Companion pieces: Small Things Like These

No film review this week as I've already seen Gladiator II and I don't fancy Wicked. I was completely drawn in by Cillian Murphy's mesmerising performance as Bill Furlong in Tim Mielants's adaptation of Small Things Like These a couple of weeks back, and it got me thinking about other films I've seen in the past year that complement its quiet, sad little story. Both of these movies are worth a watch and pick up on ideas from Small Things. If you're interested in Ireland in the 1980s, you might like : That They May Face The Rising Sun (Pat Collins) Another novel adaptation, this time from John McGahern's final work. It's another quiet, contemplative sort of film, but much more gentle than Small Things. Ostensibly, it's about British-based couple Joe (Barry Ward) and Kate (Anna Bederke), who are deciding whether to take over Joe's family farm in rural Ireland or stay in London for Kate's art gallery business. What it's really about is eve...