The Outcasts (1982 Film)
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''The Outcasts'', written and directed by Robert Wynne-Simmons and starring Mary Ryan and Mick Lally, is an Irish film completed in 1982 and broadcast in 1984 as part of UK's
Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...
Film on Four series. It was the first Irish feature film in 50 years, and as such started the revival of the Irish film industry.


Description

This 95-minute feature film was written and directed in 1982 by Robert Wynne-Simmons, starring Mary Ryan as Maura and Mick Lally as Scarf Michael. Camerawork is by Seamus Corcoran and music by Steve Cooney. Because it was the first major movie to be funded in Ireland for half a century, it was given credit for initiating the revival of the
Cinema of Ireland The Irish film industry has grown somewhat from the late 20th century, due partly to the promotion of the sector by Fís Éireann/Screen Ireland and the introduction of heavy tax breaks. According to the Irish Audiovisual Content Production S ...
. This project by the film company Tolmayax was nearly prematurely ended in December 1981 when the film location became inaccessible due to snow 14 feet deep. Filming started again in February 1982, funded by the
Arts Council of Ireland The Arts Council (sometimes called the Arts Council of Ireland; legally ) is the independent "Irish government agency for developing the arts". About It was established in 1951 by the government of Ireland, to encourage interest in Irish art ( ...
and the
Irish Film Board Not to be confused with Northern Ireland Screen. Fís Éireann / Screen Ireland, formerly known as Bord Scannán na hÉireann or the Irish Film Board, is Republic of Ireland, Ireland's state development agency for the Irish film, television an ...
. It was bought by
Channel Four Television Corporation Channel Four Television Corporation is a British state-owned_enterprise, state-owned media company which runs 12 television channels, a streaming service, and film and TV production. Unlike the BBC, it receives no Subsidy, public funding and is ...
for its Film on Four series and first transmitted in 1984. It was the only feature film produced by Tolmayax.Zone-SF.com
/ref> The film has not been released on
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, however it was released on
VHS VHS (Video Home System) is a discontinued standard for consumer-level analog video recording on tape cassettes, introduced in 1976 by JVC. It was the dominant home video format throughout the tape media period of the 1980s and 1990s. Ma ...
in 1983. A restored print was released on
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by the BFI in 2024. This dreamlike film does not precisely fit any genre, except perhaps fantasy.


Plot

The plot is based on
Irish mythology Irish mythology is the body of myths indigenous to the island of Ireland. It was originally Oral tradition, passed down orally in the Prehistoric Ireland, prehistoric era. In the History of Ireland (795–1169), early medieval era, myths were ...
and history and is set before the Great Famine of 1845 to 1852. Influences include '' The Book of Thel'' by
William Blake William Blake (28 November 1757 – 12 August 1827) was an English poet, painter, and printmaker. Largely unrecognised during his life, Blake has become a seminal figure in the history of the Romantic poetry, poetry and visual art of the Roma ...
, and poetry by
W. B. Yeats William Butler Yeats (, 13 June 186528 January 1939), popularly known as W. B. Yeats, was an Irish poet, dramatist, writer, and literary critic who was one of the foremost figures of 20th-century literature. He was a driving force behind the ...
. Maura is an apparently backward girl who is awakened by an outcast
fairy A fairy (also called fay, fae, fae folk, fey, fair folk, or faerie) is a type of mythical being or legendary creature, generally described as anthropomorphism, anthropomorphic, found in the folklore of multiple European cultures (including Cel ...
,
fiddle A fiddle is a Bow (music), bowed String instrument, string musical instrument, most often a violin or a bass. It is a colloquial term for the violin, used by players in all genres, including European classical music, classical music. Althou ...
r and
shaman Shamanism is a spiritual practice that involves a practitioner (shaman) interacting with the spirit world through altered states of consciousness, such as trance. The goal of this is usually to direct spirits or spiritual energies into ...
known as Scarf Michael. He becomes her lover and teacher.


Awards

''The Outcasts'' appeared at film festivals worldwide, and won the following awards. It got Best Film and Critics Prize at
Brussels International Fantastic Film Festival The Brussels International Fantastic Film Festival (BIFFF), previously named Brussels International Festival of Fantastic Film (, ) was created in 1983 as a venue for horror, thriller and science fiction films. It takes place in Brussels, eve ...
, and Best First Feature and Best Actress at the San Remo Film Festival. It had Special Prize for Originality and Jury Prize at Oporto Film Festival 1984, and Prix du Publique at Geneva Film Festival. It has the
Arts Council of Ireland The Arts Council (sometimes called the Arts Council of Ireland; legally ) is the independent "Irish government agency for developing the arts". About It was established in 1951 by the government of Ireland, to encourage interest in Irish art ( ...
Award.


References


External links


Media reviews of The Outcasts on the RWS website

IMDb page for The Outcasts


{{DEFAULTSORT:Outcasts Irish fantasy films 1982 fantasy films 1980s English-language films English-language fantasy films