Fr Daniel Barry (Martin Sheen) ,a man of the World having served in America and Rome , who has a passion for Cinema , Music and Language is left to languish in a rural community in Co Tipperary in the 1950's. The Bishop is encouraging his Parish Priests to gather funds to build new churches in every Parish. Fr Barry is more inclined to set up a Cinema in the local hall, going so far as plundering the church building fund to do so. The film has a number of different issues going on, such as the Priest's own doubts about his vocation as he was sent by his parents to the priesthood, the rural electrification of Ireland in the 1950's, the effects of the necessary emigration of young Irish men in that era to send money home to families to survive and the power of the Church and the Politicians in the fledgling Irish State. The cast is a strong one. Martin Sheen , as Fr Barry, is resigned to life in the Village, his only beacons of light being the arrival of a young teacher in the village,( well played by Trystran Gravelle, ) full of encouragement and passion, though this falls apart when he indulges in passions of another king with his young landlady (Marcella Plunkett). Tom Hickey shines out as the Bishop with "A countryman's love of concrete", drooling over his church building project, as does Stephen Rea as the rural Politician with a dedicated opposition to "Hollywood Filth". The main fault of the Film is that it takes on a few too many themes at the same time. Despite that, it is still a worthwhile film. It is a valid look at 1950's Ireland, sometimes sentimental and quite often humorous!
