Anton

I saw this at The Boston Irish Film Festival 2008. It has merit on all fronts. Gee, How many American movies started with €5,000 euro pack this punch?! The acting is exemplary and the direction while safe delivers when its called for. Mc Sorely is incredible and Fox in his first Lead ( I think) in a movie holds his own very well against him. The character he plays is very hard to get to grips with in the early scenes but once the movie gathered pace one could understand his mindset. The supporting cast (again unknown) deliver truthful performances often missing from films of this caliber and budget. There are places where it's budget is telling but the ambition and the sheer scale for little money has to be commended. The audience in Harvard were well impressed. African American, Irish American, Hispanic American. Seriously it was amazing coming as I do from an English heritage to see this cross section engage with an Irish Film on so many levels. At first I was terrified this is yet another Brit bashing movie but was pleasantly surprised by how focused it was on the family and how the conflict in Northern Ireland was purely a background to what is a gritty truthful movie.

I gave Anton a 10 rating despite a couple of misgivings. The sheer ambition of this movie is inspirational! Ambition, something sadly lacking in Ireland, just look at RTE, TV3 and the morons who run the country. I can't recall an Irish film which dared to compete with Hollywood action thrillers, Recent Irish Films (A film with me in it, Middletown, Adam & Paul, 32a, Garage etc) have been slow paced and better suited for TV. Sorry about the rant! The recreation of the 70's period in this movie is flawless, the score, cinematography and most of the performances are incredible. On the downside, the filmmakers tried to cram so much in that the film losses focus at points. Gerard McSorley does his thing to great effect lending tremendous weight to the production, but it's the supporting performances that are surprisingly good. With Anton, Irish Film is getting on track, (not back on track, because it was never on track in my opinion) What Ireland needs is more people working in the film industry with balls and before you say, what about movies like, In the Name of the Father, The Boxer, Michael Collins, Veronica Guerin etc, yes they were good, great even, but these films were made by Hollywood studios so can't be considered true Irish Films.

I don't know if this is the worst film ever made because I haven't seen them all, but it is certainly the worst I've ever watched by some distance. How Gerard McSorley ever became involved in this I'll never know.

I don't understand how anyone from Cavan could write a story so devoid of any understanding of where they are from. Set in 1972, perhaps intentionally, the film depicts a facile portrayal of Ireland's troubled past and does so in a way guaranteed to offend everyone who lived through that period.

This film was nominated for three IFTAs and, as an Irishman, for that decision I'm cringing. Jesus wept.

Wasn't expecting much from this, in light of the mixed reviews it received. I usually find that when some critics love a movie and some hate it, I usually end up hating it too. Not this time. For a start, it looks great. Best cinematography in an Irish film I've seen in years, more like David Fincher than anyone else. The plot / story is great too, keeps twisting and turning and the action never lets up. I thought the acting was top notch, especially the supporting roles. The brother, the wife and the little psycho IRA guy were all brilliant. I loved the score too. Only downside was that the time line jumped a little in the first twenty minutes and it was hard to follow what was happening when, but this didn't detract from the film at all. I can't see why some critics didn't like this film. I think a lot of Irish people are just have a blind spot for anything that relates to the troubles. Will probably do much better outside Ireland than it did here. I nearly didn't go to see this and I'm glad now that I got off my ass and made the effort. Well worth it.

When you set out to make an Independent film you do so with the intention of doing the best job you can with the resources available to you. When there is no definitive budget, (by that I mean, when you're not financed) it means there is no definitive time-line for completion. The majority of time is spent scraping together money piece-meal. You receive no income for your efforts and end up in crippling debt.

So why do it? Well; A filmmaker makes films and that involves taking a leap of faith.

Two years have passed since the completion of the film and with the forthcoming UK DVD release on October 11 (http://www.highfliersplc.com/product/284/) it's interesting to reflect on the expectations we had. The act of completion, finding an audience, and the subsequent sale of the film, (in over thirty territories to date) is all a filmmaker can ask.

Ultimately what you're left with is the satisfaction of a successful outcome to your endeavours and the belief to take another leap of faith, coming to a cinema near you in the very near future?