Song of Granite

Back in January, I went to go see “Song of Granite” which was directed by Pat Collins and starred Michael O’Chonfhlaola, Macdara Ó Fátharta, and Colm Seoighe among others. A great cast! It is a wonderful film – it is about the Irish singer, Joe Heaney, who sang in the a capella sean nos tradition of Western Ireland. It is a really good movie. It has a beautifully paced, fragmented story that is necessary to describe this enigmatic person. My young cousin, Colm Seoighe, plays Heaney as a boy and sings and dances beautifully – we are all looking forward to great things from this one – his singing and dancing is obviously from the heart. Gorgeous!

You have to see this film. It is in black and white, and my sister, Shannon O’Donnell, said that this was good because it rescues it from being a postcard from the West of Ireland. The film connects us with nature: the cold, the wild life, the peat and the granite. Poetry and music become forces of nature just barely contained by Heaney. The music becomes as real and tactile as the granite fences he mends.

The movie speaks to our capacity for poetry and art. Some of my favorite moments are when Heaney tries to describe what it is like to “get” a song – we have to grow to contain it, much like we have to grow for this movie. 

Song of Granite is now available on DVD or free on Amazon Prime. 

 

 

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