To the Western World

Last updated
To the Western World
Directed by Margy Kinmonth
Produced by Margy Kinmonth
Brian Harding
Edited byJohn Fanner
Production
companies
Foxtrot Films
ITV
Release date
  • 1981 (1981)
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish

To the Western World is a documentary film directed by Margy Kinmonth. Narrated by John Huston and starring Niall Tóibín, Patrick Laffan, Tom Hickey (actor) & Brendan Cauldwell, the film charts the journey of John Millington Synge and Irish artist Jack Butler Yeats through Connemara in 1905. [1] The two men were sent by the Manchester Guardian to report on the 'Congested Districts', the most poverty-stricken and over populated parts of the West of Ireland. [2] The film is the first dramatisation of the original articles, which disappeared for decades after their publication. On their journey they described the economic conditions, poverty, unemployment, dress and lie-stock.

Contents

The film has previously won the European Community Award and was nominated for the Fiction Award at the Cork Film Festival.

Screenings

2009 Irish Film Institute and Dublin Theatre Festival’s “Unsung Synge”

Related Research Articles

Michael Palin English actor, comedian, writer and television presenter

Sir Michael Edward Palin is an English actor, comedian, writer and television presenter. He was a member of the comedy group Monty Python. Since 1980 he has made a number of travel documentaries.

John Huston American film director, screenwriter and actor

John Marcellus Huston was an American film director, screenwriter, actor, and visual artist. He travelled widely, settling at various times in France, Mexico, and Ireland. Huston was a citizen of the United States by birth but renounced U.S. citizenship to become an Irish citizen and resident in 1964. He later returned to the United States, where he lived the rest of his life. He wrote the screenplays for most of the 37 feature films he directed, many of which are today considered classics: The Maltese Falcon (1941), The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948), The Asphalt Jungle (1950), The African Queen (1951), The Misfits (1961), Fat City (1972), The Man Who Would Be King (1975) and Prizzi's Honor (1985).

Anjelica Huston American actress

Anjelica Huston is an American actress, director, producer, author, and former fashion model. She is the daughter of director John Huston and granddaughter of actor Walter Huston. After reluctantly making her big screen debut in her father's A Walk with Love and Death (1969), Huston moved from London to New York City, where she worked as a model throughout the 1970s. She decided to actively pursue acting in the early 1980s, and, subsequently, had her breakthrough with her performance in Prizzi's Honor (1985), also directed by her father, for which she became the third generation of her family to receive an Academy Award, when she won Best Supporting Actress, joining both John and Walter Huston in this recognition.

John Millington Synge Irish playwright, poet, prose writer, and collector of folklore

Edmund John Millington Synge was an Irish playwright, poet, writer, collector of folklore, and a key figure in the Irish Literary Revival. His best known play The Playboy of the Western World was disapproved due to its bleak ending, depiction of Irish peasants, and idealisation of parricide, leading to hostile audience reactions and riots in Dublin during its opening run at Abbey Theatre, Dublin, which he had co-founded with W. B. Yeats and Lady Gregory. His other major works include "In the Shadow of the Glen" (1903), "Riders to the Sea" (1904), "The Well of the Saints" (1905), and "The Tinker's Wedding" (1909).

Samantha Morton English actress and film director

Samantha Jane Morton is an English actress and director. She is known for her work in independent productions often with dark themes and has received numerous accolades, including a British Academy Television Award, a British Independent Film Award and a Golden Globe Award, as well as nominations for two Academy Awards, a Primetime Emmy Award, and a British Academy Film Award.

<i>The Dead</i> (1987 film) 1987 film by John Huston

The Dead is a 1987 drama film directed by John Huston, written by his son Tony Huston and starring his daughter Anjelica Huston with Donal McCann, Cathleen Delany, Helena Carroll, Marie Kean, Donal Donnelly, Colm Meaney, and Dan O'Herlihy. An international co-production between Ireland, the United Kingdom, the United States, and West Germany, The Dead was Huston's last film as director, and it was released posthumously. It was adapted from the 1914 short story "The Dead" by James Joyce, which was included in his short works collection Dubliners.

Anna Maria Manahan was an Irish stage, film and television actress.

Donal Donnelly Irish actor

Donal Donnelly was an Irish theatre and film actor. Perhaps best known for his work in the plays of Brian Friel, he had a long and varied career in film, on television and in the theatre. His travels – he lived in Ireland, the UK and the US at various times – led to him describing himself as " ... an itinerant Irish actor ...".

Maire ONeill

Maire O'Neill was an Irish actress of stage and film. She holds a place in theatre history as the first actress to interpret the lead character of Pegeen Mike Flaherty in John Millington Synge's controversial masterpiece The Playboy of the Western World (1907).

The Playboy of the Western World is a three-act play written by Irish playwright John Millington Synge and first performed at the Abbey Theatre, Dublin, on 26 January 1907. It is set in Michael James Flaherty's public house in County Mayo during the early 1900s. It tells the story of Christy Mahon, a young man running away from his farm, claiming he killed his father.

Danny Huston American actor, director

Daniel Sallis Huston is an American actor, writer, and director. In 1989, Huston directed Mr. North which starred his half-sister, Anjelica Huston. Huston was nominated for Best Male Performance at the Independent Spirit Awards in 2003 for his performance in the independent film Ivans Xtc.

Thomas F. Kilroy is an Irish playwright and novelist.

Synge Street CBS (colloquially Synger) is a boys' non-fee-paying state school, under the auspices of the Edmund Rice Schools Trust, located in the Dublin 8 area of Dublin city, Ireland. The school was founded in 1864 by Canon Edward McCabe and Brother Edward O’Flaherty, as part of a mid-nineteenth century programme to expand the provision of Catholic schooling across the city, particularly for poorer boys. It was important in developing multiple new Christian Brothers schools in the local area and beyond.

<i>Wise Blood</i> (film)

Wise Blood is a 1979 black-comedy drama film directed by John Huston and starring Brad Dourif, Dan Shor, Amy Wright, Harry Dean Stanton, and Ned Beatty. It is based on the 1952 novel Wise Blood by Flannery O'Connor. As a co-production with Germany the film was titled Der Ketzer or Die Weisheit des Blutes when released in Germany, and Le Malin when released in France.

BFI London Film Festival Annual film festival held in London, United Kingdom

The BFI London Film Festival is an annual film festival founded in 1957 and held in the United Kingdom, running for two weeks in October with co-operation from the British Film Institute. It screens more than 300 films, documentaries and shorts from approximately 50 countries.

Ruth Negga Ethiopian-Irish actress

Ruth Negga is an Ethiopian-Irish actress known for the AMC television series Preacher and the film Loving.

Garry Hynes is an Irish theatre director. She was the first woman to win the prestigious Tony Award for direction of a play.

Dev Patel British actor

Dev Patel is an English actor. Patel made his screen debut as Anwar Kharral in the first two series of the British television teen drama Skins (2007–2008), landing the role with no prior professional acting experience. His breakthrough came in 2008 with the leading role of Jamal Malik in Danny Boyle's drama Slumdog Millionaire, for which he was nominated for the BAFTA Award for Best Actor.

Ken Loach British film director and screenwriter

Kenneth Charles Loach is an English filmmaker. His socially critical directing style and socialist ideals are evident in his film treatment of social issues such as poverty, homelessness, and labour rights.

Josh OConnor British actor

Josh O'Connor is an English actor. He is known for his portrayal of the young Prince Charles in the Netflix drama The Crown, for which he won a Golden Globe for Best Actor in a Drama Series and was nominated for a British Academy Television Award for Best Supporting Actor.

References

  1. "John Huston voices "To the Western World"". Foxtrot Films. 2009-09-07. Retrieved 2017-12-13.
  2. Chrisafis, Angelique; correspondent, Ireland (2005-06-24). "Historic Guardian series recalled". The Guardian. ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved 2017-12-13.