Jimmy’s
Hall provides a heartbreaking look at a country gripped in a conflict
between the Catholic Church, wealthy landowners, and politicians on the one
hand (“the masters and the pastors”, according to one character) and everyone
else caught in economic straits whose priorities are for education and
freedom. We see the tactics of
rumor, innuendo, prejudice, and self-interest used against innocent
people. It takes place in 1932
after a period of wartime in Ireland’s gaining independence from England and
then another civil war afterwards.
The film is based on the true story of Jimmy Gralton, a political
activist who built a local hall in which to expound his left-leaning views, and
was deported to the U.S. as a result.
In the movie, Jimmy (Ward) has been out of the
country in New York for 10 years.
He returns after his brother was killed in one of the wars, and his
mother is aging and needing help with the family farm. He comes with no plans, but the townsfolk
want him to rebuild the community hall that he was once a part of for
gatherings and classes. There are
enough interested people to rebuild it with volunteer labor. Jimmy accedes, but this goes against
the local priest (Norton), who is opposed to any social organization outside of
the church. He’s especially
obsessed about “communism”, which he accuses Jimmy of endorsing, but really he
despises any type of free will and help for the poor, dancing, American music,
etc.
Despite the priest, Jimmy’s Hall is rebuilt and
becomes a popular gathering place for young and old, with classes, dancing, and
music. We see the priest’s true
colors when he shames those going to the hall by reading out their names during
a church service. He sides with a
wealthy estate owner who is banishing a farmer and his family from a small
parcel of land, leaving them homeless.
Jimmy attempts to negotiate with him, but he won’t budge unless Jimmy
tears down the hall, and the situation escalates.
Director Ken Loach (The Wind that Shakes the Barley, The Angel’s Share) is known for
movies with social realism, and this one is no exception. Barry Ward, an Irish actor on stage and
screen, plays the protagonist in a low-key manner, but with a winning
personality, not fiery as we usually think of activists, and his attempts to
introduce the Irish people to American jazz is rewarding. Jim Norton as Father Sheridan is better
known to Americans (Extremely Loud and
Incredibly Close, Water for Elephants, The Boy in the Striped Pajamas), and
is entirely convincing here as a priest struggling to hold onto dogma when
faced with convincing evidence against it.
Jimmy’s
Hall doesn’t break new ground, but it is solid and interesting as a piece
of history, and Robbie Ryan’s cinematography with a muted color palette, smoke,
mists, and shadows takes it a step above.
Traditional religious beliefs tangle
with contemporary lifestyles.
Grade: C+ By Donna R. Copeland
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