Product Description

Life in impoverished depression-era ireland holds little promise for young frank mccourt the oldest son in a tightly-knit family. Frank embarks on an inspiring journey to overcome the poverty of his childhood and reach the land of his dreams: america. Studio: Paramount Home Video Release Date: 08/19/2008 Starring: Emily Watson Robert Carlyle Run time: 145 minutes Rating: R Director: Alan Parker

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #6295 in DVD
• Brand: Paramount
• Released on: 2000-07-18
• Rating: R (Restricted)
• Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
• Formats: Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD, Full Screen, Letterboxed, Widescreen, NTSC
• Subtitled in: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 145 minutes

Customer Reviews

Wonderful child actors....
Well, I have to disagree with those who don't like this film. I read the book and I saw the film and the film is actually easier to take in some ways than the book. Both are pretty grim, there's no getting around that. Frank McCourt's childhood was a difficult affair.

The film and the book are works of art. The job of the artist is to shake us up, to make us see what we did not see before. The Ireland that Frank McCourt experienced was poor, dirty, downtrodden and very Catholic. Although I am not Irish, I grew up Catholic, and his depiction of the RC clergy was right-on. I can remember at the age of eight having a nun scream so hard she grew red in the face. I was terrified.

Well, read "Irish Immigrants and Exiles" if you think Mr. McCourt is exaggerating.

The film faithfully follows the book and I thought the film was more "hopeful" than the book. The child actors who play Frank at three different ages are wonderful. Mr. Mccourt said that he thought the film was a wonderful film that exactly captured his family. Guess we have to trust his judgement.

Whether you want to be subjected to this misery is another matter. The story reminds me of the films Carlo Ponti made about Italy after the War. Dirty, hungry children and pregnant 15-year olds. There are plenty of places still like that in the world, if only we can bring ourselves to look at them.

A film can never be a book
Like so many millions of people I adored the novel of Angela's Ashes with a passion and was horrified to hear that a film version had been made. My doubts were slightly dispersed when I read that the direction had fallen upon Alan Parker, who is a favourite, but still some doubts remained. Let me state categorically that it is a superb film from every possible perspective, except for the screenplay. It is not that the screenplay is bad, it's just impossible to condense the novel. It is hard to tell, but I think that anybody who has not read the novel, might have problems following the story and definitely will not get the indepth references.

Parker has done a superb job with the direction and the fact that the cinematography did not at least garner an Oscar nomination is a crime (and a comment). The film is shot in sepia-coloured repressiveness and the use of colour is astounding. Take, for example, the red coat Angela wears, which jumps out of the screen.

The acting from Carlyle as Malachy and Watson as Angela is likewise of the highest possible calibre, although the three boys playing Frank steal the show, which is as it should be. Carlyle does a particularly good job of making the boys' continued devotion to their father believable, when his character could so easily have become an arch villian. Watson's Angela is understated as it is in the novel: she is the life force as well as the life-draining force of the drama. An excellent performance from a most gifted actress.

The final word, though, has to go to the "feel" of the film, which I felt to be spot-on with the novel. Comedy and tragedy are blended to perfection and sobs of tears and laughter were almost perfectly matched in experiencing it. That is what the film is: an experience, not just a film. Obviously it can never be the novel, but as Frank McCourt gave his personal seal of approval I see no reason why anybody else would not.

Great movie
I enjoyed the movie, and of course movies sometimes are a bit of a let down from the book, but for those who rather just see the movie it does a fine job of telling the story. I read the book before seeing the movie and I thought they did a pretty good job, I do agree that there were some parts missing in the movie that was in the book. Emily Watson did a great job in this movie as well as each actor that played Frank McCourt. So regardless if you read the book or not I think you will enjoy this movie. And as for those, who think this movie is too Hollywood, well if that was the case then Frank's mom would have been played by Julia Roberts, his dad Tom Cruise, his aunt Britney Spears, and Frank would have been played by Will Smith, not to mention all the special affects they would have added to the movie. So I think it's a pretty good movie and recommend it.