Coragem e Esperança Renovada

I saw this on its release in 1986 and really enjoyed. Nothing spectacular just a film on the struggle of 2 men who have been made redundant and decide to do something different. I was a little bit reminded of Eat the Peach when I watched Take Shelter. A bit of stretch maybe but it did remind me. Yesterday I saw footage from 1979 on the real life men who the film was based on and who actually built a Wall of Death in Granard County Longford. It reminded me of the film and I have ordered a copy. I hope it is as good as I remember from all those years ago

Don't expect an Oscar winner but it is hard not to watch and enjoy

Thanks

After reading all the comments it seems one either loves this movie or hates it. I loved it enough to buy a copy which, before I had the internet, was no easy chore. The manager of the local Blockbuster managed to find it for me. When a friend wants to see it they watch it at my house. I won't lend it out. To the two who hated it - get a life. No one ever said it's the worlds most important film. It isn't. What it is instead, is an enjoyable little movie about two men who take what life throws at them and make the best of it. It also captures a time when Ireland was losing many of its young men to other countries because of lack of work; a situation that, fortunately, is no longer common.

I did not find this movie to be the piece of crap that some here thought it was. Of course, then again, I'm not from Ireland and didn't see it through their (perhaps personal) eyes. I found it to be an honest, not stupid, little slice of life story about struggles of life and personal dreams, small though they may be. I surely saw a countryside unlike any in the states. The star, as it should be, is the wall-of-death these guys build. I was pleased that it is a focus here, and is shown a lot. It is shown throughout, as they actually had to build it from the ground up for the movie. It is very real. Watch it flex. It's hard to find an old wall-of-death touring in the US anymore. The riding-the-wall shots are frequent, done well, and show these actors honestly riding. This is refreshing. Compare that to movies about any other action-activity or sport like climbing, racing, football, horses, etc.

As an Irish person, I like to catch as many home-made films as possible when they are in the cinema. In the case of this one, I wish I'd stayed home in front of the TV. There's a hackneyed storyline which falls back on every Oirish cliche in the book, cardboard characters and nothing to keep you watching. Stay away my friends.

In a way, "Eat the Peach" is a classic. The catch is that this film never attempted to pander - or even explain itself - to an international audience. You had to be Irish - and probably rural Irish at that - to understand much of the humour and many of the characters (especially Niall Toibin's "faux returned Yank").

Similarly, the peat industry references and the sub-plot revolving around cross-border smuggling are likely to have been lost on overseas viewers. "Eat the Peach" was made before the Irish film industry had truly found its feet and so, perhaps unintentionally, seemed to have been aimed mostly at domestic movie-goers.

This, IMHO, is why this movie is remembered fondly in Ireland but has never received the international exposure it may otherwise have enjoyed. At heart this is a film about courage and optimism. About pitting one's wits against a hopeless situation. About living as a pawn yet trying to turn the tables on "the man."

And in those terms, "Eat the Peach" is a runaway success. It deserves to become more widely known.