Into the West

This small-scale film focuses on Gypsy folklore and myth, reincarnation, nature, and childhood.

Early in the film two Irish boys are given a horse by their grandad, which they decide to keep hidden in their tenement flat. Their father is severely depressed after the death of his wife, and lets the boys run riot. When the children (and horse) go on the run, he comes to terms with his travelling past with the Gypsies again and seeks solace in their help, wisdom, and faith.

'Into the West' is a truly remarkable film. The actors playing the children are remarkable (especially Ciaran Fitzgerald as Ossie), while the adult cast are headed by Gabriel Byrne (as the former traveller father) and his then-wife Ellen Barkin (as the mystical gypsy Kathleen). Both are excellent, while the mystical thread of the story - against the odds - remains believable and leaves an ending of optimism and goodwill.

Mike Newell, the director, and Jim Sheridan, the writer, deserve high praise for this movie. I also need to mention the Celtic music which pushes the story along and does much to set the atmosphere. Superb.

A very entertaining and interesting film on several levels.

Educational: about the life of the Tinkers or Travelers and the prejudice against them.

Entertaining: the little boys are lovable and delightful.

Mythical: where did the wonderful white horse come from and go?

Beautiful: country and seaside scenery and photography contrasted with crowded city scenes.

Romantic: he lost a wife he loved and left the wandering life, but returns to it when a lovely woman appears.

This film has everything! One of my All-Time Favorite movies!

Irish themes often end up cloying or playing to stereotype. This movie, with its "mystical" Celtish theme and its message of Irish pluck could easily have fall into either trap.

But the kids -- and the horse -- save the day. Great actors, those boys. Great choreography with a beautiful horse. Together, these elements make the story remarkably engaging -- keep the story itself from devolving into bathos, and make it impossible for you not to suspend disbelief and root for the horse! Great directing to bring this all together.

Example of how such a fantastical story is presented with some subtlety: in one almost inconsequential shot, the two boys are walking down a crowded Dublin sidewalk, leading the horse. A couple of kids pass them, and throw unprovoked verbal abuse at the boys, disparaging them for being travellers. The older boy quickly spits back a retort or two in kind and then returns seamlessly to his ongoing conversation with his brother -- but doesn't break his stride and doesn't show any signs that the abuse has even registered with him. It is as once heart-rending (what does it say about his life so far that such an attack barely registers, it must be so common), and a testament to the boy's courage.

In that one brief scene, the movie shows the depth of character the kid will draw on throughout the movie, and you can't help but root for him! And the acting makes you feel like this is really who the boy is, not that he's an actor playing a part. (It was such a better scene than the heavy-handed scenes with the requisite bad cop.)

`Into The West' is a beautifully made film: that it is also a wonderful children's move is only an added delight.

This film is a ghost story of love, loss, redemption, and the power of both myth and family to endure (if not exactly overcome) the twin bedevilments of a well-intentioned but meddling socialism, on the one hand, and privileged and greedy capitalism on the other. It is a modern fairy tale (with ties to traditional Irish mythology); but remarkably, it is also an honest, gritty look at the lives of not only the urban poor, but also of that most marginalized and enigmatic of socio-ethnic groups-the contemporary gypsies (or `travelers,' as they call themselves)--who eke out a meager but defiant existence in a world of the `settled.'

The movie is sympathetic to these people, but never over-romanticizes them. Around their campfire is not only joyous traditional Irish music and dancing, but also a television going full blast. And while their children are as happy as children anywhere, their camps are not idyllic picnics, but cold and grubby landfalls.

The story itself is not overly complicated. A strange white horse appears out of seemingly nowhere and is drawn to the two young sons of a widowed traveler, the death of whose wife has driven him to reject the gypsy life and embrace the bottle.

The horse, which has a preternatural jumping ability, is stolen and sold buy a corrupt police officer, then retaken by the boys, who then find themselves led westward by the horse, followed by both their father and the authorities.

All such journeys, of course, are journeys into both history and self knowledge; and it is here the film excels, gradually spinning out for us, with as few words as possible, the tale of a lost wife and mother, while showing us how the uncertain quest brings both father and sons to a better understanding of themselves, their history, and each other.

The film is painterly, well-acted (with especial kudos to the children) and splendidly edited--with no endless chase scenes (no more than necessary, anyway)--and with one of the most perfect and revealing climactic shots ever filmed--full of magic and metaphor--with never a word or a heavy-handed image.

`Into The West' is the perfect film for discriminating film lovers who want to watch some superb cinema with their kids-or without them.

P.S. My seven-year-old daughter loved it.

Don't let the cheesy video cover put your off. This is a gem of a family movie that uses a wee bit of magic to pull a dysfunctional Irish family back together. This is not a Disney film. The actors lack Hollywood's plastic sheen and cutesy appeal--they're real and honest, and good. You know from the start that this story will end happily, but there are some interesting surprises along the way, and at the end, you feel like you've just seen a piece of literature, not popcorn entertainment.

I give this film 9/10. My 12-year-old gave it 10/10, and my sometimes-cynical husband acknowledged "Yeah, it's a pretty good movie." That's high praise indeed.