A Love Divided

An excellent film that asks us to confront the fundamental issues involved when an authority acts to control the day-to-day decisions of families. In this case the authority is exerted by the clergy but could just as easily have been from the government, a political party, community standards and values, military orders etc. A village priest demands that a young girl be sent to a Catholic school. Her mother declares that the choice of which school to send her to will be made by her parents, not by the church. Conflict develops in which the village society chooses sides and treats its opponents viciously. Her husband wavers between love of his family and submission to church authority and local opinion, setting up a second conflict which we are forced to confront and evaluate. Each viewpoint, of mother, husband and priest is presented honestly and unflinchingly and the ending is equally honest: it does not insult us by giving us a comfortable all-is-forgiven happy-ever-after resolution. We come away with serious issues to be thought about. The script and acting are excellent and the film is an accurate portrayal of an Irish village of the period; having grown up in the Irish countryside in the 1940s-1950s I can vouch for its accuracy. There is none of the Oirishness or comic characters of Ned Devine; these are real people involved in a conflict that derives from each having a commitment to principles. This is a thought-provoking film set in a particular time and place but dealing with important human issues. No one from Ireland should be in the least embarrassed with the presentation. Having seen it in Dublin in June 1999, I sincerely hope it will be widely distributed in the near future.

I recognize many of the common Oirish cliches we wish were taken out of Irish films, yet this film isn't about the simple life in an Oirish village such as Waking Ned or BallyK. It deals with a part of our history that my parents well remember. A Love Divided is about a true incident in Co. Wexford in the late 1950's. In order to marry a Catholic, a Protestant woman signs a 'ne temere' pledge to raise their children in the Catholic church. When their oldest daughter reaches the age to start school and the Protestant mother decides she does not want to send her daughter blindly to Catholic school, pledge or no, a string of events takes place that affects the lives of the town and those outside it.

The acting is brilliant. Liam Cunningham is magnificent as the husband caught between his religion and the family he loves. Orla Brady is equally magnificent as the defiant wife. Some may view this film as another show to the world that Ireland is a land of religious intolerance. I believe the fact that Irish film makers are now portraying incidents in our past such as the one in A Love Divided proves we recognize our past and are no longer doomed to repeat it.

OH WOW. I saw this film at the Irish International Film Fleadh in Manhattan on 12 March 2000. Both stars were in attendance and were available for questions afterward. WHAT A GORGEOUS FILM! Although set in Ireland amid Catholic/Protestant antagonism, the story could have happened anywhere between any two groups of people who hate each other. The horror of how quickly people can get carried away when they are given a chance to vent their hate and anger was woven beautifully with a moving love story drizzled with humor and fun. If this one does not get picked up in the USA, it would truly be most unfortunate.

As for the stars and supporting players...FIRST RATE. They call Orla Brady the Irish Meryl Streep, I heard. It is my opinion that she is BETTER than Meryl Streep. They should be calling Meryl the American Orla Brady! And, Liam Cunningham's steady and powerful portrayal of a simple and private man sucked into a political war was brilliant.

SEE THIS MOVIE.

I never fail to be amazed and horrified by the evil that has been predicated in the history of the world in the name of religion, and it seems that the machinations of the Catholic Church in Twentieth Century Ireland rank right up there near the top - considering that the wisdom of history and modern times should have had some sobering effect.

A Love Divided is the story of a real family scarred by ignorant intolerance and prejudice all in the name of an inane Church doctrine. At the beginning of the film, we are offered a view of the bucolic life in a small Irish village in which Sheila and Sean Cloney are happily married with two young children. Sean is Catholic and Sheila is Protestant, but she has no qualms with their children being raised as Catholic. There is no sign of any animosity between the Catholics and Protestants in the village. The peaceful and loving relationships are soon shattered when Sheila expresses the desire to have their older child attend the Protestant school. The local priest takes it upon himself to forbid this "sin" and soon has Sheila's husband and the entire Catholic population of the village turned against her as well as her father, the local dairy farmer. In an act of defiance and desperation, Sheila kidnaps her two daughters and flees from the area.

Special note should be given to Orla Brady who plays Sheila. She gives an extremely powerful performance in which the viewer is drawn in to the emotional trauma in which she decides to reject the wishes of a husband she deeply loves in order to express her fervent desire to establish herself as independent from the pressures of the establishment. On an equal footing is Liam Cunningham who plays Sean for he gives a realistic portrait of a man not nearly as complex as his wife who is torn between his love for her and the influence of Church and community.

If fiction, this film would have been a compelling and interesting drama. Considering it is true, it changes to a horrific tragedy. In real life, the people and the village never fully recovered from the events that took place there. It took almost half a century for the Church to acknowledge its negative role in the events, and even though Sheila and Sean lived out their lives in the area, they never fully recovered from what was done to them by the religious leaders and their fellow villagers.

Whether it be denying basic rights to education of choice, crashing planes into buildings, subjugating women, condemning whole races, or just plain on torture and murder, we humans certainly have the ability to use religion as a powerful negative force in our society.

This movie might not put the Catholic church in the best light but it is telling a story based on true events. Unfortunately not everything in life, including religion, are all nice and rosy. Sometimes people and groups do things that at the time seem like the right thing but in retrospective do not look as great as they once did. "A Love Divided" tells the story of a family, yes it does incorporate religion, but really the story is about a family, and that family's ability to stay together no matter what is thrown at them. This film is also based on true events which is not to say that this story, scene by scene, is true, but if you were to look at news articles from that time period you would be able to see that neither churches handled the incident in a way that was helpful towards the family. Both churches are at fault here, the Catholic church for forcing such a regulation on the family in the first place and not responding to the violence that came with it and the Protestant church for telling the mother that she should just obey her husband and his priest and not put up a fight. In this case both let this family down. I believe that the film does a good job in showing this struggle in both the church and the family. It in no way shape or form is putting down the Catholic church, just the opposite, it shows how one incident can change the course of that religion's ideas and how one person can have an effect far more reaching then just themselves.