Broken Harvest

views updated

Broken Harvest ★★½ 1994

Jimmy O'Leary remembers his youth in rural 1950s Ireland when a poor wheat harvest led to his family's financial demise and a feud between his father (Lane) and neighbor Josie McCarthy (O'Brien) threatened cruto destroy their lives. The men fought side by side for Ireland's independence, but the friendship dissolved when they took different sides during the ensuing civil war, and fought over Jimmy's mother. Strong performances and the beautiful West Cork and Wicklow location shots provide a nice balance to the uneven narrative. The black and white scenes were actually filmed in the mid '80s when the independently financed project was begun. Adapted from O'Callaghan's own story “The Shilling.” 101m/C VHS, DVD . IR Colin Lane, Niall O'Brien, Marian Quinn, Darren McHugh, Joy Florish, Joe Jeffers, Pete O'Reilly, Michael Crowley; D: Maurice O'Callaghan; W: Maurice O'Callaghan; C: Jack Conroy; M: Patrick Cassidy.