Kings

I love any good Irish film and really want to see this. When I first saw the writeup on a few different sites I decided to look into it before I got the movie. And after reading everyones comments Im even more confused. Im guessing the movie is not spoken in English? I've always thought the Irish spoke English with an Irish accent. However, everyone's comments say differently. To make this even more confusing, someone commented that they wanted the movie spoken in Irish and not English. Yet they wrote there comment in English.... IM CONFUSED.

Could someone clarify if this is in fact English with an Irish accent or is there some language I don't know about. Also if it is not spoken in English, could someone verify if the "English version" of the movie has an alternate title here in the US.

Thank you

A beautifully-made film, "Kings" is one of the best movies of this year. The hand-held camera gives it an intimacy too often absent in close-up cinematic portraiture, and allows the viewer a real look at the shocking sadness of the lives of its subjects. Of a group of five friends who leave the west of Ireland in their teens in the late 1970s, Jackie is the first to die. Herein begins a long journey into oblivion for his four friends, all of them living lives very different from what was envisaged at the start of their English odyssey. What "Kings" does, more than anything, is take a long look at the generations of lost Irish in London, those who left Ireland on the boat to work on the building sites and to clean houses, and the sad waste of the loss of potential to the devils of booze. The films stays away from nostaglia or sentiment, and in doing so it creates for the viewer a real picture of how it was for all the thousands of immigrants, most of whom never saw home again.

It is possible that the major narrative of the twenty-first century will be that of immigration. With transnational movement becoming ever more common, the distances between us shrink both geographically and socially as every immigrant has a compelling individual story to share. Kings is the fertile ground where six of these stories take root, grow and intertwine. It is the first major bilingual (Irish Gaelic and English) Irish production.

In the seventies, six ambitious and energetic young men – friends and relatives – left Ireland for London with an eye to making their fortunes and eventually returning home in a blaze of glory. Like so many before them, they found work in the construction industry, toiling to build the very cities that often remained cold and unwelcoming to them. When we meet the men, it is nearly thirty years after their arrival, and one of them has died under terrible circumstances.

It is a deeply held tradition that they hold a wake for the passing of their friend, named Jackie. What makes this occasion even more tearful is that the friends haven't followed the path they originally had set out for themselves. They have not enjoyed the same fortunes or even returned to Ireland victoriously as planned. When they finally meet to honour Jackie, drink and sadness make it inevitable that some men will take up the grievances and disappointments of the past, all the while maintaining the illusion that they have a future. In tragic situations like these, nostalgia is particularly far from the cold, hard truth.

In addition to sketching a fine sense of place, director Tom Collins elicits remarkable performances from each member of his strong cast, particularly the great Colm Meaney as Joe, a man who left behind his old Irish life for good, but at a heavy cost. These skillful actors capture all the complex and heart-rending subtleties of the immigrant experience. Through the bonds and misfires of male friendship, Kings sympathetically portrays a circle who never actually leave their homeland in either custom or commitment.

Jane Schoettle

Kings plunges its viewers into the harsh reality of five Irish immigrant's lives in London. The men are separated not only geographically, but psychologically, from their homeland. They yearn to return, but are consumed with a sense of their own failure and fear rejection from loved ones at home. Instead they immerse themselves in alcohol and unfulfilled dreams. The acting is superb; the characters true-to-life; the theme universal. The use of Gaelic is a dramatic tool that serves to emphasize their alienation again in their adopted town of Kilburn. It is a story of sadness and regret and how individuals deal with pain. Tom Collins's movie challenges the audience to question their own relationships with fellow human beings, especially those from whom they are estranged, and especially those who were forced to leave these shores. It challenges us to question our views on this lost generation and to look at an era in our history that allowed such mass immigration. Hopefully, Kings will open up a national debate on how a Government could have failed its subjects and allowed a land to be bled of its inhabitants; hopefully,it will inspire us to welcome them home with open arms; hopefully it will encourage the present Government to continue to provide the means to do so. Go and see Kings. You will not be disappointed.

this is the only good honest film about irish culture i've seen .

the story is slow moving but very good (unless you need an action thriller to keep you awake).

i watched it last night and when i was coming out of the theatre one of the actors was strolling along beside me, chatting to his friends. UNREAL how often does that happen.

it's kind of like watching ros na run but with a proper story and actors.

overall its well worth a watch .even if its just to see what gaeilge sounds like on the big screen.

loved the part with the rebel tunes.