Cal

"The wages of sin is death" ---Romans 8:5. That's the board nailed on a tree by a priest soon after the opening credits. Lots of killings and finally the wages of sin is indeed death. Ordinary tale of the hatred between the Protestants and Catholics in Northern Ireland. However, Ms (Dame) Helen Mirren is truly wonderful in this film, deserving of her Cannes Best Actress win for her role here.

A lot of people will miss the meaning of this film. Only those who are from Northern Ireland or who "know" the truth about Northern Ireland will appreciate this movie. A classic!!

It's interesting to see Irish reviewers' takes on movies like this. I haven't seen Cal in years, but I still listen to the beautiful soundtrack by Mark Knopfler. I put it on this morning, which is why I thought to look up the movie here.

I remember being captivated by the drama of this young kid in over his head, both with the IRA and in his romance with an older woman. The scenes had a raw grittiness that felt very real to me when I saw it in the theater, back in the mid-1980s.

So it's surprising to me to hear the film described by at least one reviewer here as both unlikely and clichéd. And I can't argue with that, in terms of history or culture or politics, because I wasn't there. Anyone who lived in Belfast at the time would surely have a more realistic view of the IRA and of Irish culture than I do.

But this morning, my young son looked up when that first song came on, and gave me a look, like, "What in the world is this?" After the song ended, he said, "Dad, it's so beautiful, it almost hurts." That's how I always felt about Cal. I'm a sucker for anything that's both beautiful and sad. That's how I remember the movie.

A strangely and unhappily compelling film from the pen over the wildly over-rated Bernard MacLaverty. The script piles improbability on improbability but, given that its premise is so unlikely, perhaps that is the point, a kind of coincidental momentum of the poor and the bad.

Helen Mirren doesn't fare too well as an RUC widow - there are many Irish actresses who could have suited and played this role much more convincingly. John Lynch is fine, looks the part, capturing something of the long-haired, unwashed aesthetic of the hunger-strikers of the time. The best performance is easily by Donal McCann as Lynch's Da, greasily working up a sweat at the local slaughterhouse. Ray McAnally is wasted in a small part.

I wouldn't recommend it to anyone, but it's an interesting addition to the Troubles archive. Some fine photography and backdrops go a long way towards salvaging a rotten script.

the atmosphere, the predictable end, Cal as a kind of new Raskolnikov, the love story , the cinematography, all, each are pieces of a beautiful film about pain, past and regrets. and this is the explanation why "Cal" remains, against the errors, a gem . because it reflects, in delicate-precise manner, a state. ambiguous, profound, Irish at whole, shadow of deep solitude and the illusion to escape from yourself. and, sure, the chance to have two great actors in the lead roles is one of the good things. but its force is result of the belief in the second chance. and in the forgiveness who could change everything. in essence, it is the film of John Lynch who gives a splendid Cal. but, in same measure, it is one of films for remember. not only the traces of the past. but the price of its errors.