Themes: Age Disparity Romance, Haunted By the Past, Terrorism
Main Cast: Helen Mirren, John Lynch, Donal McCann, John Kavanagh, Ray McAnally
Release Year: 1984
Country: UK/IE
Run Time: 104 minutes
MPAA Rating: R
Plot
In the opening scenes of this politically-oriented drama, a killer enters the home of a policeman and in a shocking sequence murders him in cold blood -- an act that becomes the key to the rest of this film about the conflict between politics and life. Young Catholic, Cal (John Lynch) works in a slaughterhouse during the day and has participated in terrorist activities, but he wants out after he has been forced to drive a getaway car in the murder of the policeman. Meanwhile, he is slowly enchanted by Marcella, an older woman (Helen Mirren) who has just started working at the local library. Smitten but shy, Cal manages to ease himself into a job on her land, and when his father's home is burned to the ground by Protestants, Cal moves into a cottage on the woman's estate. Eventually, the two start a quiet liaison -- but Cal's inner turmoil disturbs the happiness he feels when he is with Marcella. Can he continue to hide his terrorist past from Marcella, who knows nothing about what he has done? While this question and others raised by the film are reasonable, director Pat O'Connor's treatment of the story may be too muted, and John Lynch's Cal too innocuous and frail (especially in contrast to Helen Mirren's Marcella) to win over all viewers. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
Stevan Rimkus - Crilly; Gerard Mannix Flynn - Arty; Seamus Ford - Old Man Morton; Kitty Gibson - Mrs. Morton; Tom Hickey - Preacher; Audrey Johnston - Lucy; Brian Munn - Robert Morton; Louis Rolston - Dermot Ryan; Gerard O'Hagan - Soldier at Farm; Scott Frederick - Soldier at Farm; Daragh O'Malley - Scar-Faced Policeman; George Shane - Second Policeman; Edward Byrne - Skeffington Senior
Credit
Josie MacAvin - Art Director, Stuart Craig - Co-producer, Penny Rose - Costume Designer, Pat O'Connor - Director, Michael Bradsell - Editor, Terence A. Clegg - Executive Producer, Mark Knopfler - Composer (Music Score), Stuart Craig - Production Designer, Jerzy Zielinski - Cinematographer, Terence A. Clegg - Producer, David Puttnam - Producer, Josie MacAvin - Set Designer, Pat Hayes - Sound/Sound Designer, Bernard MacLaverty - Screen Story, Bernard MacLaverty - Screenwriter, Bernard MacLaverty - Book Author
Cal (Lynch) is a young Catholic member of the Irish Republican Army in 1970s Northern Ireland. He is used as a driver on a nighttime murder of a member of the Royal Ulster Constabulary. The murder takes place at the victim's home in view of his family. The victim's dying words are a call for his wife, Marcella.
One year later Cal learns that the victim's widow is a librarian, Marcella (Mirren), a Catholic woman. Cal, burdened with guilt over his role in the murder, seeks to leave the IRA, but is pressured to remain a member. He and his father live in the city, where they are threatened with loyalist gangs and Orange Order marches on their street. Cal, wishing to atone in some way for assisting in the murder of Marcella's husband, seeks work in her family's Protestant home. Initially he works as a hand on their farm, and later moves into a small cottage on their land. Marcella is not happy in her home, feeling trapped by her deceased husband's family. Over time Cal and Marcella begin a love affair; during this time Marcella is unaware of Cal's role in her husband's death.
Eventually, Cal is found by his IRA unit and is threatened with murder if he does not continue working as a driver. While he is Christmas shopping for Marcella and her child, he is abducted by the IRA. The car is stopped by a British Army checkpoint; in the ensuing gunfire, Cal escapes and makes his way to Marcella's home, where he confesses his role in the murder.
Cal is pursued to the house by the RUC, and in the film's final scene both Cal and Marcella are seen in their respective 'prisons' - Cal on his way to prison in the police van, Marcella 'prisoner' in the home of her in-laws.
