Angela's Ashes (1999)

Based on the best selling autobiography by Irish expat Frank McCourt, Angela's Ashes follows the experiences of young Frankie and his family as they try against all odds to escape the ... See full summary »

Director:

Alan Parker

Writers:

Frank McCourt (book), Laura Jones (screenplay),

Stars:

Emily Watson, Robert Carlyle, Joe Breen

Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 5 wins & 10 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Emily Watson	...	Angela McCourt
Robert Carlyle	...	Malachy (Dad)
Joe Breen	...	Young Frank
Ciaran Owens	...	Middle Frank
Michael Legge	...	Older Frank
Ronnie Masterson	...	Grandma Sheehan
Pauline McLynn	...	Aunt Aggie
Liam Carney	...	Uncle Pa Keating
Eanna MacLiam	...	Uncle Pat
Andrew Bennett	...	Narrator (voice)
Shane Murray-Corcoran	...	Young Malachy (as Shane Murray Corcoran)
Devon Murray	...	Middle Malachy
Peter Halpin	...	Older Malachy
Aaron Geraghty	...	New Born Michael
Sean Carney Daly	...	Baby Michael

Storyline

Based on the best selling autobiography by Irish expat Frank McCourt, Angela's Ashes follows the experiences of young Frankie and his family as they try against all odds to escape the poverty endemic in the slums of pre-war Limerick. The film opens with the family in Brooklyn, but following the death of one of Frankie's siblings, they return home, only to find the situation there even worse. Prejudice against Frankie's Northern Irish father makes his search for employment in the Republic difficult despite his having fought for the IRA, and when he does find money, he spends the money on drink.

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Plot Keywords:

irish | death | prejudice | poverty | limerick | 

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Taglines:

The Hopes of a Mother. The Dreams of a Father. The Fate of a Child.

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Genres:

Drama

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for sexual content and some language

Details

Country:

USA Ireland

Language:

English

Release Date:

21 January 2000 (USA)

Also Known As:

Las cenizas de Ángela

Filming Locations:

Ardmore Studios, Herbert Road, Bray, County Wicklow, Ireland

Box Office

Budget:

$25,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

£1,351,095 (UK) (14 January 2000)

Gross:

$13,038,660 (USA) (19 May 2000)

Company Credits

Production Co:

David Brown Productions, Dirty Hands Productions, Scott Rudin Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

145 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Poster and book cover by Bill Kaye.

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Goofs

Young Frank does not have a cleft chin, teenage Frank does, and in real life Frank McCourt has no cleft chin.

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Quotes

Narrator: [First lines] When I look back on my childhood, I wonder how my brothers and I managed to survive at all. It was, of course, a miserable childhood. The happy childhood is hardly worth telling. Worse than the ordinary miserable childhood is the miserable Irish childhood. And worse still is the miserable Irish Catholic childhood.

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Connections

References The Godfather: Part II (1974)

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Soundtracks

"I Can't Give You Anything But Love"
Written by Dorothy Fields, Jimmy McHugh
Performed by Billie Holiday

User Reviews

Affecting look at the human face of poverty

The trouble with making a movie out of a Pulitzer Prize winning book is that no matter how good and true to the book it is, it will usually be a disappointment. This has a lot to do with the difference between reading a story and seeing one. When one reads a book, it is usually done over time, perhaps a week or two. The words stir the imagination and the scenes described become images, usually more illusory than real. There is plenty of time for this process to work. A film, in contrast, is viewed over a period of about two hours, where the viewer is perceiving rather than imagining. The portrayals are well defined and no matter how creative the director, it is very difficult to create scenes that equal those of readers who have previously conjured fantastic images in their heads.

I believe this is the reason this film was such a disappointment to so many viewers who had read the book. Thankfully, I saw the film first, so I had no preconceived notions. With that fresh perspective, I must say that it was outstanding.

It the story is taken from the memoirs of Frank McCourt, who recounted his childhood in Ireland in the 1930's and 1940's. It is a poignant and compelling story of a poor family struggling to survive. The images are powerful depictions of the indignity of indigence in a world where hunger and disease were common and people went almost as frequently to the cemetery as to the market.

Alan Parker brings us a starkly realistic view of McCourt's Ireland. He scoured Ireland to find a ghetto that brought forth the images described in the book, but after an exhaustive search, he decided to build the lane from scratch using McCourt's photographs. Upon visiting the set, McCourt said it was chillingly accurate and he couldn't believe he wasn't back home. Parker desaturated the color to give the film a very stark look, consistent with the squalor he was trying to portray. Paradoxically, the loss of color intensity intensified the power of the images. Though I'm not a big fan of this technique (I like rich and vibrant color), in this case it was the perfect choice.

The film suffers a bit from excessive length, undoubtedly because there was so much to cover. However, when Parker bombards the viewer with disturbingly hopeless imagery for well over two hours, it becomes tedious. This is another advantage of reading a book. You can more easily put it down and come back to it. Parker sometimes overdoes certain ideas that he could have condensed. We could have done without half a dozen vomiting scenes and all the chamber pot activity. One or two such scenes would have gotten the message across.

The cast was consistently excellent. Parker saw over 15,000 child actors before casting the three boys who played Frank at various ages. All three were wonderful, but my favorite was Michael Legge, the oldest Frank. He was the most hopeful person in the film, giving him character and determination, without losing his idealistic innocence.

Emily Watson is a great dramatic actress and rose to the occasion to endow Angela with superhuman strength, courage and persistence in the face of crushing hardship and sorrow. Robert Carlyle was also terrific as Frank's father. He made the character a lovable man with fatal flaws. Despite his heinously irresponsible behavior squandering money on drink as his family starved, his charming nature and effusive affection for the children evoked as much love from us as disgust.

This is a brilliant production. Though many who read the book were disappointed, I must point out that Frank McCourt, who wrote the book, was unabashed in praising it for its realism in capturing his impressions and feelings of the times. I rated it a 9/10. Other than a bit of overkill, this is superb filmmaking giving us an affecting look at the human face of poverty.