Films: Sins of Ireland & The Perfect Pairing
Today - unlike yesterday - the Arc in Ennis (the only one showing Sins of Ireland) was showing it mid-afternoon! So that was the plan for today. I didn't really trust it - kept checking, but hallelujah, it stayed at that time. And so - after I'd gone through the long list of chores for my mother and the cat - I headed out. Made it in time, too! and found myself in a queue behind a whole ton of kids, with some attendant adults - one slightly flustered father asked me to go ahead of him as his kids dithered over the pick n mix. Mercifully, two extra staff members finally arrived, and the queue started to move.
I ended up being the only one at the screening! Now, I have (had? as I haven't heard from her in ages) a friend who once said she wouldn't stay at a screening if she were the only attendee - I have no such qualms, delighted to have the place to myself, in fact. Like a private screening.
Well, it's quite an interesting documentary - about (ahem) confession. They interview 15 Irish priests - looked really interesting, for those of us with experience of the phenomenon! And they're a mixed bunch - from old to young, including the youngest Parish Priest in Ireland, and a pretty young guy from Kilmallock. Of the older priests, many are overweight - indeed, one has died by the end of the film. And as well as the different priests, it's interesting to see the different churches, with vastly different architecture, and styles of confessional.
It's interesting to hear their take on it - mind you, they're pretty uniform in their opinions. One describes the fun with first confessions (generally held with seven-year-olds), and how, when he holds his hand over them to bless them, they invariably try to high-five him..! We do see footage of quite a few first confessions, conducted in groups. And one priest who describes how some people never move on from the kind of sins paraded out in those first confessions - he even had one person in confession describing how he disobeyed his parents.. which would have been fine, except that he was in his 80s!
Lots of them, of course, describe the Irish church's hang-up about sexuality, and how every other sin told in confession used to be like padding for what was considered the important ones, related to sexual acts. Someone draws an interesting comparison between the parable of the prodigal son, who is welcomed back with feasting and rejoicing, and the prodigal daughter, who receives neither welcome nor absolution - and there's some talk of mother and baby homes, and illegal adoptions. Sure enough, when the local Parish Priest called around today to give my mother Communion for Easter, and I mentioned this film to him, he immediately thought, from the name, that it was about abuse in the Church. And there's one priest in this film who asserts that every international clerical abuse scandal can be traced back to the Irish Church..
Poignant, also, in the film was the footage shot during the pandemic - with masses being held online, or with the priest at the church door, and the congregation all in their cars. There was a priest who heard confessions on the other side of a railing - another who advertised that he'd be sitting in his car, in the car park, for a specified time, and anyone who wanted confession could just drive up and he'd hear it from their car.
More than just a narrow documentary about confession, it turned out to be a nice snapshot of the current state of the Church in Ireland. Very balanced, very interesting.
Tonight, I found myself watching a late film - The Perfect Pairing is a romance, and not the sort of thing I'd normally go for. But there wasn't much else on.. and I found it quite watchable! Especially as it's focused on the wine industry.. a food critic gives a vineyard a terrible review, only to find herself stranded on their property! (I missed the first 15 minutes, so don't know how that happened.) Thing is, she then slips on the ice, or something, bangs her head, and develops amnesia. No idea what her name is or anything - and don't say "she should have checked her phone", because that got dropped in water, or something, and doesn't work. Lo, she ends up being looked after by the family that run the place, and of course, falls for the owner, who tells her how business has suffered after this awful review. Ah, but what's gonna happen when each discovers what her name is..?
Perfectly pleasant - and hey, they make ice wine, which I had only once and loved!
For tomorrow, Sinners is showing mid-afternoon, finally, in the Vue! Well, about time.. It's a very highly rated vampire film set in the world of gangsters and speakeasys.. and the rating keeps rising! As they say, the Devil has the best music.. I've booked, as it's cheaper. Now, all I have to do is find the place - I've never been there before!
Back in London on Monday evening..
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