69 minutes / Color
Release: 2005
Copyright: 1967
The Rocky Road to Dublin and The Making of Rocky Road to Dublin are included on one DVD
ROCKY ROAD TO DUBLIN is a provocative and revealing portrait of Ireland in the Sixties, a society characterized by a stultifying educational system, a morally repressive and politically reactionary clergy, a myopic cultural nationalism, and a government which seemingly knew no boundary between church and state. Now available in a newly-restored version prepared by The Irish Film Institute, this controversial film can at last be reassessed after a nearly forty-year period of neglect. (The Making of Rocky Road to Dublin is also available, as a separate title, or purchase both for one price.)
Encouraged by the controversy he had stirred with a series of newspaper articles and inspired by French 'New Wave' filmmakers of the era, Dublin-born Peter Lennon, who had lived and worked in Paris as a journalist for a decade, decided to revisit his native country in 1967 to make a film assessing the state of the nation.
Amidst scenes of everyday Irish life — on the streets, in the classroom, at pubs, sporting events, dance halls, and a lively discussion amongst Trinity College students — ROCKY ROAD TO DUBLIN blends interviews with writers Sean O'Faolain and Conor Cruise O'Brien, a spokesman for the Gaelic Athletic Association, theater producer Jim Fitzgerald, a member of the censorship board, an editor of The Irish Times, film director John Huston, and a young Catholic priest, Father Michael Cleary.
Featuring the inspired photography of legendary French cinematographer Raoul Coutard, and an incisive, literate voice-over commentary by Lennon, ROCKY ROAD TO DUBLIN captures an Ireland on the cusp of enormous social changes but still mired in a regressive, semi-theocratic mentality that would later erupt in repeated church scandals.
"[ROCKY ROAD TO DUBLIN] is not only a precursor to The Troubles in Northern Ireland but to all the troubles that would come with the counterculture of the later 1960s, Vietnam and Watergate in the 1970s, Iran-Contra in the 1980s, and the culture wars (and real wars) of the 1990s and early 21st century."—Anthropology Review Database
"Magnificent! One of the most beautiful documentaries the cinema has given us."—Cahiers du Cinéma
"[A] most interesting and significant film event. Blisteringly critical…affectionate and fair-minded… beautifully photographed… by Coutard... with a lean, eloquent commentary."—The Observer
"Sparks lively discussion of the once-antithetical concepts of Ireland and progress."—Leonardo Digital Reviews
"★★★★ [4 out of 5 stars!] Glows with idealism: a brilliant, affectionate, exasperated portrait of his native land, in thrall to reactionary politics and a repressive church, decades after throwing off the English yoke. Almost 40 years on… [it] still has a blazing raw energy, coupled with shrewd insight."—The Guardian
"Sharp and mercilessly effective…"—Channel 4 International
"★★★★☆ [4 out of 5 stars!] Critic's Choice!"—Time Out
"Politically intelligent and formally innovative… not just historical, it is a contemporary film."—Fortnight (Belfast)
The life and work of legendary director Robert Flaherty ("Nanook of the North"), the "father of documentary."
Mac Dara O Curraidhin | 2011 | 84 minutes | Color | English
Reunites Peter Lennon and cinematographer Raoul Coutard, who recount the making of their then controversial, now classic, documentary on Ireland in the Sixties.
Paul Duane | 2005 | 27 minutes | Color | English; French | English subtitles
Traces the history of Ireland through her music, and Ireland's music through her history.
Arthur MacCaig | 2005 | 55 minutes | Color | English
