A Man of No Importance (film)

A Man of No Importance is a 1994 comedy drama film written by Barry Devlin and directed by Suri Krishnamma, starring Albert Finney.

A Man of No Importance
DVD cover
Directed bySuri Krishnamma
Produced byJonathan Cavendish
Written byBarry Devlin (screenplay)
Starring
Music byJulian Nott
CinematographyAshley Rowe
Edited byDavid Freeman
Release date
  • 10 September 1994 (1994-09-10)
Running time
99 minutes
CountryUnited Kingdom
Ireland
LanguageEnglish
Box office$934,550 (USA) (sub-total)[1]

Plot summary

Alfred Byrne is a closeted homosexual bus conductor in 1963 Dublin. His sister tries to find him a suitable woman, but his real passion is putting on amateur theatre productions of Oscar Wilde plays, particularly Salome. The film deals with his struggle, temptation, and friendships, and how they are affected by his homosexuality.[2]

Alfred is a bus conductor who recites poetry and Oscar Wilde play lines to his regular bus riders. This year he hopes to put together the Wilde play Salome. Alfie lives with his sister Lily. He lines up the church hall only telling the priest that the play is about John the Baptist. A new beautiful young rider, Adele Rice, is his perfect Salome. Alfie lives above the Carson Butcher Shop and he slates up the butcher as King Herod. He wants his bus driver Robbie to be John the Baptist, but Robbie refuses, saying he is no actor. When the theatre group meets, Alfie tells them that they are not doing The Importance of Being Earnest this year but rather Salome. Butcher Carson finds the play offensive and misses rehearsals.

Byrne goes ahead with his amateur production with his friend Birdy as stage manager and Mrs. Crowe for costumes and assumes all is going well. Alfie's sister sets up a dinner date and a trip to the zoo with his leading lady, Adele. She tells Alfie she already had a boyfriend, John. Widow Birdie tells Alfie of the joys and benefits of marriage. An actor questions Alfie about his portrayal of Salome as a virgin princess or like a nun when in reality Salome is a wicked whore belly dancer. Butcher Carson goes to church counsel and tries to stop the smut-filled play.

Alfie decides to give in to temptation and go to a gay bar. He approaches a young good looking man called Kitty and asks for a cuddle. They go outside and he is mugged and robbed. His closeted homosexuality is exposed. The next day his sister would not even eat her food because she did bot know where his hands had been. In his sixties they had been no where. His life is a prison. His boss mocks him and the butcher calls him a sinner. Birdy and all the other actors support him as a good man. His alone, unmarried, pregnant leading lady comes to him to say goodbye and expresses another love that dare not speak its name. Robbie comes to the church hall ready to be an actor in the cancelled play. He tells Alfie that he knows but he is still his friend.

Cast

Reception

Rotten Tomatoes reported that 86% of the critics have given the film a positive review based on 14 reviews with an average rating of 6.96/10.[3]

Year-end lists

See also

A Man of No Importance, a musical based on this film.

References
  1. A Man of No Importance at Box Office Mojo
  2. O'Connell, Dióg (2012). Jez Conolly, Caroline Whelan (ed.). World Film Locations: Dublin. Intellect Books. pp. 36–37.
  3. "A Man of No Importance". Retrieved 8 July 2020.
  4. Lovell, Glenn (25 December 1994). "The Past Picture Show the Good, the Bad and the Ugly -- a Year Worth's of Movie Memories". San Jose Mercury News (Morning Final ed.). p. 3.
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