The Silver Screen is where the real dreams are created
Hollywood – What Irish Dreams are made of… In This article Gary Kelly talks about Ireland’s love affair with Hollywood and Holly’s Love affair with Ireland
I guess everyone’s dreams are different but where do they all come from? Well guess what, today I going to spill the beans……. That’s right, dreams are no more than subliminal messages our brain takes in from our memories and surroundings. Now I know we all have memories from our childhood and adolescence, but let’s forget about that psychoanalytic babble for the moment and concentrate on the ones that really matter.
We’ve all seen and loved them and to this day still have our favorites, without going out on a limb I’m guessing some of mine could be some of yours, for what I’m talking about today is the magical world of cinema. The beautiful sounds and images that cinema has given us and continues to give us that have imprinted on our minds, our fantasies and our dreams. From black and white to 3D, from “The Wizard of Oz” to “Star Wars”, we all have our favorites that are almost as close to our hearts as our most precious moments.
We should never forgot the role our little island nation has played in creating these collective dreams. After all, Hollywood is named after a town in Ireland and this Island is responsible for some of the biggest stars and film makers (past and present). Richard Harris, Michael Gambon, Peter O’ Toole to David Kelly, Brenda Fricker and Kenneth Brannagh. Let’s not forget the present upstarts and My God if I went into a list of famous Irish American actors, we would never be done! Our history is of great fascination to the Silver Screen too, from Clarke Gable’s ill fated “Parnell” to the ever popular “Michael Collins”.
Finally, some of the most unforgettable films have been made here in this crazy little place we call home.
Ask anyone in the Irish Tourist Board and they will tell you that John Fords “The Quite Man” is as responsible for bringing as many tourists to these shores as Bord Faílte themselves! How many of our American friends were tempted on a 7 hour flight to see the land of Darby O’Gill and the little people? Cinema’s role in crafting our minds, imaginations and dreams has rewritten how our own country is perceived internationally. It helped, of course, that this perception was crafted by the Irish and Irish Americans in the movie business.
The Quite Man showed how beautiful our Island is to the world
Now I know there are other great films that gave us a glimpse into other countries’ culture so I know we are not alone but I do think Ireland is one of the very few magical places left in this world where the romance of our history, our culture really adapts well to the silver screen.
We are a land of dreamers and I mean that in the best possible way because without dreams we can’t change the world.
Nighty night, Sweet Dreams…
