Any news? How about that one of the best Irish films has arrived?
This glorious adaptation of the late John McGahern's final novel is the big-screen equivalent of the grand stretch and should be regarded with the same sense of wonder.
In a lakeside community of yesteryear, we watch blow-ins Joe and Kate Ruttledge (Barry Ward and Anna Bederke) as time does its thing to all things. "The rain comes down, the sun shines, grass grows, children grow old and die. That's the holy all of it. We all know it full well but can't even whisper it," muses one of the endearing locals early on in this tour of enchantment. Ah yes, but there's a lot of living to be done too - and here we're reminded to revel in the small moments.
Making his big move into straightforward drama, writer-director Pat Collins (Silence, Song of Granite) will cause a gentle stampede towards McGahern's source novel after this. What Collins, co-writer Éamon Little, the cast and crew have achieved here is magic. The acting is brilliant and Ireland has never looked better in the role of No Place Like Home. Any more is too much of a spoiler.
Collins says he has met many people who re-read That They May Face the Rising Sun each year. His film will enjoy similar good fortune. Like the stretch, you never want it to end.
