performances from the terrific cast. Most are from Killinarden in Tallaght, where the film is made and the community is superbly represented on screen. A lot of the time we sense the authenticity. But it is not screaming out. It is in the smallest of details. Amy’s dad getting a quick pick for the lotto in the local shop. Amy using a pub pint glass for water with dinner. Much of this is down to budget but also a director’s interest and understanding of the world he is trying to convey. In Michael Inside, Berry researched the prison system with the Pathways Centre and it clear that his research was thorough. This is an impeccably realistic trip through the prison system and how corrosive to your life it can be. The sentence you serve isn’t the only sentence you serve.
Berry, particularly in reviews for Michael Inside, has been compared to film directors such as Mike Leigh and Ken Loach. It is easy to see why. His similar interest in working class characters is obvious, his workshopping with actors before filming is certainly something Leigh does plenty of. Like those directors Berry is interested in the social contract, where fairness does or doesn’t interact with real life. But there is something that is missed in the comparison. Berry believes in hope and the possible difference one person can make. He also seems, to quote Whitney, that children are our future. We can see the faith the faith in humanity he has for the children in Ballymun Lullaby (as do I, they literally make me weep with hope). In I Used to Live Here he acknowledges the pressures young people are under in the modern world. But even though the hope is somewhat tempered at the end, it is still there. In Michael Inside the hope is in the essential decency of Michael and how much he wants to do the right thing. He also avoids one of the main criticisms of Leigh and Loach’s films, namely the evil middle/upper class caricature. Berry’s characters seem compromised at worst, as much a product and shaping of their backgrounds as his protagonists. It is a messy world he seems to be saying and individuals can do bad things for a myriad of reasons. This makes his films better, the injustices more impactful.
But Frank Berry is not naïve. He knows and indeed shows what the prison system does to minor offenders. He is in awe of the work done in Killinarden by the National Centre for Mental Health but surely despairs over cuts to the mental health services in Ireland. Similarly it is also clear how important programmes like music and other arts can mean to an area such as Ballymun but if the recent controversy over sports funding is anything to go by areas such as Ballymun will be left, as always, to rot. Berry draws attention to these deficiencies but he is not lecturing us through his characters. This isn’t a civics lesson. It is woven through the fabric of his films, his lens.
In talking about the social aspects to his work what can sometimes be obscured is the remarkable technical skill in his films. Considering the budgets Berry’s films look like they cost a lot more than they do. The cinematography by Tom Comerford in Michael Inside is superbly claustrophobic, continuing on from and contrasting with Colm Mullen’s excellent Tallaght vistas in I Used to Live Here. His casts in both those films are phenomenal, with the superb Dafhyd Flynn the link to both of the films. With Flynn and the brilliant Jordanne Jones (brilliant as Amy in in I Used to Live Here) we have two potential breakout actors from a working class background (add in Barry Keoghan and the fantastic Caoilfhionn Dunne and Ireland has a very bright future in this regard). The scores in all three films are composed with some grace by Daragh O’Toole. This is a tight knit group of very talented people.
It is mentioned in Ballymun Lullaby about how Ballymun was a by-word for deprivation for news media and media in general (films, TV shows etc.). This kind of perception extends to Tallaght, Coolock, Finglas and various other places in working class Dublin. Where Ballymun Lullaby is very effective is showing the thirst for learning and the need for people with limited chances in life to express themselves. Across these three films Berry is continuously asking about our society and what we want from it. We want less crime but we do not invest enough in education in working class communities. We want drugs addicts off the streets but not nearly enough is invested in drug treatment facilities. We want to see less homeless people lying in doorways but the government is seemingly paralysed in dealing with this problem. We want the court system to work but it is completely stacked against working class people huge sums of money made by ‘respectable’ people in this area. Berry’s films are asking, no pleading, with society to be better and fairer. It really shouldn’t need a filmmaker to state the bloody obvious. But here we are. See the films. They are brilliant and individual and have the effect of making you feel a little wiser and maybe even nicer with the watching. That really is a wondrous thing. I hope they can continue for many years to come.
*
*
CinÉireann / April 2018 61