iconic director

Few stars shine so bright - in Ireland and Hollywood alike - as the “Queen of Technicolor,” Maureen O’Hara. Honoured with her place on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Irish Film and Television Academy, O’Hara has left a transcontinental legacy founded on her pride and feminism as an Irish woman.

O’Hara was born and raised in Ranelagh, Dublin in 1920. She studied at the Abbey Theatre where she was discovered by the famed Charles Laughton at just seventeen years old. With her classical training and soprano singing talents, it is no wonder O’Hara’s career quickly soared, earning starring roles in How Green Was My Valley (John Ford, 1941), The Quiet Man (Ford, 1952), Miracle on 34th Street (George Seaton, 1947), and a slew of action films and Westerns. Her eye-catching features and fiery spirit might have made her an instant classic -- a bastion of passionate and outspoken heroines who put the likes of John Wayne in their place -- but offscreen, O’Hara had to spend her career continually self-advocating to avoid typecast and decorative roles. O’Hara defined and redefined herself as a proud Irish citizen, her heart always belonging to her favoured West of Ireland. When she gained

her dual US citizenship in 1946, O’Hara stood her ground and refused to be marked on the paperwork as English, which she argued would have erased her beloved heritage for her children and grandchildren to come. With that, she became the first US citizen to retain her Irish citizenship, changing the process and ensuring recognition for future Irish immigrants.

She also crystallised her national pride by invoking the Irish language in television and film any chance she could, singing songs, and proclaiming her love of the country unabashedly in interviews. Her fervour to include authentic parts of her culture makes The Quiet Man one of the only major Hollywood pictures to feature the Irish language, a significant platform for Irish heritage accorded thanks to her.

Hollywood was her stage, but Ireland was her home. Her legacy will always be having bolstered the Irish woman, not just as the dynamic heroines she portrayed, but as a capable, pioneering, and timeless career woman. catherine callahan

To make her all the more badass, she is currently receiving due credit for her feminist advocacy in the Golden Age of Hollywood. A recently unearthed letter from 1945 reveals how ahead of her time she was -- or rather, how women of her age did not suffer harassment silently, as is often misconstrued. In the letter, O’Hara calls out sexual predation on the part of directors and their infamous casting couches, acknowledging that she lost out on roles and had been deemed not a woman but “a cold piece of marble statuary” for her refusal to comply with sexual coercion. She was raising her voice in a time when powerful men dominated the industry, when they had all the tools to blacklist and suppress her -- and never forget, she did it over seventy years before Harvey Weinstein faced his reckoning in the #MeToo Movement.

Maureen O’Hara was sure in her identity, her morals, and her rights. Her two pillars of pride -- her Irish citizenship and her womanhood -- helped her carve a seat for the Irish at the Hollywood table and kindled feminist movements decades in the making. Hollywood was her stage, but Ireland was her home. Her legacy will always be having bolstered the Irish woman, not just as the dynamic heroines she portrayed, but as a capable, pioneering, and timeless career woman.

Martin McDonagh may have been born in London but, with two Irish parents, his heritage has always informed his work. McDonagh’s father is from Lettermullen, Co. Galway, and small-town Irish relationships have stood at the forefront of his career, both as a playwright and as a filmmaker. This focus on the psychology behind provincial relationships has enriched his films and plays to create complex, provocative and, ultimately, human characters. McDonagh has enjoyed a considerable amount of success in the film industry in the last decade. His 2017 film, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, was nominated for Best Picture at the Academy Awards, with Frances McDormand and Sam Rockwell taking home Best Actress and Best Supporting Actor gongs, respectively. McDonagh’s works are always rich with dark humour; they balance levity and pain with ease. It is this duality in his films which I will argue has earned McDonagh the status of iconic Irish director, despite only having three feature-length films under his belt thus far: In Bruges (2008), Seven Psychopaths (2012), and the aforementioned Three Billboards.

McDonagh became an overnight success as a playwright in the nineties. Following his newfound fame, he drunkenly insulted Sean Connery, thus rendering McDonagh a somewhat contentious character in the theatre world. Despite the controversy surrounding his decorum, McDonagh took home awards for his plays set in small-town Ireland: The Beauty Queen of Leenane, The Cripple of Innisman, and The Lieutenant of Innismore. McDonagh’s first foray into film came with his short, Six Shooter (2004), which brought him his first Academy Award. The initial short film involves a train journey, Brendan Gleeson, and murder, and, no, it isn’t Cáca Milis (Jennifer Keegan, 2001). If you have seen his plays, you know that the dark humour which pervades his filmography is also central to his work in the theatre. It is this line that McDonagh walks upon that delineates his work as Irish and, in my opinion, justifies the writer-director’s title of ‘iconic.’ The skill of balancing the dark with the light is integral to Irishness; it is the reason we look forward to the wake before the funeral. McDonagh has taken this skill and propelled it into his films to create stories rife with all the despicable parts of humanity -- murder, racism, prejudice, and selfishness -- all while still making us laugh and even empathise with these characters. They are real depictions of humanity -- be it a forceful but fragile mother or an arrogant but remorseful hitman. McDonagh’s subject matter is never light; his sharp dialogue creates humour and an absurd tone across his films. He always pens his own scripts and the strength of the writing is evident by their dynamic and poignant nature. We begin thinking that we know who the heroes will be but McDonagh’s understanding of humanity subverts this; we finish the film liking -- or, at the very least, pitying -- the characters we thought were irredeemable. These dynamic and multifaceted characters function as the spine of his films.

McDonagh creates roles with specific actors in mind. In this way, he sets himself apart from other filmmakers as he considers the strengths and character of each actor and utilises these to portray fully-developed, captivating individuals. Brendan Gleeson and Colin Farrell are two actors preferred by the director. Not insignificant is the

Irishness of both actors, as they understand the duality and humour being depicted in McDonagh’s films. In an interview given while doing press for Three Billboards, McDonagh asserted that the actors chosen to portray his characters bring truth to the story. He writes his scripts with a clear vision, and his respect for actors allows them to meet both their and the script’s full potential.

Giving advice for aspiring screenwriters and directors in 2017, McDonagh explained that his scripts have been written with great precision and changing even a word with a random last-minute thought will ultimately delegitimise his work. McDonagh takes his role as a director seriously - each word in the story is precious - and he insists on managing the film’s direction to the final detail. He is protective of his films; they are meaningful and the audience can sense this dedication.

The care and precision which go into McDonagh’s screenplays and characters have conceived stimulating, intelligent, and evocative films that have earned the director the title of iconic. McDonagh is an Irish writer; any Irish person would be able to discern this from his sharp dialogue and ability to balance extremes. Ireland is a nation of contradictions, imperfections, and idiosyncrasies. Through his construction of fallible and absurd characters, McDonagh creates stories which not only make for great cinema but also feel distinctly Irish.