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Angela's Ashes
Synopsis
Based on the autobiography by Frank McCourt, this drama tells the story of Frank's life as a child growing up in Limerick in the 1930s.
Review
Because Frank McCourt's bestselling, Pulitzer Prize-winning memoir Angela's
Ashes was dearly embraced by millions of readers, it was perhaps inevitable
that Alan Parker's film version would prove somewhat disappointing. McCourt's
book is blessed with subtleties of language and detailed observation that
do not easily lend themselves to screen interpretation, and Parker's film
suffers from an overly literal, reverently sombre approach that lacks
the cumulative emotions of McCourt's account of impoverished youth in
Ireland. And where McCourt was able to enliven his family's suffering
with tenacious humour and fighting Irish spirit, Parker's film provides
precious little uplift in the course of 145 minutes.
The film is by no means an artistic failure. While admirably avoiding
sentiment, Parker is nearly peerless in his direction of children, and
the three actors playing Frank at ages 7, 11, and 15 are uniformly superb.
As photographed by Michael Seresin, the re-created lanes of Limerick,
Ireland are almost painfully authentic in the cold, grey dampness that
permeates nearly every scene (this is surely one of the wettest films
ever made). As the McCourt parents--chronically depressed Angela and recklessly
drunken Malachy--Emily Watson and Robert Carlyle successfully bypass the
pitfalls of melodrama in a film that could have wallowed in bathos. And
while Parker's anecdotal approach falls short in conveying the fullness
of McCourt's experience (the director fared better with the Irish rockers
of The Commitments), Angela's Ashes captures a specific time and place
with vivid force, remaining loyal to the spirit of Frank McCourt's beloved
tale of survival.
Languages
English plus subtitles in English