The Hanging Gale (British/Irish Mini-Series)
Picture: C+
Sound: C+ Extras: C- Episodes: C+
Sometimes TV Mini-Series about serious subjects go too
much into the wrong direction and except for Roots or War &
Remembrance (reviewed elsewhere on this site,) most of them get into
trouble when they try to deal with genocide and oppression at any length. Taking place during the Irish Potato famine
in 1846, The Hanging Gale (1995) spends so much time on the beating,
assaulting and murdering of the Irish at that time that it become exploitive
and backfires.
For those who will say “that’s what happened” as a
reactionary response, I say “duh”!!! We
know that, but there needs to be as much story as possible when telling of the
events. Because this is a British
co-production, I accuse this production of being politically correct and
holding back on the politics because of recent events (the IRA was and still is
a hot button topic despite post-9/11 events) uses the beatings as filler and
turns them into a spectator sport.
What’s worse, the villain is a stereotypical mean British so and so
played to type by the actor who has done this role to death: Michael Kitchen.
Kitchen is capable of doing so much more, but casting
someone who has done it too often actually cushions the impact of what a so and
so the character really is. The four
McGann brothers play the sons of the Phelan Family who are forcedly pitted
against Captain Townsend (Kitchen).
They are good in the roles, but they have little to convincingly play
against. Allan Cubitt’s teleplay is a
disappointment to boot, while director Diarmuid Lawrence’s license (or licence)
to use graphic violence makes a bad situation worse. Can’t wait to compare this to another version of the story to
prove my point, but only those with a diehard interest should apply.
The letterboxed 1.66 X 1 image is soft and stylized, but
nothing impressive and shot this way at a time before widescreen TV had been
settled on. The Dolby Digital 2.0
Stereo is not bad, but has no major surrounds.
Extras include stills and text of the cast filmographies and production
itself. Too bad there was not more
about the events beyond this show.
- Nicholas Sheffo
