I saw this first in the theatre, it didn't stay too long, so I was lucky. For the life of me I don't understand how these movies don't get the publicity they deserve. Saint Ralph comes to mind, C.R.A.Z.Y., and the "Hanging Garden" et al. Lovely homegrown efforts with a story line and casting and the kind of breathtaking scenery that doesn't leave your mind for a while.
This is eccentric in the extreme, you wonder where it is going from the outset when a woman leaves a little local museum in Glace Bay, Nova Scotia, screaming her head off.
The story unwinds charmingly and tragically. Helena Bonham Carter sinks her teeth into the role of the sniffling Margaret, all quirky and saucy who captures the heart of the drunken ex-miner bagpiper extraordinaire and Gaelic aficionado, Neil Currie, played by the devilish Clive Russell. Sparks fly, some highly erotic bits between the two. Kate Nelligan as Margaret's mother, plays a hardnosed sarcastic and bitter woman who has lost her husband and a son to the mines and is caring for her elderly father who can't breathe for the coal dust in his lungs.
I won't spoil the story, it winds to its sad and shocking conclusion in its own time, suffice to say that there are many lovely side bits ( a blossoming love story between Margaret's young brother and the daughter of the manager of the mine being one).
8 out of 10. Supporting cast and music were wonderful. A few little story holes that were slightly annoying - an uncle supposedly out on bail for arson back in his old job lickety split and a grandchild that had disappeared - but not enough to detract from an overall fine film. Even the second time around!
