Whatever about getting out of Metroland, getting out of Inis Dara in The Nephew seems to have been a matter of survival in the 1970's. A remote island community off the West coast of Ireland, it offered no future to anyone young and free-spirited. Particularly if you were pregnant and unmarried.
Twenty years after she fled to America in disgrace, the now-dying sister of local farmer Tony Egan -- finely played by Donal McCann as a taciturn, self- righteous, embittered man, whose life is his land --sends her young son (engaging newcomer Hill Harper) home to the island.
His arrival acts as a cataylst, opening old sores, challenging deep-rooted conventions -- not least because he's black. Although sworn enemies, McCann and the local pubowner (Pierce Borsnan) -- whose wild daughter (Aislin McGuckin) the nephew dates -- collaborate in keeping him in the dark about his mother's past. Only the post-mistress (Sinead Cusack) is prepared to talk.
First-time director Eugene Brady, Irish-born but now based in LA, gives a lively twist to the by now somewhat dated theme of Ireland through the eyes of a returned Yank. The plot is a little too schematic, the characters too trapped in a mindset about the repressiveness of Irish rural life to ring true; it belongs more in the 1950's than the 1970's. But there's a freshness in the performances of Harper and McGuckin that's hard to resist.
An Irish DreamTime/World 2000 Entertainment production. (International sales: CLT-UFA.) Produced by Pierce Brosnan, Beau St. Clair. Executive producers, Tom Palmieri, Morgan O'Sullivan, Marguerite Somers, Bernard Somers. Co-producer, Doug Mayfield.
Directed by Eugene Brady. Screenplay, Jacqueline O'Neill, Sean P. Steele. Camera (color, Panavision widescreen), Jack Conroy; editor, J. Patrick Duffner; music, Stephen McKeon; production designer, John Decuir; sound, Dolby stereo; associate producer, Cynthia Palormo; line producer, Jerry Baerwitz; casting, Ros and Jon Hubbard. Reviewed at Cannes Film Festival (market), May 16, 1998. Running time: 106 min.
Chad ..... Hill Harper
Aislin ..... Aislin McGuckin
Joe Brady ..... Pierce Brosnan
Tony Egan ..... Donal McCann
Brenda O'Boyce ..... Sinead Cusack
Sean ..... Niall Tobin
Patsy ..... Phelim Drew
Rachel ..... Lorraine Pilkington
Peter ..... Luke GriffinActor Pierce Brosnan makes his producing bow for his own banner, Irish DreamTime, in The Nephew, marking the first Irish film in which he's acted in nearly a decade. Debuting director Eugene Brady's dramatic treatment of what could have been good sitcom material makes for a strange beast, half culture clash, half family melodrama. Though Brosnan's star power is diminished in a supporting role, pic's emphasis on human relations and a warm ending, as well as its widescreen, tourist-board visuals, should help the film find its way to theatrical release for family audiences.
Set against the lush backdrop of an emerald islet, this is the unlikely tale of the tumult caused in a small community when the inbred denizens discover they have a young American cousin who is talented, handsome and black.
When Chad Egan-Washington (Hill Harper) shows up on the Irish island of Inis Dara to scatter his mother's ashes on her native land, his misanthropic uncle Tony Egan (Donal McCann), a farmer, is the first to be shocked. Having broken off contact with his sister 20 years back after a spat, Tony had no idea she had married a black New Yorker or that she ran a grocery store in Hell's Kitchen.
Chad, an extremely polite boy with dreadlocks and a talent for sketching, is soon accepted as an oddity. He doesn't take to farm chores much, but the girls in town are wild about his exotic looks and American accent. His romance with Aislin (Aislin McGuckin) makes her dad, Joe Brady (Brosnan), see red --- not because of Chad's color, as one might imagine, but because he once had a doomed love affair with Chad's mother and never got over it.
Tension also mounts with uncle Tony, as the boy's questions bring long-buried family skeletons out of the closet regarding Tony's unwarranted cruelty toward Chad's mother and toward his ex, the sensible, maternal Brenda O'Boyce (Sinead Cusack).
As the Irish-American hero, Harper, who has worked with Spike Lee, projects a non-threatening nice-guy aura even when he suddenly shaves his head mid-film. Jacqueline O'Neill and Sean P. Steele's soft-spoken script is determined to ignore the racial question his presence raises as much as possible, treating his color as just a good joke at uncle Tony's expense.
Brosnan's famous face makes for an eccentric island bartender, and his role as Aislin's irrationally jealous pater remains murky even after it's duly explained. Harper's likable Yank directness contrasts amusingly with the style of the top-drawer Irish cast, with McCann, Cusack and McGuckin giving their dramatic all.
Pic's best moments are its offbeat glimpses of local life captured en passant: two nuns fly-fishing in a stream in hip boots, the warm wake where Chad is introduced to the town, a farmhand (Niall Tobin) improvising rap from the top of a tractor. Stephen McKeon's rendition of booming, melodic folk tunes complements cinematographer Jack Conroy's eye-soothing Panavision lensing of verdant pastures and violet sunsets over the sea.
AMSTERDAM If you want to get in touch with anyone in the film industry in Norway this week --- or just want a glimpse of Mr. 007 himself, Pierce Brosnan --- try Haugesund, a tiny port town of just 30,000 inhabitants on the west coast of Norway.
Some 1,200 Norwegian and Nordic industryites and other international film professionals, including Brosnan and French actress Jeanne Moreau, began gathering in the sleepy fishing village Aug. 23 for the 26th edition of the annual Norwegian Intl. Film Festival.
Once simply a venue for Norwegian distributors to showcase their fall and winter lineup of international films to the territory's municipal exhibitors, Haugesund has now become a key gathering place for Nordic filmers and a launch pad for their latest pics.
Before the event ends on Aug. 30, the fest will unspool more than 100 films from 16 territories around the globe, including six world premieres. It will also play host to an array of glitterati arriving for the Amanda Awards, Norway's annual film awards ceremony set for Aug. 29.
Historically a Norwegian event, the Haugesund fest's mandate over the past few years has taken on an increasingly pan-Scandinavian hue, largely due to its New Nordic Films section, a showcase to some 30 buyers from all over the world of 10 of the hottest feature films produced in Norway, Finland, Sweden, Denmark and Iceland over the past year.
The increasingly regional nature of the fest is also highlighted by a special section of the Amanda Awards called the pan Nordic Film prize. With five films, nominated by the film institutes of each territory, up for awards, including Cannes fest winner Thomas Vinterberg's The Celebration (Denmark), the prize is increasingly being seen as the pan-Scandi equivalent of an Oscar.
Attendance at the fest has continued to grow over the past 25 years but the event's director Gunnar Lovvic tells Variety that for the first time this year he's put a cap on the number of those registering.
"The town of Haugesund simply couldn't accommodate any more people," he notes.
If the number of people is limited, the number of events at the fest are growing. In addition to the Retrospective, which features five of Moreau's films, and other regular events, the fest boasts several new sidebar events, including an American Independents showcase of eight films.
Director Christine Berg calls the pics "the soul of the American indie." Among them is James Yerkes debut film Spin the Bottle, one of the six films having its world premier at Haugesund.
Brosnan will be at the fest to flag "The Nephew," an Irish film by World 2000 Entertainment that he produced and toplines.
Pierce Brosnan talked to Jason O'Callaghan about his new film His oldest daughter Charlotte has just made the Bond star a grandfather at the tender age of 45.
Pierce Brosnan has just become a grandfather and hard as it is to imagine 007 sitting by the fireside in his cardigan and slippers, that is what he plans to do.
For the next few weeks, he plans to whisper baby-talk into his new granddaughter's ear, and the rocker by the fire is not before time. It's 20 years since the Meath-born star got a 2,000 loan, left his job as a commercial artist in London and moved with his late wife Cassandra to become a Hollywood actor. The last few years have been a roller-coaster, with both his personal and professional life thrown into turmoil.
Today, after all the ups and downs, Brosnan's Irish Dreamtime, has just released its first film, The Nephew, and his oldest daughter Charlotte has just made the Bond star a grandfather at the tender age of 45. Technically, Charlotte is his stepdaugher -- she and her brother were born of Cassandra's first marriage to Dermot Harris -- but Pierce regards her, and refers to her, as his daughter.
So, what's next for Mr. Bond? Marriage to his girlfriend Keely? Yes, I guess so, but not for a while," he tells me in "Myself and Keely have talked about it but we are happy for the moment. I'm far too busy anyway for a wedding. I've just finished filming Grey Owl in Canada with Richard Attenborough. Next week we finish this publicity tour for The Nephew and then I'm looking forward to spending some time with my grqnddaughter before going home to Keely and Dylan [their toddler son]."
The Nephew, which Brosnan produced with Beau Marie St. Clair, one of America's best-known producers and his partner in Irish Dreamtime, is his first move from straight acting. How did it feel to be on the other side of the camera?
"The whole experience felt nerve-wracking but magical," he says. "That's why I love film-making here. Whenever I come back to Ireland, Ialways feel it's magical and spectacular. I brought that vision into The Nephew.
Filming here was so much better than in Hollywood. It has the perfect filming environment....well, apart from the weather."
The Nephew is Irish Dreamtime's first feature film butBrosnan feels sure in his heart that it will be a success.
"IrishDreamtime is something special. Our next movie is a remake of The Thomas Crown Affair. The original starred Steve McQueen and Faye Dunaway; the remake will feature me, Rene Russo and the lovely Faye Dunaway again. We startshooting at the end of September and then I have to go away to make another James Bond in January."
As we discuss Hollywood's attempts to make every Irish movie about theTroubles, Donal McCann -- the lead in The Nephew -- joins us.
"F***ing terrible, that's what I think of those films," Donal proclaims. "Justice with dollar bills. It's a terrible thing when all they feed on is dead bodies."
The young writer/director of The Nephew, Eugene Brady, joins in: "This is a real film. It avoids showing the slow Ireland. We don't show scenes of the Cliffs of Moher -- it's aimed at the real Ireland, the Ireland of today."
Having seen it, I couldn't agree more. Brosnan's affection for Ireland is evident.
"I think I may just move back here at some stage. That is, if there's anywhere left to buy.I hear the Germans and Japanese are buying up all the propery here, so I guess I better hurry up."
As he leaves, he jokes that after the two Bond movies he has lined up next year, he will retire.
Somehow, in the back of my mind, I feel that this may not be that much of a joke for the new granddad.
The Nephew a Sky Movies Exclusive, is Pierce Brosnan's most recent movie and his first project as producer. Nick Bradshaw caught up with the mild-mannered Irishman.
New York is buzzing. Outside on Broadway, under a crisp blue sky, crowds of cheering Manhattanites march by as they celebrate a triumphant win by the New York Yankees in the 1998 World Series. Six floors up, Pierce Brosnan is having his photograph taken for SkyTVGuide. Despite the madness on the street below, the only sound to be heard is the occasional click of a camera shutter and pop of the flash gun. All the women in neighbouring studios and offices have gathered in the doorway to watch the effortlessly stylish Irishman strike a pose. As one, they look on with more reverence than for your average 11:30 Diet Coke break.
Midway through into the photo shoot, Brosnan takes off his shirt to change into a different outfit. Although I'm not actually present, I know when it happens, for at that precise moment, a collective sigh can be heard in the next room. Having finally had his picture taken, Pierce joins me. "This is the end," he says as he sits down.
Not, it must be said, the most encouraging opener. Having flown across the Atlantic to meet the man, this looks set to be the shortest interview on record. It soon transpires though, that his comment refers to his latest film The Nephew -- a film he has been more deeply involved with than any other in his career. "I'll be putting the film to bed after this interview, because it's time to move on. I've been involved from the script landing on my desk, to meeting the director and putting the crew together, right through to this chat we're having now."
The Nephew a Sky Movies Exclusive showing on Sky Premier, Saturday 12 December -- marks Brosnan's debut as a producer after considerable success as an actor, with such films as Dante's Peak (also debuting on Sky Premier this month), Mars Attacks! and, of course, the Bond movies GoldenEye and Tomorrow Never Dies.
"I'd never produced before," he says. "For my first film, I didn't want to do a big Hollywood piece. I wanted to do a small movie about something that was intimate and had a strong storyline. I think this film has a good heart."
In The Nephew he plays Joe Brady, the bar owner on an island off the coast of Ireland who is at the centre of a long-standing feud. Although his role is pivotal, Brosnan in no way hogs the limelight: "I saw The Nephew as an ensemble piece that showed off the talents of all those involved. We had a wonderful cast that included the likes of Donal McCann and Sinead Cusack. When I look at the film, I can tell that they were passionate about it, they really brought it to life. I'm very proud of it."
As producer of The Nephew, Brosnan is following in the footsteps of the likes of Steven Spielberg and Robert Redford. On reflection, though, Brosnan believes that the producer's job is far from glamorous.
"The pressure is like a vice at times. You want the film to be rewarding for everyone involved, because you're the one who set the wheels in motion. It's like parenting; you're dealing with people's egos and talents, and trying to foresee problems."
Sky Movies snapped up The Nephew after major film companies blew hot and cold over whether a film based on a strong storyline, rather than lots of action, would be able to compete against the big blockbusters.
"It's hard when your're up against the big budget films to get noticed," says Brosnan. "Am I disappointed that we won't be showing The Nephew at the cinema? No I'm not actually. Knowing how hard it is to make a hit these days, I'd rather we appeared on the small screen. I couldn't be happier that the film is premiering on Sky Movies."
According to Brosnan "most of the characters in The Nephew are complex, fractured people". His own life has also been peppered with upheavals and complexities, but Brosnan himself seems to have come out less shaken than a secret agent's Martini.
Born in 1953, in a small town 20 miles outside Dublin, Pierce Brendan Brosnan spent his early years moving between grandparents, aunts and uncles, while his mother struggled to set up a home for him. His father vanished from the scene when Pierce was just two, leaving his mother to bring up her son alone at a time when single-parenthood in Ireland was still seen as something shameful. So she fled to England to secure a home for him where they would be free from sneers or gossip. Pierce joined his mother in south London in 1964.
"I was sent to a very large comprehensive school and you had to be pretty tough," he recalls. "Being Irish, I was open to all the Irish jokes, some of which were very cruel. Sometimes it felt like swimming up river -- but, ultimately, I had the most wonderful years there."
The move to London also opened his eyes to the world of cinema -- a world which would shape the rest of his life. "The first film I saw in London was Goldfinger, on the big screen and in glorious Technicolor. All I'd seen back in Ireland were black and white Old Mother Riley and Norman Wisdom films. From then on, I wanted to be an actor, but I didn't want to be James Bond -- the baddies such as Odd Job were the ones who fascinated me.
"I'm a bit of a hybrid now. I was educated as an actor in England and did rep theatre, there. But I'm Irish by birth, by nature and, I think, in spirit," he says. "I have the great luxury of moving between Ireland, England, New York and LA. The canvas is broad for me and I take a bit of those countries with me wherever I go."
Apart form the movies, the other great influence on his life was his late wife Cassandra Harris. After meeting and marrying the Australian model in London in the late '70s, they went on to enjoy a romantic and secure marriage in Hollywood. Unlike so many, fame and fortune brought them closer. If either of them had to work away from the home, they would try and arrange their hectic schedules so they could travel together. They were inseparable.
Brosnan and Cassie were together in London in 1987 when she was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. "It was not a shadow or a small tumour -- this had invaded Cassie's being," recalls Brosnan. Cassandra lost her fight for life on 28 December 1991, just after their 11th wedding anniversary.
Overnight, Pierce became a single parent. Since then he has remained extremely close to his two stepchildren, and he has had to cope with juggling a career and nurturing their 15-year-old son Sean through some difficult years. "I took him out of school at the beginning of the year, and he joined me on the set of a movie I was making in Canada with Richard Attenborough. I got him a tutor and had him there beside me. Keely, my girlfriend, is writing a book, and my youngest son is still a baby, so they're able to travel with me, which is fantastic."
So which character is more like him? Brady, the strong family man with a sad history, or the urbane adventurous Bond?
"Bond and Brady are facets of me," he admits. "Like having to cope with the loss of someone and having children. Bond is pure fantasy. You take all the mythology and slowly you find that the shoes get more comfortable and you begin to fill out the role. I'd like to think I've played my part in bringing the character back to life; he seemed to be on rocky ground for a while."
As he thinks about the characters he's been privileged to play, he pauses and smiles. "I get to do it all," he says. "I get to play at being James Bond, or to play at making an independent movie. And I also get to stay home with my kids. Sometimes it's tough going, but you get through." Brosnan shrugs pragmatically. "You adjust."