Alfie Byrne is a middle-aged bus conductor in Dublin in 1963. He would appear to live a life of quiet desperation: he’s gay, but firmly closeted, and his sister is always trying to find him “the right girl”. His passion is Oscar Wilde, his hobby is putting on amateur theatre productions in the local church hall. We follow him as he struggles with temptation, friendship, disapproval, and the conservative yet oddly lyrical world of Ireland in the early 1960s.
Director: Suri Krishnamma.
Stars: Albert Finney, Brenda Fricker, Michael Gambon, David Kelly, Tara FitzGerald, Rufus Sewell, Patrick Malahide, Mick Lally, Anna Manahan, Joe Pilkington, Brendan Conroy, Joan O’Hara, Eileen Reid, Eileen Conroy, Maureen Egan.
To the late great Albert Finney! Thanx, Jon!
RIP Albert Finney (May 9, 1936 – February 7, 2019).
thank you for this and all, jon,,!
cheers from torino,italy
This is a wonderful irish film with an wonderful actor. The film shows like a timemachine the 60ies with wonderful costumes, old busses etc. The film shows how difficult it in such times was to be homosexual…..Wonderful lyric film! Thank you !
What a wonderful, beautiful, hidden gem of a film. It knew just how deep to get without steering into territory of the saccharine; Albert Finney’s performance was fantastic, as one can expect, and he is able to anchor a great performance with a rotation of other interesting, believable characters. His monologues are put to great use and the camerawork and directorial choices made by Krishnamma give us a beautiful vehicle. The banal is made beautiful and, while towards the end it dips just a bit too close to sweet for me, we see the ways that community bonds and love can form. Lovely.