MAY FILM CLASS WITH IAN MCIVER

4 Films that Capture the Soul of Ireland

Film Class was created to provide a forum for nurturing a deeper understanding of film culture and to keep the tradition of the film-going experience alive here in the Napa Valley. This series was created by Ian McIver.  Ian will rotate Film Class with David Garden through the summer.

TUESDAYS / 1:00 PM  /  TICKETS $10 at the Door

TUESDAY,  MAY 7

THE  COMMITMENTS
(1991) 118 min / IRELAND

The Commitments is a vibrantly funny and blissfully heartfelt ode to the power of music. Jimmy Rabbitte (Robert Arkins), a self-proclaimed promoter, decides to organize an R&B group to fill the musical void in his hometown of Dublin, Ireland. The band comes together but ends up consisting entirely of white musicians who have little experience with the genre. Even though their raw talent and lofty aspirations gain the group notoriety, the pitfalls of fame began to tear at their newfound friendships as they prepare for their big show. Based on the novel by Roddy Doyle. 

DIRECTOR: ALAN PARKER

TUESDAY,  MAY 14

THE FIELD
(1990) 108 min / IRELAND

"Bull" McCabe (Richard Harris) has spent three decades tending a rented field on the bluffs by the sea in Ireland. When the wealthy widow who owns the plot decides to sell it, she holds an open auction to spite McCabe. A rich American (Tom Berenger) with visions of a factory on the site outbids him, and McCabe then schemes with his emotionally crippled son, Tadgh (Sean Bean), to hold on to the land -- his only consolation in a life of loss, toil and a marriage gone sour.

DIRECTOR: JIM SHERIDAN

TUESDAY, MAY 21

ONCE
(2007) 86 min / IRELAND

A vacuum repairman (Glen Hansard) moonlights as a street musician and hopes for his big break. One day a Czech immigrant (Marketa Irglova), who earns a living selling flowers, approaches him with the news that she is also an aspiring singer-songwriter. The pair decide to collaborate, and the songs that they compose reflect the story of their blossoming love. 

DIRECTOR JOHN CARNEY

TUESDAY, MAY 28

RYAN'S DAUGHTER
(1970) 195 min / BRITISH/IRISH

Ryan's Daughter is a brilliant enigma, brilliant, because director David Lean achieves to a marked degree the daring and obvious goal of intimate romantic tragedy along the rugged geographical and political landscape of 1916 Ireland.

DIRECTOR: DAVID LEAN