IRISH actor Jack Reynor has praised his forthcoming film Glassland's controversial depiction of Ireland.
The second movie from Kerry-born director Gerard Barrett is a bleak portrayal of a young man's struggle to cope with his mother's alcoholism.
Both Reynor and Barrett were present at a screening of the film in Britxton's Ritzy cinema on Wednesday, and participated in a question and answer session.
The lead actor explained his attraction to the project and the role of main character John. He said: “It's very much about telling a real story of a family in crisis.
“I could relate to the character, having grown up in a not very affluent background at home in Ireland, and having quite an intense relationship with my own mother.”
Reynor had just finished work on the latest Transformers movie, when young director, Barrett, managed to tempt him back to Ireland to star in the €300,000 film.
When asked whether they felt the film was a representation of Ireland, both were keen to draw the distinction between telling the story of one family, and that of an entire country.
“I very much wanted to tell the story of Ireland, and where we are now but it's not a representation of Ireland, it's a representation of a very minute part of Ireland”, said Barrett.
Reynor added: “Not all of Ireland is like this, if you have never been there, there are very good reasons to go.”
However, both felt that the story's approach to the strength of family bonds in spite of hardship, is something that Irish viewers would relate to.
“It's very a Irish thing, if something goes wrong everything stops. The main character puts his life on hold to help his mum, and it's very much an Irish thing,” Barrett said.
Of his next project, Barrett pointed towards another film with a distinctly Irish theme, and said: “My next film will be set in the Famine, but I really can't say too much.”
