Jimmy's Hall

Barry Ward is Jimmy Gralton, an Irishman deported during the 'Red Scare' in Ken Loach's social commentary drama.

In 1933 Jimmy Gralton, a born Irishman who had emigrated for a period to the United States, became the only Irishman ever to be deported from Irish soil. His deportation was ostensibly due to his running of an unruly dance hall in Effrinagh, but was widely taken to be a way for the authorities to put a lid on his expounding of radical socialist politics. Jimmy's Hall is Ken Loach's film about the events leading up to Gralton's deportation and is a wonderful film for it's frankness and honesty, and for the way it manages to explore the wider political climate of 1930s Ireland through the personal history of a single individual. 

Not that we'd expect anything less from Ken Loach. A seasoned maker of social-realist films, Gralton's story is a perfect match for Loach's style. It's also one his most emotionally rich films, the mood moving from effervescent and jubilant when we're in the vibrant sociable atmosphere of the dance hall, to terrifyingly oppressive when we're hearing the local priest condemning Gralton's hall, and finally to tender and moving as Gralton's family and friends have to deal with the consequences of his deportation. This stylistic virtuosity has been noted by a number of critics and won him a place in the Palm D'Or competition at Cannes.

A film this genuine would never have suited an a-list Hollywood cast and Loach has sensitively cast two Irish actors in the two lead roles, Barry Ward at Gralton and Simone Kirby as Oonagh, Gralton's childhood sweetheart. 

This is a sensitive and moving film with a big heart and a social conscience and it's set to be one of the major movies of the season.