Stella Days

Fr Daniel Barry (Martin Sheen) ,a man of the World having served in America and Rome , who has a passion for Cinema , Music and Language is left to languish in a rural community in Co Tipperary in the 1950's. The Bishop is encouraging his Parish Priests to gather funds to build new churches in every Parish. Fr Barry is more inclined to set up a Cinema in the local hall, going so far as plundering the church building fund to do so. The film has a number of different issues going on, such as the Priest's own doubts about his vocation as he was sent by his parents to the priesthood, the rural electrification of Ireland in the 1950's, the effects of the necessary emigration of young Irish men in that era to send money home to families to survive and the power of the Church and the Politicians in the fledgling Irish State. The cast is a strong one. Martin Sheen , as Fr Barry, is resigned to life in the Village, his only beacons of light being the arrival of a young teacher in the village,( well played by Trystran Gravelle, ) full of encouragement and passion, though this falls apart when he indulges in passions of another king with his young landlady (Marcella Plunkett). Tom Hickey shines out as the Bishop with "A countryman's love of concrete", drooling over his church building project, as does Stephen Rea as the rural Politician with a dedicated opposition to "Hollywood Filth". The main fault of the Film is that it takes on a few too many themes at the same time. Despite that, it is still a worthwhile film. It is a valid look at 1950's Ireland, sometimes sentimental and quite often humorous!

Martin Sheen has landed a role that shows off his considerable talents in this small scale, sensitive and informed film from Tribeca. Based on a novel by Michael Doorley adapted for the screen by Antoine O. Flatharta and directed with sensitivity by Thaddeus O'Sullivan, the story takes place in Ireland of 1956, and the film opens with an introduction to bringing electricity into a very small town whose people have done very well without the new-fangled things, thank you very much.

The priest of the town is Fr. Daniel Barry (Martin Sheen), a loving man who hears confessions, makes his rounds offering oils of last rites to please one elderly ill patient and caring for his flock in a very human manner, is a man of the World having the Church both in America and Rome, who has a passion for Cinema , Music and Language is left to languish in a rural community after being replaced in Rome by a younger priest with greater credentials for scholarship. The Parish Bishop (Tom Hickey) has decided his parish needs a new, modern, concrete church and he burdens the parish priests to raise the funds for the project. There is a politician in the town - Brendan (Stephen Rea) - who vies for power with Fr. Barry, seeking political clout to reign in the filthy temptations of the world from his followers. Fr. Barry, on the other hand, devises a method for raising funds (and catering to his love for picture shows) by building a cinema. He is supported by a new young schoolteacher Tim (Trystan Gravelle, a young Welsh actor of great potential) - Fr. Barry overrode Brendan, further alienating himself. Tim finds room and board with a local young mother Elaine (Amy Huberman) whose alcoholic abusive husband is off to London leaving their young son Joey (Joseph O'Sllivan) without the nurturing of a father. The tale pits the worldly priest against the power hungry fundamentalist politicians and the significant people of the story are at first injured and then find a manner of redemption. In the end the 'bringing of light' to the little town in Tipperary via electricity and modern times merely reveals a path for conscientious folk to escape it all.

The cast is very strong, the musical score by Nicholas Hooper, and the countryside of Ireland is gorgeous. This is a little film with a big message that flies like a lark in the sky. Try to catch it!

Grady Harp

I took my Mum to see this film, never imagining I would enjoy it as much as I did.

Martin Sheen is commendable as the world weary Fr. Daniel Barry - a man living with the legacy of a vocation thrust upon him as a young boy by ambitious parents. The film offers a snapshot of life in claustrophobic, rural 1950's Ireland, with overlaying themes of longing, control and unfulfilled desires - set against the backdrop of an oppressive status quo.

Recommended - but don't expect to emerge from the cinema bellowing with laughter.

Just watched this independent film starring Martin Sheen on Netflix disc with my mom. We both pretty much enjoyed this drama about Sheen as a priest finding himself stuck in Ireland instead of going back to Rome when a bishop inquires him about building a new church. In order to get some funds in order, however, Sheen suggests a cinema which meets some opposition from a politician who decries the "American filth" invading the Irish populace during the not-so-modern '50s timeline as the public is also starting to get used to some electric appliances. There's more to this drama but I'll stop there and just say that while I didn't always know what was going on initially, by the end, I think I understood enough. So on that note, Stella Days is recommended.

I came to Stella Days because it was filmed in Fethard, Co Tipperary, Ireland - my Father's birthplace. And because I loved Martin Sheen in The West Wing. In this little film (or fillum as they say in Ireland) Sheen plays a jaded Roman Catholic Priest, perhaps an older version of the Type played by Bing Crosbie back in the day. But this is. Much more serious film than the initial whimsy might suggest, meditating on the struggle between the Church and Ireland's fledging democracy. And perhaps darker still, the manner in which the main character came to be a priest in the first place - as a 12 year old he had no choice when sent to the Seminary.

There is serious stuff here. The film also shows Ireland in the 1950s, a time when my parents were growing up. It is also filmed in Fethard which is where my partner and I watched it for the second time having spent the evening in the wonderful McCarthy's Hotel which features considerably in the proceedings. Maybe I'm slightly biased, but I think this film is a treasure, and would gladly watch over again.