Cinematic Literature: The All of It

“The life where nothing happens among the dear, familiar things, is for me the most precious life, and all we have are the precious moments, and the hours and the days.” - novelist, John McGahern

Imagine, for a moment, you wanted to write a fictional tale about what life is really like; with the pages filled with all of life’s chapters, depicted in the common, complex characters one might observe, if only you allowed the story to emerge in its own way, and in its own time.

This is what the Irish author, John McGahern, seems to have done when writing his novel, “That They May Face the Rising Sun.” So too, it is how filmmaker Pat Collins set about making his film version of that same story. The film is no high-suspense drama, nor action-packet mystery thriller. Rather its pace reflects the way any writer might sit, listen, observe, ponder and then pen a few lines. At one point in this film, one of the old characters looks out over a vast all-encompassing country landscape with the writer and says,

“You know ... the rain comes down, the sun shines, grass grows, children grow old and die. That’s the holy all of it. We all know it full well, but can’t even whisper it.”

At another place in the story, two old estranged friends are sitting in Joe’s kitchen sharing a smoke. Patrick criticizes a life-choice Johnny has made. Johnny sits quietly, bearing the rebuke. Joe, the writer, interjects a comment, suggesting that might not always be the best approach.

“Tell me then what is, lad?” Patrick asks.

Joe pauses for a moment, then suggests, “Kindness, understanding, sympathy, tact, … humor maybe.”

Patrick shrugs off the suggestion. But, in a moving chapter towards the end of this story, the film’s title will be uttered in a line by Patrick; summarizing the all of it. jb