Civil War drama unites the Irish army of film fans
'The Wind that Shakes the Barley' proves to be most popular home-grown film of decade
THE Ken Loach film, The Wind That Shakes the Barley, is the most popular home-grown movie of the last decade, according to the Irish Film Board.
The civil war movie, starring Cillian Murphy and Jonathan Rhys Myers, pulled in an incredible €4.1m at the box office in 2006 and was the top grossing movie backed by the board since 2000.
In second place was Intermission, which zig-zagged into the chaotic lives of modern-day Dubliners, and grossed €2.5m at the box office.
The comedy Man About Dog and The Magdalene Sisters also broke the one million euro mark, with the greyhound comedy scoring just over €2m while the shocking convent-centred drama made €1.39m, in 2002.
In ninth place out of ten was About Adam, which starred Hollywood A-listers Kate Hudson and Stuart Townsend, but attracted only €680,000 in ticket sales.
Agnes Browne, which also had a major Hollywood star, Angelica Heuston, acting alongside comedian Brendan O'Carroll, came in eighth place with €700,000.
Neil Jordan's Breakfast on Pluto and the comedy When Brendan Met Trudy just scraped below the one million euro mark in fifth and sixth place respectively.
The production report from the board also revealed that cinema is more popular than ever here, with 401 screens in the country compared to 322 five years ago.
In 2006, there were almost 18 million tickets (17.8) bought by Irish people, as the nation's love affair with the big screen continued.
Around 350 films are released in Ireland each year, but Hollywood ticket sales trumped those of low-budget and home-grown movies in 2007. Children's movies and action hero blockbusters were the biggest hits in a bumper year.
The number of cinema-goers, meanwhile, shot up by almost ten per cent, according to Carlton Screen Advertising, which monitors the Irish box office.
The Simpsons movie was the most popular film in the country last year, and the second most popular film ever in Ireland, pulling in €6.1m.
The latest instalment of the Shrek, Shrek the Third, came in at second place with €5.6m in ticket sales. Other children's films in the 2007 top ten included Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix and Transformers, which came in third and fourth place respectively.
The rest of the top ten was dominated by superheroes and action, with Spider Man 3 coming in fifth place, Pirates of the Caribbean scoring sixth and The Bourne Ultimatum and Die Hard coming in seventh and eight places.
In 2006, The Wind that Shakes the Barley flew the flag for Ireland -- in third place in the top ten films of the year, but an Irish movie failed to make it to the top ten in 2007.
The Irish Film Board is leading a major drive this week to drum up Hollywood's interest in Ireland, with a delegation heading to network in Los Angeles in the run-up to the Oscars.
- Lynne Kelleher
