by Michael Lyons
When it comes to movies about Ireland and Irish culture receiving recognition by Academy Awards, there truly is a lot of luck there...as well as a lot of deservedly recognized talent.
Through the years, films about the "Emerald Isle" have had a long relationship with Oscar, as evidenced by last year's The Banshess of Inisherin, which has received nine nominations, including Best Picture.
The story of two friends (Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleason) living in a small isle on the coast of Ireland, whose crumbling relationships sets in motion a battle that becomes the focal point of their small town, is a powerful parable for everything from toxic relationships to civil war.
It's one of many films set in Ireland that has not only enchanted audiences but the Academy, as well.
With the Academy Awards and Saint Patrick's Day coming up next week, it's the perfect time to look back at Irish films that struck Oscar gold.
Belfast (2021)
Kenneth Branagh deservedly won the Oscar for Best Screenplay for this heartbreaking story of a family trying to live their life during "The Troubles," the civil war raging in the city of Belfast in 1969.
Filmed beautifully in black-and-white, Belfast also received seven nominations, including Best Picture, Supporting Actor (Ciaran Hinds), and Supporting Actress (Dame Judi Dench), as it told much more than political history, but is also about familial power and the difficult decisions that must be made to keep a family together.
In the Name of the Father (1993)
Daniel Day-Lewis and Pete Postlethwaite both received acting nominations in this re-telling of the true story of four men wrongly accused and convicted of car bombings by the Irish Republican Army in 1974.
This compelling, frustrating film earned seven Oscar nominations, including Best Picture and Best Director, for Jim Sheridan, who had just been nominated three years prior for...
Daniel Day-Lewis won his first of three Oscars, and received a standing ovation on awards night, for his stunning performance in this true-life story of Christy Brown, an Irish man born with cerebral palsy. Brown could only use his left foot and went on to a career as a painter and writer.
It's staggering to watch Day-Lewis in My Left Foot, as well as Brenda Fricker, who won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress, as Christy's mother, Bridget, who shared her son's strength and determination.
Ryan's Daughter (1971)
This epic of Ireland came from director David Lean, who gave audiences such sprawling films as Lawrence of Arabia (1962) and Doctor Zhivago (1965).
Set in an isolated village in County Kerry, Ireland, a married woman named Rosy (Sarah Miles) begins an affair with a British Major (Christopher Jones) that culminates in scandal in their small town.
Ryan's Daughter features some opulent sequences of the Irish countryside that won cinematographer Freddie Jones that year's Oscar. Additionally, veteran actor John Mills took home the Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his touching performance as Michael, the (for lack of a less offensive term) "village idiot."
The Quiet Man (1952)
A staple of Saint Patrick's Day each year, director John Ford's masterpiece was also a major contender at the 1953 Oscars, taking home awards for its cinematography by Winton Hoch and earning Ford his fourth Best Director Oscar.
The story is about an American, Sean Thornton (John Wayne), who returns to the small town of Inishfree, in Ireland, where he was born, and falls in love with a local girl, Mary Kate (Maureen O'Hara). In the process, their romance wreaks havoc on the small village.
Featuring one of film's most extraordinary ensemble cast, including Barry Fitzgerald, Victor McLaglen, and Ward Bond, The Quiet Man illuminates the magic and majesty of Ireland, its culture, and its people like no other film.
And so, as red carpets give way to green shamrocks, these are just some of many films that can help us all celebrate an Oscar-winning Saint Patrick's week!
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