That They May Face the Rising Sun

Watch this movie and be at peace with a different rhythm of life from a time and place that is gone. Some of it with good riddance and some with a beautiful longing attached. The people are all from my childhood in one way or another and the vivid and stirring performances moved me greatly.

The unabated fury, the humdrum quiet, the occasional out of place remark, the gentle mockery of the hypocrites - this is a stunning insight into rural life at the time of my childhood. I am grateful to see it now as an adult and grasp the subtleties that were beyond me then.

If you cannot marvel at their splendor and that of the scenery that remains in the west of Ireland, then plan a visit to see the modern day version. Spoiler alert : it's the same only different.

Having grown up in rural donegal, it was a great movie as it brought up so many memories. It felt very true to the time and place. They obviously put a lot of time and thought into certain scenes and how people would have interacting at the time. Its a slow movie but it hits a punch. It goes without saying that the long shots of the scenery are beautiful and it is done in a way that it ties into the story. I hope that people that are not familiar with the place don't think that the more eccentric characters are overplayed or exaggerated as these are characters that are very familiar to those that grow up in rural Ireland.

There is a lot to praise in That They May Face The Rising Sun: stunning scenery, great acting, beautiful score, but the presence of a strong plot, theme, or central relationship, one of which at least, is required to hold a great film together, was lacking. The married couple around whose lives and cottage the main action revolved, seemed to coexist largely on a diet of meaningful glances and melancholy embraces. Joe's (Barry Ward) depiction as a stoic Good Samaritan-friend, embalmer, driver, letter-writer to all, starved the actor of any emotional range, and the the action of any dramatic surprise. His wife (Anna Bederke) had little to do but smile serenely at her new, semi-cloistered, adopted world, like a novice nun stuck with her vows. Clearly Pat Collins placed most of his chips on mood and atmosphere, which for me, often echoed that doomed rural isolation and missed opportunity which The Ballroom of Romance did so well. I liked some set pieces, particularly the the wedding, where the close up of Brendan Conroy's lonely face tore at the heart. The wake (strangely, for its time, without a priest in sight) and laying out of Johnny's corpse, showed the single death is also a communal one. I loved Sean McGinley's performance, especially in that devastating scene where his eyes and voice convey the deep shame he feels for having left Ireland, only to end up cleaning the 'English jacks' in Fords.

The film succeeds in what it sets out to do; capture life in the ordinary moments of ordinary, often frustrated individuals, present it in significant, often striking fragments rather serve it up as a coherent narrative whole, a kind of style that Fellini perfected in the incomparable Amarcord.

A beautiful portrait of the loneliness and isolation in countryside living, and finding the small joys in the monotony of the everyday. The random assortment of world-weary locals constantly dropping by Joe and Kate's home perfectly encapsulates the people for whom life has passed them by, and who come and go from the world leaving little trace.

It's also a tale of living with the hand you're dealt and the choices you make along the way. It's easy to envy the success of others when you don't have much to your name, or live in the past when times were better, but finding serenity in what you do have is the real key to life.

Sometimes all you have in the world is the people around you; sometimes they're all you need.

This is an exceptional movie. The slow pace of life brings your heartbeat down, it takes you to places in way that other movies cannot. I really enjoyed the character development and the moments of joy and sadness. It's a true beauty, watch it.

This is an exceptional movie. The slow pace of life brings your heartbeat down, it takes you to places in way that other movies cannot. I really enjoyed the character development and the moments of joy and sadness. It's a true beauty, watch it.

This is an exceptional movie. The slow pace of life brings your heartbeat down, it takes you to places in way that other movies cannot. I really enjoyed the character development and the moments of joy and sadness. It's a true beauty, watch it.