Ballykissangel - Complete Series One
by Paul Duane
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Colin Farrell, Kate McEnery, Mick Lally, Owen Teale, Robert Taylor (VII)Director: Paul Duane
Brand: Warner Brothers
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown), Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo; English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, NTSC
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 300 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2004-01-20
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: BBC
Movie Reviews of Ballykissangel - Complete Series One
Movie Review: Touches the heart and mind of the viewer
Summary: 5 Stars
This is a series sui generis--a thing unto itself (though it can be compared and contrasted to many others). I am virtually certain that the creator, who must certainly have a strong say in how all episodes are written because of their fluid continuity, watched a lot of All Creatures Great and Small. Although there is far more star quality in that great series (Robert Hardy as a inimitable,fantastic Siegfried) and it is more tightly focused on just three or four characters (the vets plus Ellen), All Creatures... was such a hit because again and again and again it goes for the heart, not fulsomely or over-sentimentally, but with real, live, accessible, and beautifully drawn characters.
BallyK shares this warmth and genuine humanity without sacrificing the basics of the "real world" and, though it is not mentioned enough, I think many people are happy to see a priest portrayed positively, with faults but much more with lots of decency and a sense of love and fairness. Stephen Tompkinson, at least in the first two years of episodes, is nothing short of spectacular as the lead character. Again in contrast with the "star" of All Creatures...Robert Hardy, his character has some charisma but it's his basic love for and acts of love for others that glues this series together.
Many charactes play major roles, but making a Catholic priest the positive protagonist is a stroke of brilliance, rarely equalled in the annals of art. The creator almost certainly didn't expect the reaction this series has received all over the world. (It has a universal appeal with universal plots and themes, set in Ireland: it's not just for those who are Irish or like the Irish--that is totally off-base).
The trials and tribulations and humorous situations, most of them not earth-shattering, that make up this series (I've seen years one and two) connect with the concerns and lives of ordinary people who can identify with aspects of most of the characters. There is a nasty character or two that appear in a few of the episodes, but their "evil", while real, doesn't dominate, but dissolves into the overall good natured quality of this series.
And that's the key: the characters and conflicts in BAllyK are genuine; there isn't the manufactured angst, turbo-charged hyperactivity, and turmoil that characterizes most serieses.
In the U.S., the Sopranos is top dog among serieses of this kind and I too have enjoyed it to a degree. But is Tony Soprano the Everyman that could give this series timeless appeal--NO. I do believe, however, that Father Clifford, in crucial combination with the other characters, is an Everyman that will give this series timeless apppeal--again much like All Creatures...
In fifty years, more people may watch the Sopranos, but the percentage of people that watch BAllyK and fall in love with this very slightly off-beat community with will be much higher than those who both watch and really love The Sopranos. Anyway this is a great series, at least years one and two (there is great conflict about seasons 3 and 4, which I have not seen).
Older viewers who grew up watching and liking the Andy Griffith Show, Father Knows Best, Leave it to Beaver, My Three Sons et al will like this series--probably not seein the resemblances, which are many. But BallyK is not recycled old American t.v. It makes its own statment; has its own warmth and charm; and creates its own compelling, if low-key, reality. See the first two seasons at least. You will be a better person for it.
Summary of Ballykissangel - Complete Series One
Life is a challenge for any priest in a small mountain town, and Father Peter Clifford has just arrived from London with high expectations and not even a drivers license to help him navigate the rocky road to salvation in Ballykissangel. His arrival is as much of a shock to Peter as it is to the local residents who are forced to come to terms with his youthful energy and down-to-earth style. Beautiful barkeep Assumpta Fitzgerald owns a car, but loathes organized religion, and she lets him know it as they drive up the mountain to give the last rites to a dying parishioner. And he clashes repeatedly with powerful landowner Brian Quigley, one of the church's biggest donors. There are prejudices to overcomeand questions to be answered. Like why exactly did Peter leave London in the first place?Similar DVD Movies
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