Word: irishness
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...people for whom he has a genial contempt keep upsetting his equilibrium. A harmless pleasantry to the maid about her marriage prospects is rewarded with an unexpectedly bitter rebuke about men. A brief turn on the dance floor with a young woman results in a discomfiting discussion of Irish patriotism. Finally, the innocuous singing of a melancholy Irish air leads Gretta down a bitter path of memory that results in a crushing revelation, of a past life and an unforgotten lover who died for love...
...their search for financing, the producers heard a familiar show-business refrain: "Not mainstream enough" or "Not youth-oriented enough." Because of the fragile state of Huston's health, insurance companies would underwrite the film only on the condition that his friend Director Karel Reisz stand by. The all-Irish cast -- including Donal McCann (as Gabriel), Donal Donnelly and Dan O'Herlihy -- was drawn largely from Dublin's famed Abbey and Gate theaters, but it had no star power in Hollywood's terms. All studios, major, minor and independent, turned the film down, despite the low, $5.5 million cost...
Last November, Vestron Pictures, a new Connecticut-based film company, agreed to put up roughly half the money, thanks largely to its executives' interest in Irish literature; the rest of the backing came from Europe. "It's a risk for us, of course," says Vestron Vice President Bill Quigley. "But we consider it one for the soul." For Huston it is one from the heart. Although the story has been expanded to fit the new medium, the director insists it remains faithful to the source. "I don't think that Joyce's spirit would raise its head in holy horror...
...every day that so many of their kind -- 20, at least -- gather in one place. In a musical subculture so arcane that few even know it exists, this counts as a world-class event: the first East Coast Convention of Cumann na bPiobairi, the national Irish Pipers' Club -- and what is a little discomfort? The novices are eager to hobnob with such superstars as Al Purcell, from Detroit; Bill Ochs, Jerry O'Sullivan and Matt Connolly, out of New York; and Denis Brooks, all the way from Seattle. For the pros, it is a chance to trade techniques, tunes...
...word bagpipes conjures up an image that is, in this case, far off the mark. Unlike their strident, better known and more ancient Scottish cousins, the Irish (or Uilleann) bagpipes are soft and melodic; their construction is different, and no one wears an ethnic costume for performances. Not that the Irish scorn the Highland pipes; they play them too, on occasions like St. Patrick's Day parades, but that is in part because the Irish pipes cannot be played standing up. Besides, they are not very loud. The Scottish variety is challenging enough, but Uilleann pipes are in a class...