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Category: Calvary

CALVARY 

Director:  John Michael McDonagh

Year of Release:  2014

This is a great film, whilst Aidan’s role is small, the acting, the scenery and the storyline are all sublime, I never tire of watching it.

The basic premise is a priest (played by the fantastic Brendan Gleeson) living in a small village in Ireland, is threatened by one of his parishioners during confession, as the film unfolds, we learn that there are several people who could have made that threat.  There appears to be a lot of hostility towards the priest (Father James) even though he is good natured, and things get darker as the film progresses, but there are a few welcome flashes of humor which lightens the mood.

Father James seems to have alienated his parishioners, though this appears to be through no fault of his own. It is the church rather than the priest that the village seem to have turned against, being viewed as both judgmental and a figure of fun.  This is not surprising considering the actions of Father James’s fellow priest Father Leary who appears to lack empathy and any connection with the villagers. Added to this is the arrival of Father Leary’s troubled daughter, who clearly has issues with her father’s late in life entrance into the priesthood.

Aidan plays Dr Frank Harte, a cynical man who, as a self-proclaimed atheist, has no time for the church or Father James.  He spends most of his time ridiculing Father James and there is one scene, where he is shockingly harsh, seemingly happy to torment the priest at a time when he is clearly struggling with what is happening to him. 

Dr Harte is interesting, as the character is different to any that Aidan has played before, he has played out and out Psychopaths and villains, but this is a character who observes rather than antagonizes.  Unlike Lord Baelish, there does not appear to be any plans behind his actions, he just appears to be devoid of empathy.  One trait he does share with other Aidan characters is his love of cocaine – I have lost count of the number of times I have seen him take a snort of the white stuff on screen!!

As I said at the beginning, Aidan does not appear in this film much, I would say he is in around five scenes. But his character is interesting, he plays it well, and he looks great, this was made in between the filming of Game of Thrones, so he is sporting the Baelish hair and moustache.

If you like dark, character-based films, with stunning scenery and a sprinkling of Aidan, then this is the film for you. In my opinion it is one of the best films Aidan has been in. It is not in my top five but that is only because he is in so few scenes.  A little bit of trivia to finish with, Killian Scott who plays Milo in the film also worked with Aidan in Love/Hate where he played Tommy.