JIMMY'S HALL
Directed by: Ken Loach
Cast: Barry Ward, Simone Kirby, Jim Norton
Rating: (M) Four stars
Returning to Ireland after his previous success with The Wind Shakes the Barley, Loach's keen eye for detail and empathy for the plight of the working classes is central to Jimmy's Hall.
The hall in question is a dilapidated tin shed in rural County Leitrim. After 10 years living in the United States, Jimmy (Barry Ward) returns home to help his mother with the family farm.
While Jimmy is initially keen to resume a quiet life, word soon gets around about his return.
- by Mark Orton
Via a slightly confused sequence of flashbacks we discover the hall was once the focal point for the community, and Jimmy can't resist opening the doors again.
The trouble is, the local parish priest, played wonderfully by Jim Norton, is not too happy about it and political tensions soon put pressure on the community to boycott Jimmy's hall.
With a little more romantic sentiment than one might be accustomed to in a Ken Loach film, the story itself is an intriguing little nugget from the decade after the end of the civil war.
Jimmy's political affiliation is never really delved into, except for the opinions of his enemies that he is aligned with the communists.
Ward turns in a charismatic performance, delivering astute moments of dialogue that expose the oppressive environment lived in fear of church and state.
It's hard not to get onside with Jimmy and his band of dissidents but Jimmy's Hall wouldn't be a Ken Loach film if it didn't empathise with the left-leaning principles that have defined his career to date.
