Puckoon (2002)

Spike Milligan's book about the divided Irish village of Puckoon comes to the big screen.

Director:

Terence Ryan

Writers:

Susan Morrall (screenplay), Spike Milligan (novel)

Stars:

Sean Hughes, Elliott Gould, Daragh O'Malley

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Sean Hughes	...	Dan Madigan
Elliott Gould	...	Dr. Goldstein
Daragh O'Malley	...	Father Rudden
John Lynch	...	O'Brien
Griff Rhys Jones	...	Col. Stokes
Nickolas Grace	...	Foggerty
B.J. Hogg	...	Rafferty
David Kelly	...	O'Toole
Milo O'Shea	...	Sgt. McGillikuddie
Freddie Jones	...	Sir John Meredith
Richard Rickings	...	Alex Walker
Richard Attenborough	...	Writer-Director
Marc Sinden	...	The surveyor
Frankie McCafferty	...	Lenny
Conor Mullen	...	Shamus

Storyline

Puckoon is a wee Irish village that gets caught up in an argument about where the border separating Northern Ireland from Ireland should be. Keen to get the matter sorted before the pubs close, a random borderline is wrestled on the map of the Emerald Isle and Puckoon gets divided as well, literally. As the barbed wire fences and Army checkpoints go up overnight, suddenly people cannot get to their outhouses or walk from one side of the street to the other. It has some advantages, everyone squeezes into the tiniest corner of the pub because it is in Northern Ireland territory where the beer is cheaper, but worst of all, is the church and its graveyard. Now the newly deceased need a valid passport, renewable every year, if they want to be buried "across the border". A plan is hatched to return the newly dead back to Ireland. At the same time, a plan is hatched to smuggle explosives in coffins to Northern Ireland with, as they say, hilarious results.

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Plot Keywords:

ireland | border | coffin | church | rural setting | 

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Taglines:

Knowing where to draw the line

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Genres:

Comedy

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Did You Know?

Trivia

Elliott Gould's character Dr. Goldstein is named after him, as his birth name was Elliott Goldstein.

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Quotes

Father Rudden: Wine must be treated with respect. It's liquid Christianity. There has never been a bigger argument against teetotalers since the wedding feast at Cana.

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Crazy Credits

No animals or humans were hurt in the production of this movie with the exception of Benjamin Sloan the Production Trainee whose feelings were slightly hurt on one occasion.

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Soundtracks

The Merry Blacksmith
Traditional

User Reviews

Spike really hit the nail...

Puckoon, the story of a small Irish town divided by the Partition of Ireland in 1924 - really divided, the border goes through the middle of it! The characters are wonderful - the village idiot, the poacher, the priest and the hero(?)Dan Madigan, who participates reluctantly in hare-brained schemes to smuggle explosives into the North and deceased Catholics from the now Protestant side of the churchyard back into the Catholic part. Spike Milligan really hit the nail on the head with this hilarious story - pointing up the ridiculousness of political partition by 1)making it so farcical and 2) making the authorities who try to enforce it look like idiots. I notice that the Norwegian reviewer thought it a waste of money - but perhaps this film has the sort of message that only the Brits and Irish would understand. 10/10

Details

Official Sites:

Official site cast photos, trailer, reviews [UK]

Country:

Ireland UK Germany

Language:

English

Release Date:

4 April 2003 (Ireland)

Also Known As:

Határvillongások

Filming Locations:

Ballywater Park, County Down, Northern Ireland, UK

Company Credits

Production Co:

Bórd Scannán na hÉireann, Distinguished Features, Insight Ventures Limited

Technical Specs

Runtime:

82 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1