Man of No Importance (A)
- Director: Suri Krishnamma
- Writer: Barry Devlin
- Producer: Jonathan Cavendish; Robert Cooper
CGiii Comment
Faultless performances reveal a deeply flawed story.
It starts off well...but, teeters into stupidity when Finney's character dresses as Oscar Wilde - way beyond the plausible.
By ignoring this scene - you will see a sad religiously repressed life, threatened by the law for the love that dared not speak its name.
Shame about the flaws...but, a fine film nonetheless.
Trailer...
The(ir) Blurb...
Alfie Byrne is a middle-aged bus conductor in Dublin in 1963. He would appear to live a life of quiet desperation: he's gay, but firmly closeted, and his sister is always trying to find him "the right girl". His passion is Oscar Wilde, his hobby is putting on amateur theatre productions in the local church hall. We follow him as he struggles with temptation, friendship, disapproval, and the conservative yet oddly lyrical world of Ireland in the early 1960s.
Cast & Characters
Albert Finney as Alfred Byrne;
Brenda Fricker as Lily Byrne;
Michael Gambon as Ivor J. Carney;
Tara Fitzgerald as Adele Rice;
Rufus Sewell as Robbie Fay;
Patrick Malahide as Inspector Carson;
David Kelly as Christy Ward;
Mick Lally as Father Ignatius Kenny;
Anna Manahan as Mrs. Grace;
Joe Pilkington as Ernie Lally;
Brendan Conroy as Rasher Flynn;
Joan O'Hara as Mrs. Crowe;
Eileen Reid as Mrs. Rock;
Eileen Conroy as Mrs. Curtin;
Maureen Egan as Mrs. Dunne