Film Review: One Million Dubliners

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art, Daniel O'Connell, de Velera, Director Aoife Kelleher, Dubliners, Film Review, film reviews, Films, Galway Film Fleadh, Glasnevin Cemetery, Michael Collins, Parnell

Named the “Best Irish Feature Documentary” at Galway Film Fleadh back in July One Million Dubliners finally hits cinemas this month.
The documentary tells the story of Glasnevin Cemetery (officially Prospect Cemetery) and the 1.5 million people that are buried there. And since there are more bodies in the ground at Glasnevin Cemetery than people living in the whole of Dublin almost everyone has a friend or relative buried next to some of Irelands most historic figures.
Director Aoife Kelleher intertwines personnel stories with historic facts and creates a unique insight into a world only few of us truly know. And instead of being morbid or depressing the film is funny, interesting, sometimes a little sad but always entertaining.
“To bury people of all religions and none” was Daniel O’Connell’s mission when he established Glasnevin cemetery in 1828 and this is still very much at the heart of the trust today. This means that loyalists and revolutionaries lie side by side, WWI and WWII soldiers lie next to de Velera, Parnell and Collins.
But One Million Dubliners doesn’t just look at the past and Kelleher lets staff and visitors alike share their thoughts on life and death and why Glasnevin plays such an important role in their lives.  Florists, gardeners, historians, tour guides, mourners, and grave diggers all get their say, and even a mysterious French woman, who lays roses on Michael Collins grave, talks about her ongoing love affair with a dead man.
Kelleher uses these different narrative strands to link the past with the present and the future. One of the main narrators is tour guide and resident historian Shane MacThomáis and the camera follows him as he brings groups around the cemetery, enthrals them with tales and historic facts. But MacThomáis  also speaks directly  to  the camera and talks about his father, who was also a tour guide, and about his own connection with the cemetery.  He explains how his father used to tell him that a great tour needs four things to capture it’s audience: tell them something they know, something they didn’t know, something to make them laugh and something to make them cry.
This is the formula that Kelleher also seems to be following as she not only enchants her audience with beautifully shoot images of Glasnevin Cemetery but lets them rediscover what they have seen before, learn what they have never known, laugh at the oddities and cry at the unexpected.

long days and films

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Films, friends, G&T, Glasnevin Cemetery, Gone Girl, long days, Million Dubliners, movies, preview screening, pumkin

Yesterday was a long and busy day, but a good one. I started the day with going to  a press screening of a film, a documentary about the Glasnevin Cemetery called One Million Dubliners (review to follow).

Then I hurried over to college to entertain my students for five hours, non-stop, no break, rewarding but tiring work.

Once I departed all the knowledge I could in the time given, I could feel myself dropping into that zone of depleted energy and tiredness but my day wasn’t done yet. I still had a preview screening to go to with only a little time to grab a sandwich and some much needed coffee.

The advance screening was of much anticipated Gone Girl (review here) and since I had two tickets to the event I took a friend along with me. There were even some goodies stashed away beside the seats for us to tuck into.

I hadn’t really heard much about the actual content of the film, only that the book was a bestseller, one to read and that the film was meant to be one of the best of the year. Whenever these statements are made I am more often than not expecting very much, as false promises and the film industry go hand in hand.

But this time around I was pleasantly surprised: the film is really good! Both my friend and I came out of the cinema, a little dazed, and  we both agreed, definitely a film that deserves the attention it is getting.

Over a quick G&T we chatted, dissected and recapped the film and the recent events of our lives. So the quick turned into late and by the time a taxi dropped me off at my front door it was well past midnight.

So I am  feeling a little pumpkin-esque this morning, maybe befitting of the season, but I just hope that my students will be good and forgive me if my usually sparkly self is a little dull this morning.