Here’s a trailer for a film we first caught at this year’s Berlin Film Festival back in February of this year. Lance Daly’s epic period piece Black 47 arrives in Irish cinemas from Wednesday 5th September and opens in mainland Britain on 28th September. It’s quite the film, one which surprised us in a positive way, even though it did get mixed reviews at the screening we attended in Berlin a few months back. We have the very first Black 47 trailer below.
Black 47 trailer lands – Hugo Weaving leads the cast
Black 47 is billed as an action film – and rightly so. The story is set during the Great Irish Famine and stars Hugo Weaving (Hacksaw Ridge, The Lord of the Rings, The Matrix), Jim Broadbent (Oscar®winner for Iris) and the prolific Irish screen and stage actor Stephen Rea (The Crying Game, Michael Collins). Joining them are rising international actors James Frecheville (Animal Kingdom, The Drop) and Freddie Fox (King Arthur: Legend of the Sword) along with a strong young Irish cast including Barry Keoghan (Dunkirk, The Killing of a Sacred Deer), Moe Dunford (Michael Inside, Patrick’s Day) and Sarah Greene (Noble, Penny Dreadful).
Related: Black 47 review [Berlinale]
It’s 1847 and Ireland is in the grip of the Great Famine that has ravaged the country for two long years. Feeney, a hardened Irish Ranger who has been fighting for the British Army abroad, abandons his post to return home and reunite with his family. He’s seen more than his share of horrors, but nothing prepares him for the famine’s hopeless destruction of his homeland that has brutalised his people and where there seems to be no law and order. He discovers his mother starved to death and his brother hanged by the brutal hand of the English. With little else to live for, he sets a destructive path to avenge his family.
[ctt template=”5″ link=”82D44″ via=”yes” ]Watch the new trailer for Black 47[/ctt]
In my original review, the full version of which you can find at the end of the link above, I said that despite all its flaws, in particular issues with tone – the film can’t quite make out what kind of movie it wants to be – and some questionable computer-generated effects, I enjoyed Black 47 tremendously.
The film is full of great performances, some brilliantly bleak cinematography by Declan Quinn, some terrific, drum-enhanced music adding to the tension from Brian Byrne, and some spot-on direction from Daly and the rest of his team.
The film feels bleak despite its probably very limited budget; both bleak, bloody, tense and taut. A welcomed surprise.
Look out for the film in cinemas later in the year. The new Black 47 trailer can be seen below. Take a look and see what you think.
