CINE
Pierce Brosnan (007 Agent), in a different story
"Un amor por descubrir"(The Nephew) is the first attempt by Pierce Brosnan as a producer (Tomorrow Never Dies, Goldeneye, as 007, and the Fourth Protocol). An actor with great popularity and sales in Hollywood, he has returned to Ireland as an actor after a decade.
Eugene Brady, from Dublin decided that the time had arrived for him to make his old dream come true: make a movie in Ireland. "Un amor por descubrir", a story related to his personal life, marks his debut as a director.
This movie explains the story of hidden passions and hatred on an island, located off the Irish coast, where Tony Egan, a respectable farmer, lives. He receives a letter from his younger sister , Karen, who had moved to the United States twenty years prior. This is the first communication between them, since a mutual falling out along time ago. Karen tells Tony that she is dying. Her last wish is that her ashes rest in the land that she loved so deeply, for this reason, she'll send her son to the island.
BACK
Pierce Brosnan has become one of those stars with anxiety, he wants to try a little bit of everything, alternating his millionaire sex symbol image by @ng with independent productions, with more "auteur" cinema. The result of this is "Un amor por descubrir" (The Nephew), a small intimate movie, filmed in his native land, where the actor plays a secondary role.
The movie is about love and cultural difference told with the reserved and peculiar Irish idiosyncrasy that was exploited so much by John Ford in his unforgettable "The Quiet Man". A subject matter that has generally been treated from a comedy perspective, more or less sentimental, here has the characteristics of a familiar and romantic drama. The arrival of one exotic foreigner, an authentic product of the rap culture from the movies of Spike Lee and John Singleton, to this close and traditional community makes the first part of the movie promising. However, the film starts moving towards the rural land and a more exciting action in the form of a first love theme.
Helped by beautiful scenes and by the director's labor that combines both a dangerous self-indulgence with undeniable gleans of talent, "Un amor por descubrir" is worthwhile.
A side mention is deserved for the labor of the actors, including Pierce Brosnan who at least makes an effort by giving life to an ungrateful character. He can do very little to compete against the main character of the movie Donal McCann. Just for the intensity of his glance, and his chilling voice this movie is worth watching.
BACK
The main character is in fact a young man, the Nephew that with his dark skin and American origin, shakes up the inhabitants of the small town, becoming the object of gossip. His mother has died and now he has come to Ireland to live with his uncle. His dreadlocks do not match with the farm in which he has to work, but "Un arnor por descubrir" doesn't stay around this cultural contrast. The Nephew falls in love and the two families that hated each other must now deal with one another. The mystery that this young man unveils is not an intricate one, but the writers of the movie did a good job by revealing the mystery in small doses.
Meanwhile the director explores the countryside, applying music (like the sensual haircut scene) and creating warm characters. His detail for secondary characters, such as the nuns and children, help make the narration of the story and it's humor stronger. The Nephew is a very nice film to watch, affectionate and noble. If at some point it looks like it is going to fall into a melodrama, to it's credit, it picks itself up.
The first film to come from Pierce Brosnan's production company Irish DreamTime is good solid entertainment with a lot to say and a superb cast who do just that to the best of their abilities. While Eugene Brady's feature debut essentially tells the same old story about families cursed by the sins of their fathers and how they must break with the past or be doomed to relive it, The Nephew does so in such a wry and touching way it all feels as fresh and crisp as the glorious countryside mornings expertly captured by cinematographer Jack Conroy.
Bitter rivalries resurface on the rural island of Inis Dira when the American-born nephew of stoic farmer Tony Egan (McCann) arrives following the death of his long-banished mother. Chad (Harper) is black with dread-locks and is immediately greeted with suspicion and curiosity bv the locals who make everyone's business their own. It's when Chad befriends Aislin (McGuckin), the daughter of pub owner Joe Brady (Brosnan), that dormant grudges look set to rise again.
You see, Joe and Chad's mother were lovers, yet Tonv did everything in his power to keep them apart for no reason except a hypocritically moral one. Despite Tony having a shameful secret of his own, his absolute refusal to acknowledge their affair and the mean-spirited destruction of it has festered for 20 years in both injured parties. Now fearless Chad wants answers to uncomfortable questions as he unknowingly gets deeply involved in repeating the same history himself.
Beautifully directed, with each heart-felt performance given room to shine, The Nephew does turn a shade predictable as it edges towards its moving climax. But that's okay because the journey is paved with funny culture clash comedy and crackling drama leavened by warmth and insight.
Brady does overdo things in some instances - chorister Phelim Drew trying out an lrish rap song is just too much to take in the whimsy department. However, there won't be a dry eye in the house when Chad sings in Gaelic at a wake and Joe finally learns the truth about his mother's feelings for him. Genuinely affecting and lovingly produced with care and attention, Brosnan deserves a real pat on the back for having the courage of his convictions and using his James Bond career to jump-start such a worthwhile project.
BACK
After a ten-year busman's holiday, Pierce Brosnan returns to Ireland to produce and act in this entertaining effort, the first under his newly formed Irish Dream Time banner, set on a rural island off the Irish mainland.
McCann plays stubborn and well-respected farmer Tony, whose long estranged sister Karen writes with a plea from her New York deathbed that he take in her only child, his nephew.
Tony goes to the local pub to gloat to its owner and his arch rival Joe Brady (Brosnan) that he's expecting a visitor and the small village buzzes with the news. But when Tony meets Chad Egan-Washington (Hill Harper) off the boat, he is shocked to discover his nephew is mixed race. However, Chad's colour is not what bothers Tony. Never able to understand Karen, he finds Chad even harder to fathom and matters are made worse when Chad begins a beautiful friendship with Joe's daughter Aislin (Aislin McGuckin).
To the picture's credit, it doesn't focus too much on the obvious culture clashes of New York and rural Eire, but on the human aspect - the pain that pig-headed pride and bitterness can cause. The culture contrasts are shown much more subtly in the cinematography, making the most of the lush, sprawling landscapes, and the energetic soundtrack which features an eclectic mix of Gaelic and funky beats.
While McCann manages to be both perplexing and sympathetic at the same time, and McGuckin and Harper ooze chemistry as the young lovers, ironically it is only Brosnan who disappoints in the acting stakes. However, while he is seemingly uncomfortable in his role as the Guinness-pulling, cigarette-smoking barman he has done a grand job on the producing front.
BACK
IRELAND'S newest mega-movie director is about to shoot to super-stardom, when he releases his debut picture in August.
In his only first flick, Eugene Brady has attracted a cast that would make even Neil Jordan and Jim Sheridan proud.
After pending the last five years making ads for television, Brady couldn't have hoped for a better introduction to the film business.
His new production - The Nephew - stars movie heavyweights Pierce Brosnan and Donal McCann.
It will receive its world premier in Dublin at the end of August, and is sure to be box-office smash.
Set on Inis Dara - a rural island off the coast of Ireland - The Nephew tells the story of the relationship between a farmer - Tony Egan - and his Irish -American nephew.
Egan is united with the 17-year-old following the death of his sister Karen, who fled
to America after a bitter family feud 20 years previous.
In a brilliant twist to the story, while meeting the youngster at the island pier, Egan is shocked to discover that his nephew is black.
Such a revelation is treated with suspicion by the residents of the backward island. what follows is an intriguing and emotional story, which is sure to have audiences glued to their screens and perched on the edge of their seats.
So how did a raw director like Eugene Brady manage persuade such a mega-star as Pierce Brosnan to appear in his picture?
"I was shopping tne project around and I put the idea to him," explains Brady.
" He was just so dead on about the whole thing, he's a really down to earth guy"
Apart from the likes of Brosnan and McCann. Brady also hired the services of
Sinead Cusack, Niall Toibin and sexy new star Lorraine Pilkington.
With such a star-studded cast, Brady explains that despite the big names, they were a great group to work with.
"Every day you have 100 people wondering what do, but as long as I knew what I wanted, everything was fine. "
Speaking to Eugene, you get the impression that he's still buzzing from making his first movie.
"Big time - I'm extremely lucky."
"When I get up in the morning I'm excited, and when I go to bed at night I'm excited."
The 32-year old hopes to continue his movie making career, and his ambition is to eventually follow in the footsteps of his hero:
"The director I really look up to is John Ford - he was the greatest Irish film-
maker of all time."
Ford directed some of the finest movies ever made, such as The Quiet Man, Fort Apache and She Wore A Yellow Ribbon.
"There has been some great Irish film-makers, and because of their wonderful reputation, they have paved the way for the likes of me."
BACK
Four Stars
The Nephew is a story of bitter rivalries and love lost. When New York home boy Chad (gorgeous new boy Hill Harper) comes to the windswept Irish isle of Inis Dara, he gets a varied reception from the islanders, all of whom have links with his late mother, Karen. His Uncle Tony is harbouring some dark secret about his sister's past and Chad makes it his business to find out what. Why did Karen have to leave the island? And what went wrong between her and big time beau Pierce Brosnan (who even manages to look sexy in a dodgy cardigan)? A homecoming tale to break your heart with some feisty stirrings afoot.
TOTTY: Sexy newcomer Hill Harper as wayward nephew Chad. Think Will Smith and Denzell Washington rolled into one. Woof!
BEST BIT: The erotic scene when Chad shaves off his dreads, helped by a quivering Aislin Brady (Brosnan's on-screen daughter). He goes in a pineapple head and comes out lean, mean and luscious.
MORE!'S QUOTE FOR THE POSTER:Great scenery, sexy accents and a simmering tale of geuds, frolics and fantasies that pulls at the heart strings throughout.
Eugene Brady can not entirely free himself from a picturesque eccentric style in his directing debut "The American Nephew". One feels the variety of everyday Irish life, that until now has only been captured by Neil Jordan in "The Miracle". Inis Dara is a small rural island off the Irish coast, it is a completely strange world for seventeen year old Chad Egan Washington (Hill Harper). Twenty years ago his mother Karen left the island for New York, now after her death he comes to her home for the first time to spread her ashes and find a new home with his uncle Tony Egan (Donal McCann).
Inis Dara is for Eugene Brady who also had the idea for this story not your typical rural Irish community, closed to outsiders with all its secrets and strangeness. A stranger could only disturb its balance.
Eugene Brady's debut seems like a mirror of a blooming blossom of Irish cinema, which without been a masterpiece - contains all its strengths. Actually "The American Nephew" is a character film, not pretentious but a rather detailed and sensitive portrait of rural Irish life. Brady left his actors (including the very unbondish Pierce Brosnan) exactly the space they needed, so they are all brilliant, especially Donal McCann who lets you feel with each of his gestures and looks the self destroying power with which his Tony Egan suppresses all feelings except hatred and bitterness.
A piece of early history of the island lies openly for everybody: the Cromleich, a massive Megalite-grave by the ocean. But the recent past is securely hidden or hushed up. All the participants and the knowledgeable wrap themselves in silence over the private feuds that have been dividing this small community for over twenty years - the glum overworked farmer Tony (Donal McCann), friendly store owner Brenda (Sinead Cusack), the reserved pub owner Joe (Pierce Brosnan). What happened back then? Tony's American nephew, who gives the film its title, reveals the secret by paying respect to the old stones and getting the others rolling.
Director Eugene Brady from Dublin, enlivens an old proven story pattern with his own experiences: in a closed society only a newcomer can give rise to retrieving old open bills. This special visitor is Chad (Hill Harper) from New York of whose existence Tony, his Uncle, never knew. The first surprise for Tony is the letter after twenty years from his sister, who left the island because of a mysterious feud. She asks him to take care of her orphan son after her death. When Tony gets ready t6 pick up Chad from the ferry, looking in vain for someone with any family resemblance, he is in for a second surprise. Of all the people his nephew is the young black guy, he had looked at condescendingly. Is the mistrust Tony and the other inhabitants of the island have against Chad plain hostility? Artfully, Eugene Brady's film denies itself the usual catch phrases. The case becomes trickier here with the exotic stranger coming to the old homeland as a close relative.
"The American Nephew" is part of a new European wave of critical films with regional background. The island centers are the pub, the church and the local store, with a love story between Chad and the daughter of the pub owner. The new romance soon meets the opposition of the two feuding families. But Chad and Aislin are not Romeo and Juliet. Defeat is not in their vocabulary. Together or alone they play private detective for there own interests. In their attempt to get to the bottom of the feud they soon run into an impeded romance from the past. Conclusively Brady develops the double track as both reveal traces of the past while braving steps into the future. The suspense lasts to the very end - will the young generation successfully break out of the graying grudges? With a sense for detail, Brady captures the backwoods obstinacy as well as the Irish eccentricities.
The funeral in the honor of a villager who had been unlucky his whole life and who had died of a heart attack at the news of winninig the lottery, is a proof of both. Therefore this event is the best opportunity to introduce Chad into the island community. With an old song he hits the Irish heartbeats and wins over the store owner, who shares a secret with his uncle Tony.
"The American Nephew" is mostly a tragic comedy with outstanding character actors. From their faces, the camera likes to capture in many of the close ups the truth of their emotions which never leave their lips. Next to this the landscape plays an important part as the reflection of the events. Only sometimes when the wild water sparkles or the sunset becomes a tad too golden, Brady's history in shooting commercials shines through. Many times, however, the director succeeds in portraying the double face of the stony hills - attractive for the tourists, hard for the natives, who have tried throughout the generations in tedious work efforts to eliminate the rocks from the barren pastures on the way to their fortune.
First time director Eugene Brady tells the story in the rhythm of the life of Inis Dara - measured, down to earth and casual. "The American Nephew" is a drama of the tender kind that does not brag about the landscape and the odd locals.
It does not tell a story about the people. It tells a story with the people. There is a lot of coolness in the pictures and in the country people faces which warms up when this colorful person from New York arrives - Chad Egan Washington (Hill Harper). The movie swings between a hint of comedy and a Romeo and Juliet romance in the shadow of a unfulfilled love of the past.
Director Brady achieves a edgy ballad that is silent which can lead to the destination of the soul. Only through Chad, Tony can learn again how to show his feelings. In the end down by the harbor this Irish drama succeeds.
BACK
On the quiet Irish island of Inis Dara chaos breaks out. The sister of Tony Egan (Donal McCann) has died in America. Her heritage: the under aged son Chad Egan Washington (Hill Harper) an African American is now supposed to live in Ireland. It is there "The American Nephew" falls in love with the daughter of pub owner Joe Brady (Pierce Brosnan), the ex-lover of his mother.
Old jealousy and grudges come to the surface and a drama evolves after the first confusion (what is James Bond doing behind the bar?). Brosnan carries the whole film as the tragic disappointed lover. There is a wonderful interaction between all the characters - perfect casting. A quiet milieu study, its tension lies in the powerful story and its opulent pictures.
September 26, 1999
DIARIO 16 Madrid
En Cartel Cines
by Roberto Cueto"Un amor por descubrir"
The Green IrelandEl Diario Vasco
by Ricardo Aldarondo
CINE UN AMOR POR DESCUBRIR
There is something about Irish movies that when looking at their own anonymous inhabitants, makes them captivating. Something to do with those people a bit wiser, maybe stubborn but warm under a tough skin modeled by a fierce cold wind. Pierce Brosnan is normally forced to work in other types of films, this is the reason why he buys himself the pleasure of making simple films with an aroma of authenticity. He enjoys it so much, and it pays so well, that he doesn't need to be the lead actor, even if his role as a barman somehow helps dismember the mystery that maintains hatred alive in a small closed community of an Irish island.
Reviews From England and Ireland
Film Review
Four StarsTomorrow Never Lies
by Alan JonesEmpire
The Nephew
by Jessia Mellor
Four StarsSunday Independant
HOW DIRECTOR'S APPROACH PAID OFF
FOR IRELAND'S NEW MOVIE WHIZZKID
IAN MALLON reportsSMASH
Looking
"He was looking for a project to produce, and said to me -You ve never directed and I've never produced - lets go for it'."Ordinary
"This shouldn't be happening to me, I'm just an ordinary Joe from Bray," he laughs.Daily Mail
Sky Premier ListingBest Films
The Nephew Sky premiere, 8 p.m. Pierce Brosnan returned to his native Ireland as producer of this lightweight but extremely charming story of love, betrayal and regret. Brosnan is also the nominal star but he graciously takes a back seat to Donal McCann, who gives a blisteringly intense performance as a lonely farmer whose solitary life on the remote island of Inis Dara is radically changed by the arrival from America of his dead sister's son. Mixing raw emotion with gentle humour, this is a low-budget gem.The Nephew
Reviews from Germany
Die Welt
The American Nephew in the Irish Countryside
"The American Nephew" in the Irish countryside: Eugene Brady lets the cultures clash
The Irish film industry is booming, but outside of Ireland with maybe the exception of England little is known about this small European movie miracle. It is amazing that such a small place like Ireland can turn out so many films. But very few of these films make it to the cinema screens and TV. The few films that do make it out of Ireland tend to be in two cliches, either civil unrest or bizarre fairly tales."Niemand ist eine Insel"
No man is an Island:
Irish heartbeats for a song of the homeland: Euuene Brady's "The American NephewRomeo and Juliet in Ireland, but with a Happy-ending
007 at the bar: Brosnan opens a Keg
Reviews from New Zealand
Independent News Auckland Ltd./ The Sunday Star-Times (Auckland)
FEATURES; ENTERTAINMENT; Pg. 5; Film ReviewTHE NEPHEW: Blarney works Culture clash avoids cliches
(PG -- low-level offensive language) Starring Donal McCann, Hill Harper, Pierce Brosnan, Sinead Cusack, Aislin
McGucklin, Naill Toibin, Phelim Drew, Lorraine Pilkington. Directed by Eugene Brady.
Reviewed by DYLAN CLEAVER
THERE's a tendency for folks Down Under to love all things Irish. After all, apart from Northern Ireland where things can get a bit skittish, Ireland is so quaint and full of good cheer.
It's why we 'll pay good money to see movies where, even if it's a doco about potato blight in County Cork, we'll laud the gift the Irish have for story-telling.
It's why another "romantic Irish comedy" set on another of those islands just off the mainland, should be approached with healthy sceptism. And it's why, after viewing The Nephew, we should sit back and laud the Irish for their gift of storytelling.
Even Brosnan as pub owner Joe Brady -- the weak link in the film's acting chain -- can't spoil this uncomplicated tale.
The film centres around the relationship between Tony (McCann), a frostbitten farmer who learns his sister Karen, with whom he has been incommunicado since she left for New York 20 years ago, has died of cancer, and Karen's son Chad who visits the island. Much to Tony's surprise Chad (Harper) is black and has dreadlocks.
This opens up a myriad of culture clash-type scenes, but thankfully Brady steers pretty well clear of racial stereotyping and approaches the two-worlds-collide theme in subtle ways, for example, the soundtrack. The Nephew never approaches the speed limit as Chad gets closer to unravelling the truth about his mother's hasty departure from the island.
But this gentle pace reflects the way of life on the island and is mirrored in the weird and wonderful modes of transport.
There's great acting, rich humour (especially with two kids who ape Chad's fashion sense), conflict, romance and singing. The only drawback is the almost unseemly haste in which everything is neatly tidied up (dare I say "Hollywooded") at the end.
-------------------- IRISH EYES . . . Chad (Hill Harper) left, and Tony (Donal McCann)
The only missing element is the 'oil on the fire', and this comes in the form of an Irish-American Mulatto named Chad who has arrived on the island in search of his roots. Chad's mother emigrated to the United States where she married a Black man in New York. Both Chad's mother and father died prematurely.
Chad, upon his return to this tiny Irish community, begins to discover his origins when he encounters his uncle Tony and Joe Brady (the local innkeeper) both of whom greet him with a cold welcome.
"The Nephew" is missing some depth as it does not realize its full potential.
The director, Eugene Brady, presents us with several difficult issues in regards to resolving the problems of a tom country, but unfortunately he does not take us deep enough into their story.
Nevertheless, "The Nephew" makes strong points, and with the help of the cinematography, it manages to embellish and strengthen the harshness of Ireland in a photographic experience reminiscent of "Ryan's Daughter".
In his search for his origins, he will awake old resentments and secrets, that the islanders had kept to themselves for many decades.
This beautiful, genuine Irish movie with some autobiographical ingrediates is directed by Eugene Brady (Opera Prima) and marks the debut for actor Pierce Brosnan as a producer.
Pierce Brosnan (producer and star of "The Nephew") is obviously very attached to his Irish roots because he has chosen a story about finding family roots, which the Irish- American Mulatto Chad has come to this tiny Irish community in search of.
Thankfully, Eugene Brady (who is directing his first film) spares us from the caricature of culture shock. He tells his story through splendid beautiful photography and a soundtrack that blends a Gaelic beat with a funky rhythm in order to portray this conflict between New York and rural Ireland.
This young director chooses rather to concentrate his attention on the confidences and silences which have kept the community in such turmoil for so many years.
All this is portrayed strongly by accomplished actors. The grumpy Uncle Tony (Donal McCann) even manages to gain our sympathy. Chad and a beautiful girl on the island fall in love, quite naturally. Only Pierce, the bar owner, lacks zest and is not very convincing.