations both characters share. There is an openness with them and lack of stakes on the nature of their relationship.
The conversations they share span from silly to in depth, ones about fresh cream cupcakes to depression and the will to keep going. The natural chemistry that both share makes them a joy to watch, no matter the content of the conversation.
The camera helps in these moments, intimate and simple. For a lot of the car conversations, it sits head on, not trying to reinvent the (steering) wheel of car conversation camera angles. It never tries to break the mould with it’s presentation, understanding that its there to allow the main characters to exist freely in their spaces.
The music is where I found some issues, the main reliance on guitar is nice, keeping the soundtrack relatively simplistic. However, the volume of the music was a little intense, at times the plucks of the strings rattling the speakers. I will say that this is only really used in transitional moments and never drowns out conversation, which is helpful.
Not a me complaint, but there was a woman sitting close to me that I thought was going to have to be taken away on a stretcher after the film. She winced at every single sudden noise, a door closing, a zip being zipped. It was a whole body physical reaction to them all. So for her sake, please take all sounds out of the film, maybe lower the brightness and slow the film down too just to be safe.
With that out of the way, back to my thoughts. While I didn’t feel such intense fear and sudden shock, I did feel a lot of other emotions, like laughing and an occasional smile through blurry eyes. Ballywalter is a delight to watch, a small film that I don’t think could keep pace with everyone, but certainly worked for me, and hopefully Patrick’s new found platform will catapult this film into Irish households and beyond to jumpscare everyone.
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