Jimmy's Hall

There are many movies made about oppression, but not nearly enough. In this story based on facts and one man's intention to give culture, song and dance to his small, impoverished community, it defies belief that this travesty of injustice occurred.

As usual, the Catholic Church, the overlords and the unjust legal system come together to destroy any chance a small community has of the vital birth-right of culture and harmony for those who need it most; an isolated county in Ireland.

As one man steps up, after having been deported once already for the grand crime of opening a hall where people can learn such basic things as song, dance, art, literature and boxing, after his ten first ten year deportation, the local youth who have nothing to look forward to in life, convince him to do so again.

This is a straightforward movie about a circumstance that defies belief, and yet it occurred. Worth the watch for anyone who understands that oppression and fascism is wrong and that normal people deserve joy, community and to fight back when their world makes no sense on account of simply wanting to life a life.

This movie opposes two different and opposed views of the world: that of Jimmy Gralton, who apart from wanting to open a dance hall, is also a left-wing idealist. Although Ken Loach makes not mystery of his sympathies in this movie, as usual he remains even-handed, lets the opposition have their say, and never makes the conservative side appear as ridiculous or stupid. In fact the heart of the movie is the confrontation between Jimmy Gralton and Father Sheridan, which despite the depth of conflict, is fundamentally based on a grudging mutual respect.

What, indeed, could be wrong with opening a dance hall and cultural center? Well in the thirties Ireland was recovering from years of bloody conflict, first the war for independence, followed by more years of civil war. Father Sheridan argues that now is the time for reconciliation, not for political agitation, and what he sees as communist propaganda. It is time for being Irish together, for listening to Irish music rather than "alien Jazz from deepest Africa".

Of course the Loach's sympathy (and ours) goes to the yearning of the young people who have no place to go, no prospects, no jobs, and who desperately want to find some joy, relief and self-expression. The movie may be a bit slow at times, but it is deeply moving.

During the uncertain times of late 1920's Ireland an arrival from New York upsets the life of a small rural community.

How did he do that? He set up a dance hall, how scandalous. Whilst by and large the locals embraced it and it provided them with a focal point there was opposition. The church led the way, and some local conservatives followed. By branding them as communists provided their arguments with some supposed gravity. What went on in that hall was open for all to see, yet it met with fierce opposition.

The film puts the two worlds into focus. One view is that change is reprehensible, things ought to stay as they are. The opposing view wants change, people to be free from oppression. The newcomer brought some new ideologies as well as lots of controversy.

Both sides are unchangeable in their positions, no one is prepared to backtrack and a clash is unavoidable. Can the idealist modernist challenge the ultra powerful church orthodoxy?

A mighty tale about old and new in the battlefield of ideas.

This certainly isn't Loach's finest film, and certainly not his best film that portrays Irish life in the 20th century. However, it is important for a number of historical reasons.

This film is naturally quite critical of the church's stranglehold on Irish life and policy. Jim Norton's role in portraying this is invaluable, after all who better to portray a controlling, traditionalist,angry priest than Bishop Brennan himself? Indeed, Jim's character in this film completely mirrors his character in Father Ted... but believe me, that is NOT a criticism.

While the movie may be slow-paced and seemingly dull at certain inter-sections, it's importance for history cannot be discounted. Not so long ago, it would have been sacrilege to watch this film due to it's unsubtle portrayal of the church's sometimes intrusive influence on Ireland, in fact some probably would still consider it to be so. It also deals with the rise of Fascism in Ireland in the early 20th century, something that is almost absent from cinema.

The movie deserves more credit and should have a larger influence than it appears to have. Give it a chance, some may call it propaganda... it's not. Give it a watch.

At his best Ken Loach makes films that are as emotionally engaging as any in world cinema and while he has on occasions disappointed, every Ken Loach film is worth seeking out. "Jimmy's Hall" sees him return, in some respects, to the territory he explored in "The Wind that Shakes the Barley" and it is one of his very best films. Again we are back in Ireland but 10 years after the end of the Civil War. Old wounds haven't healed, (they still haven't healed completely to this day), and like "The Wind that Shakes the Barley" the divisions here are much more political than social and almost as violent.

It deals with the very specific conflict between those who opposed the Treaty, those who supported it and the dominating Catholic Church when one, Jimmy Gralton, returns from 10 years exile in America and reopens a community hall that was the source of all his trouble in the first place, against the express wishes of 'Holy Mother Church' and those who backed it.

As scripted by Paul Laverty it is, of course, a deeply political film but Loach is the most humanist of political film-makers; consequently it is also a deeply moving (and, at times, very funny) picture. At its centre is a magnificent performance from Barry Ward as Gralton and he is backed beautifully by Jim Norton and Andrew Scott representing the clergy as well as a host of wonderfully naturalistic Irish actors, some professional, some not. Loach may now be in this seventies but this feels as fresh and as relevant as anything he did fifty years ago. I think it's the equal to both "Land and Freedom" and "The Wind that Shakes the Barley".