By Sunniva O’Flynn
In this issue we take a look at the recently launched collection of Irish film-maker Louis Marcus. Born in Cork in 1936, Marcus made his directorial debut in 1959 with The Silent Art about his friend, sculptor Seamus Murphy. After working as assistant editor on Mise Éire in 1958, Marcus created a series of short film documentaries for Gael Linn between 1960 and 1973, with the aim of promoting the Irish language.
Following the success of Gael Linn’s Amharc Éireann cinema newsreels from 1956 to 1964, Marcus’s 35mm films were screened in cinemas nationwide as Irish-language-focused material. From 1965 all were filmed by Marcus’s long-time friend and collaborator Bob Monks. Four of these short documentaries are detailed here.
Marcus has made over 80 documentaries, winning multiple international festival awards, including the Berlin Film Festival Silver Bear, and two Academy Award nominations. As well as this, he has been a key figure in the development of the Irish film industry, publishing a series of articles in the Irish Times in the 1960s calling for increased government support. He was the 2011 awardee of the Screen Directors Guild of Ireland/Foras na Gaeilge for outstanding work in the Irish language.
The Louis Marcus Collection, available now on the IFI Archive Player, includes The Silent Art (1958), Rhapsody of a River (1965), Fleá Ceoil (1967), Pobal (1969), Dubliners Sean agus Nua (1971), Páistí ag Obair (1973), Conquest of Light (1975) and Discovering Ireland (1982).
RHAPSODY OF A RIVER
1965 / 12 mins
This short film was conceived by two Cork natives, Louis Marcus and Seán Ó Ríada, as a romantic tribute to the city and river they knew and loved. Ó Ríada’s music underscores lively scenes along the Lee’s banks at Bandon cattle mart, the hydroelectric dam at Inniscarra, the Whitegate oil refinery, Haulbowline and the Verolme shipyard.
FLEÁ CEOIL
1967 / 25 mins
A finely observed record of the West Clare Fleadh of 1966, held that year in the towns of Kilrush and Quilty. Marcus films the faces of old and young, local and visitor, musician and audience to create an intensely energetic montage and a remarkable cinematic portrait of this vibrant community.
Pobal
1970 / 25 mins
A broad-sweeping panoramic work encapsulating Ireland and the Irish in the late 1960s. Shot in various parts of the country, including Cork, Mayo, Dublin and the Aran Islands, Pobal presents a rich tapestry of observation and commentary, captured by cameraman Bob Monks and inflected through Marcus’s keen eye for detail and sense of irony.
Dubliners Sean agus Nua
1971 / 22 mins
An affectionate portrait of Dublin and generations of Dubliners. Cleverly juxtaposing photographic images from the National Library’s Lawrence Collection from the 1900s with vibrant sequences from the early 1970s, Louis Marcus celebrates the everyday life of ordinary Dubliners—street traders, office workers, commuters, and intrepid children who have made the city their playground.
For a deeper dive into the collections on the IFI Archive Player visit https://ifiarchiveplayer.ie/.
Sunniva O’Flynn is Head of Irish Film Programming at the Irish Film Institute.