As part of the 2018 Irish Film Festival I went to see The Flag last night, and while some sentences were utterly lost on me because of some thick, thick Irish accents, it’s a good one.
The Flag is about a bunch of Irishmen who plot to go to England to steal back an Irish flag from the Easter Risings which was signed by the main guy’s grandad and restore honor to the family name.
It’s a spy-dramedy – it has an underlying romance problem, it’s a funny almost-slapstick plot, and there is A LOT of semi-cool spy music going on. Personally, I’ll admit that I didn’t laugh at everything the rest of the audience laughed at, e.g., when our main character gets on to a public bus ‘stark bollock naked’ after being attacked by two British youths, the embarrassment of his situation only managed a monosyllabic chuckle out of me, as opposed to the guffaws from the other patrons, however, it is pretty funny. The lead up to the plan is the funniest bit, but what got the most laughs quantifiably was when these two Irishmen are saying ‘pip pip’ and ‘tally ho’ to a bunch of army officers, attempting to imitate an English accent and personality. Hilarious.
The ending is excellent, you get the nice tidy tying up of the strings, and, not to spoil it, but the music gets your patriotism and respect for Ireland going, even if you have no relation to Ireland whatsoever, like myself.
The Flag is a nice comedy with just the right amount of spies and romance to balance out.
The Flag
2018 Irish Film Festival
Kena (17)