Poitín

Poitín was certainly visionary in its conception. The recipient of the Arts Council’s first Film Script Award, it is also the first entirely Irish language feature drama film.

A riposte to the romanticised rural Ireland as of Hollywood, Poitín was shot in the less luminescent wilds of Connemara. Familiar charming portrayals of craftiness are replaced with a baser brand of skullduggery, exemplified by Donal McCann and Niall Tóibín’s lawless louts and Cyril Cusack’s wily poitín maker - an acting triumvirate of rare greatness. DO’M

Print courtesy of the IFI Irish Film Archive.