ANGELA'S ASHES

I finally got around to watching the film, Angela's Ashes. What a very good film it is. Great is a term we apply loosely and too often, but as far as telling a story about poverty during Ireland's depression, it hits the mark. The cinematography is fantastic. It rains a lot in Ireland and you will feel waterlogged by the end of the film. The acting by Emily Watson (Angela) and Robert Carlyle (Malachy, the father) are uniformly excellent. The child actors amaze me as all child actors do, how do they get kids to act that well? Like all good actors, they make it look like they are living it and not acting.

The eldest son Frank McCourt, and family go from depression America, back to depression Ireland, and Frank succeeds in getting out and returning back to America. In a nut shell that's the plot. Frank McCourt has written the sequel to this story and titled it TIS. Of course, I will have to read it and find out the fates of the rest of the family, and what is the exact meaning of the title Angela's Ashes? I can tell you the movie is well worth picking up at the video store.