Irish Film Season: Parked

Parked

Parked
by Dave O’Flanagan

In partnership with the Irish Film Board, Curzon Home Cinema kicks off a season celebrating the best in Irish cinema. The line-up includes the critically acclaimed and award-winning Parked and Waveriders, as well as What Richard Did, Frank, Mister John, Eden, Hill Street, Snap and Barbaric Genius. To mark the occasion here at Dog And Wolf, we’ll be bringing you our favourite picks from the season beginning with the Colm Meaney and Colin Morgan starring, Parked.

Parked tells the story of middle-aged homeless man, Fred (Colm Meaney) who befriends a young 21-year old drug addict, Cathal (Colin Morgan). Helping each other battle through the loneliness, Cathal forces Fred to look at the more positive sides of life as well as Fred attempting to draw Cathal out of his life of drugs and drug dealing. When Fred meets the talented and beautiful Juliana, he finally sees some light at the end of a very dark tunnel.

Shot in the suburbs of Clontarf, Booterstown and Blanchardstown, Dublin, Darragh Burn’s directorial debut is a visually arresting endorsement of the beauty of the Irish capital. Bathed in a beautiful aquamarine aesthetic, John Conroy’s cinematography is gorgeous, and instantly striking. While the central relationship between Fred and Cathal feels slightly forced at times, there is a natural ease and charm between the two characters that carries through the film. Meaney’s earnest and heartfelt performance is particularly impressive, conveying shame, humour and warmth in equal measures. Between Cathal’s ongoing issues with addiction and Fred’s acute sense of isolation and loneliness, the film is an effective, touching and compelling snapshot of the realities of homelessness in Ireland today.

The Irish Film Season begins on 14th November. For further details go to the Curzon Home Cinema website.

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