Jimmy’s Hall is a film directed by Ken Loach, set in 1930 in the Irish countryside of Leitrim. Although less striking than the indisputable “The Wind Rises”, this new film depicts a battered and divided Ireland, 10 years after the terrible Irish War of Independence, and the Civil War that broke out shortly afterwards…
The story of Jimmy’s Hall begins in 1932, when Jimmy Gralton (played by Barry Ward), an Irishman exiled for 10 years in the USA, decides to return to Ireland in County Leitrim. Hunted 10 years earlier, he is now determined to lead a settled life and help his mother on the farm.
He discovered a new Ireland, with a new government and a new geopolitical division of the territory. What’s more, the village where he lives is chaperoned by a particularly strict local priest, hostile to any form of intellectual or political expression.
But Jimmy is a man of great notoriety: his politically committed exploits 10 years earlier have won him a lot of sympathy, especially from the village youth… He then decided to reopen the “Hall”, a free youth hostel where friends could meet to dance, chat, play sports or even study.
Success followed, and Jimmy became increasingly famous and influential. But the young man’s progressive ideas and verve are not to the liking of most of the villagers, and tensions are bound to escalate and degenerate…
The challenge Ken Loach set himself for Jimmy’s Hall is a tough one. In a way, this new film is the sequel or extension to Le Vent se Lève, a film entirely dedicated to the Irish War of Independence and Civil War, which won an award at Cannes…
In this new opus, Ken Loach looks at the societal repercussions of these wars 10 years on. And the results are bitter, full of resentment, frustration and power struggles. A situation perfectly illustrated by Jimmy’s Hall…
However, the film is rather bland… This is due to a number of long-winded passages, coupled with scenes that are sometimes pointless, eternally harping on the same battle-horses dear to Ken Loach… Freedom, patriotism, anti-clerical struggle… The messages are repetitive and habitual when you know the director, but lose their weight through repetition.
It’s a pity, because this film had real potential, and in the end is a mere shadow of its former self: a sort of pale copy of Le Vent se Lève, with no real flavor, closer to a TV movie than a film…
