Men and Masculinities in Irish Cinema

Men and Masculinities in Irish Cinema

Also by Debbie Ging TRANSFORMING IRELAND: Challenges, Critiques, Resources ( co- edited with M. Cronin and P. Kirby)

Men and Masculinities in Irish Cinema Debbie Ging Dublin City University, Ireland

Debbie Ging 2013 Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2013 978-0-230-23200-6 All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this publication may be made without written permission. No portion of this publication may be reproduced, copied or transmitted save with written permission or in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, or under the terms of any licence permitting limited copying issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency, Saffron House, 6 10 Kirby Street, London EC1N 8TS. Any person who does any unauthorized act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages. The author has asserted her right to be identified as the author of this work in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. First published 2013 by PALGRAVE MACMILLAN Palgrave Macmillan in the UK is an imprint of Macmillan Publishers Limited, registered in England, company number 785998, of Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS. Palgrave Macmillan in the US is a division of St Martin s Press LLC, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010. Palgrave Macmillan is the global academic imprint of the above companies and has companies and representatives throughout the world. Palgrave and Macmillan are registered trademarks in the United States, the United Kingdom, Europe and other countries. ISBN 978-1-349-31239-9 ISBN 978-1-137-29193-6 (ebook) DOI 10.1057/9781137291936 This book is printed on paper suitable for recycling and made from fully managed and sustained forest sources. Logging, pulping and manufacturing processes are expected to conform to the environmental regulations of the country of origin. A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. A catalog record for this book is available from the Library of Congress. 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 22 21 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13

Contents List of Figures Acknowledgements vi ix 1 Introduction 1 2 Gender and Nation: the Gaelicisation of Irish Manhood 20 3 Instruments of God s Will : Masculinity in Early Irish Film 38 4 Institutional Boys: Adolescent Masculinity and Coming of Age in Ireland s Architecture of Containment 58 5 Family Guys: Detonating the Irish Nuclear Family 79 6 It s Good to Talk? Language, Loquaciousness and Silence Among Irish Cinema s Men in Crisis 105 7 Troubled Bodies, Troubled Minds: Republicanism, Bromance and House-Training the Men of Violence 130 8 New Lads or Protest Masculinities? Underclass, Criminal and Socially Marginalised Men in the Films of the 1990s and 2000s 154 9 Cool Hibernia: New Men, Metrosexuals, Celtic Soul and Queer Fellas 182 10 Conclusion: a Masculinity of Transcendent Defeat? 208 Notes 214 Bibliography 224 Index 239 v

List of Figures 1.1 Matt the Thrasher Donovan in Knocknagow (1918), Ireland s first feature- length indigenous film: Gaelic manhood as selfless, spiritual and grounded 2 (Courtesy of the Irish Film Archive) 1.2 Fast- forward to 2000: Adam s narcissism, materialism and urban lifestyle epitomise metrosexual masculinity in Gerry Stembridge s About Adam (2000) 3 (Courtesy of Venus Film & TV Productions Ltd.) 2.1 GAA Roots and Boots campaign (2007): images of masculinity as firmly rooted in the land persist in many aspects of contemporary Irish culture. Recent Irish cinema, on the other hand, has consistently critiqued and dismantled this trope 30 (Courtesy of ESB Corporate Communications, produced by McConnells Advertising) 3.1 We and Ireland s Destiny are in the Hands of God : Denis O Hara, protagonist of Irish Destiny (1926), is motivated by hard work, community and family rather than individual heroism 40 (Courtesy of the Irish Film Archive) 3.2 An islandman must never gain at the expense of another : Liam teaches Neal how to be an authentic Irishman in The Islandman (1938) 52 (Courtesy of the Irish Film Archive) 4.1 Schoolboys are subjected to cruelty and abuse by Christian Brothers in Cathal Black s Our Boys (1981) 65 (Courtesy of Cathal Black and the Irish Film Archive) 4.2 Occi Byrne is institutionalised for the sins of his father in Swansong (2009) 73 (Courtesy of Zanzibar Films and the Irish Film Archive) 5.1 Old fathers: the emotionally repressed patriarch persists into the noughties in Kevin Liddy s Country (2000) 89 (Courtesy of Kevin Liddy and the Irish Film Archive) vi

List of Figures vii 5.2 New fathers? Paul is traumatised by and estranged from his role as expectant father in Colin Downey s The Looking Glass (2010) 101 (Courtesy of Emu Productions and the Irish Film Archive) 6.1 The sacred: Josie s silence positions him on the margins of society in Lenny Abrahamson s Garage (2007) 111 (Courtesy of Element Pictures and the Irish Film Archive) 6.2 and the profane: Ray s linguistic histrionics constantly strive to reassert straight, white masculinity as normal in Martin McDonagh s In Bruges (2008) 124 (Courtesy of Universal Pictures International Ireland and the Irish Film Archive) 7.1 The transition from violent, sectarian masculinity to peaceful and nurturing constructions of manhood is played out through a highly charged father son trope in Jim Sheridan s In the Name of the Father (1993) 139 (Courtesy of Universal Pictures International Ireland and the Irish Film Archive) 8.1 Dublin s urban cowboy culture as a site of protest masculinity in Paul Tickell s Crush Proof (1999) 168 (Courtesy of Clarence Pictures, the Irish Film Archive and Nicholas O Neill) 8.2 Colin Farrell as charismatic sociopath Lehiff in John Crowley s Intermission (2003) 176 (Courtesy of Parallel Films and the Irish Film Archive. Photographer: Tom Collins) 9.1 Angels: reconstructed New Man Shane in David Gleeson s Cowboys and Angels (2003) 188 (Courtesy of Peter Stockhaus Filmproduktion GmbH and the Irish Film Archive) 9.2 and cowboys: unreconstructed masculinity and the pornification of rural Ireland in Tom Hall s Sensation (2011) 199 (Courtesy of Blinder Films and the Irish Film Archive. Photographer: Will Martin) 10.1 Paul, respectable professional turned vigilante in Brendan Muldowney s Savage (2009): Irish masculinity reformulating on a new wilderness/civilisation frontier? 211 (Courtesy of SP Films and the Irish Archive)

viii List of Figures Cover Image Credits Colin Farrell as Lehiff in Intermission (2003): still courtesy of Parallel Films and the Irish Film Archive. Photographer: Tom Collins. Brian Magowan as Matt the Thrasher Donovan in Knocknagow (1918): still courtesy of the Irish Film Archive. Colm Meaney as Joe Mullan in Kings (2007): still courtesy of Newgrange Pictures and the Irish Film Archive. Steven Berkoff as The Uncle in Headrush (2003): still courtesy of Zanzibar Films. Glen Hansard as Guy in Once (2006): still courtesy of photographer David Cleary. Pat Shortt as Josie in Garage (2007): still courtesy of Element Pictures and the Irish Film Archive. Domhnall Gleeson as Donal in Sensation (2010): still courtesy of Blinder Films and the Irish Film Archive. Photographer: Will Martin. Wuzza Conlon as Charlie in Headrush (2003): still courtesy of Zanzibar Films. Kris Marshall as Eamon Manley in The Most Fertile Man in Ireland (2000): still courtesy of Samson Films and the Irish Film Archive. Darren Healy as Neal in Crush Proof (1998): still courtesy of Clarence Pictures, the Irish Film Archive and Nicholas O Neill. Photographer: Patrick Redmond. Brendan Gleeson as Sergeant Gerry Boyle in The Guard (2011): still courtesy of Element Pictures and the Irish Film Archive. Daniel-Day Lewis as Gerry Conlon in In the Name of the Father (1993): still courtesy of Universal Pictures International Ireland and the Irish Film Archive.

Acknowledgements I would like to acknowledge the support provided by the Office of the Vice President for Research, Dublin City University, which gave me a Research Career Start Award to complete this book. Thanks also to Professor Michael Cronin, Dublin City University, for his assistance and encouragement with the original proposal, and to Dr Andrew Spicer, University of the West of England, Bristol, for his invaluable advice and support. I am also grateful for the support and flexibility provided by Professor Paschal Preston and Patrick Kinsella, respective Heads of the School of Communications, Dublin City University. Special thanks are due to Sunniva O Flynn, Karen Wall and Rebecca Grant of the Irish Film Archive, who assisted me with screenings, sourcing stills and screen grabs and securing copyright clearances. They are an endless source of knowledge and an invaluable resource to Irish film scholars. Heartfelt thanks are due to filmmakers Cathal Black, Gerry Stembridge, Kevin Liddy, Martin Duffy, Declan Recks and Orla Walsh, for kindly agreeing to be interviewed about their work. I am also especially grateful to Element Pictures, Zanzibar Films, Fastnet Films, Emu Productions, Zanita Films, Peter Stockhaus Filmproduktion GmbH, Blinder Films, Venus Productions, Samson Films, Clarence Pictures, SP Films, Universal Pictures International Ireland and Parallel Films for permission to use film stills, and to ESB Corporate Communications, Nicholas O Neill, Catriona Ward, David Cleary, Will Martin, Denis Mortell, Jonathan Hession, Tom Collins and Perry Ogden. Finally, huge thanks to my partner, Tommy Cahill, and to my daughters Marley and Willow for their enduring love and support. ix