SONG OF GRANITE
Ireland, Canada, 2017, 104 minutes, Black and white.
Colm Seoighe, Michael O' Chonfhaloa, Macdara O' Fatharta.
Directed by Pat Collins.
Probably very helpful to indicate immediately, from the IMDb, the focus of this rather sombre film: “Born in a remote village on Ireland's west coast, Joe Heaney conquered the shyness of his youth to become one of his country's most revered traditional vocalists, as chronicled in this lyrical biopic.”
In fact, Song of Granite will probably a better for those familiar with the Joe Heaney. Those not familiar with and his career would be challenged by the style of the film, not a great deal of background information given, but rather the audience entering into this particular world, its atmosphere, the early decades of the 20th century, out in remote villages in the west of Ireland.
The film focuses initially on the boy Joe, a quiet lad, the fishing in the village, birds and eggs and nests, going to school, the severity of instruction and memorising of the catechism, the questions and answers about God. There is a long tracking sequence with Joe at one end of the village and the camera tracking him through as he walks right through the village, the audience able to get an overview and a feel for his background. He is invited to sing in school. He is a quiet singer. And he is encouraged by his father.
The audience has to keep attention to the change of time, the 1940s and 50s, Joe growing up, away from home, his singing, the popularity, the audiences, their joining in, his collecting of songs. And then there is a transition to his being in the United States, minimal explanation given, just some reference to dates in the 1960s. There is a reference to his going to the Newport Festival in 1966 and his singing with the Clancy Brothers.
Joe is away from home, a job standing in uniform outside a hotel in New York City, but continuing his singing.
And, then, there is the older Joe, looking back on his life and achievement, the range of songs collected, the number recorded, his heritage of Gallic music, his looking back over the past, success and failures, a yearning for his home in Ireland.
Director Pat Collins is a documentary maker and, in many ways, this is a documentary film about Irish music and song it could be considered has a biopic interspersed with a great number of songs. Or, it could be considered a documentary on Irish music and song interspersed with some touches of biography.
