A long time ago in the '90s, Irish cinema consisted mostly of stuff like The Secret of Roan Inish. Magical, children, sea, islands, fiddles/whistles/pipes on the soundtrack, cottages, seals, and storytellers. We even got a famous director in sometimes to make this stuff. Problem was that while it sounded good on paper often the results were not great. So what was great about Roan Inish? The cinematography that's what. Absolutely amazing images abound in this movie. The sea is blue, the grass is green, the indoor scenes are warm. If only other Irish movies could look as good as this instead of using filtered Tourist Board shots or washed out grays. What's the movie about? It's really a kids' story for adults (!) where a young girl hears various tales about her relatives. It's not great but not bad either. Some of it is boring, some impressive, and some really predictable (you can tell which musical instrument will appear on the soundtrack for the next scene!). Bet the makers of Ondine have see this movie!
Another famous movie with an Irish theme. Set in Africa a TCD graduate heads off alone to find a diamond mine. His daughter gets an explore...