INTERMISSION: Irish Film Week at FOMO Cinema Tbilisi

Irish Film Week at FOMO brings together a week of films from across Ireland and Northern Ireland, moving between black comedy, music, political cinema, animation, cult classics and some of the defining independent films of the last thirty years. The program isn’t intended as a neat history lesson. It’s a snapshot of how strange, funny, dark, inventive and internationally influential Irish cinema has become. Expect familiar faces, lesser-known discoveries, strong accents, bad decisions, great music and a lot of Brendan Gleeson.

INTERMISSION

John Crowley | 2003 | Ireland/UK | 1h45m | Presented in the original English audio with English subtitles

INTERMISSION throws a large group of Dubliners into one increasingly chaotic story involving failed relationships, petty crime, bank robbery, bad decisions, bruised egos and an unhealthy amount of brown sauce. Cillian Murphy plays John, a supermarket worker who breaks up with his girlfriend Deirdre, played by Kelly Macdonald, then quickly realises he may have made a terrible mistake. Colin Farrell is Lehiff, a volatile small-time criminal whose plans have a habit of dragging everyone around him into trouble, while Colm Meaney plays an aggressively self-confident Garda convinced he’s fighting a personal war against Dublin crime.

Director John Crowley and writer Mark O’Rowe build the film as an ensemble piece, constantly cutting between characters whose lives begin to overlap in increasingly ridiculous ways. Romantic problems become criminal schemes. Petty grudges turn into elaborate revenge. A documentary crew follows Meaney’s detective around as he performs his own idea of what a hard-bitten policeman should look like. Nobody is quite as competent as they think they are, which is where much of the film’s comedy comes from.

I’ve programmed INTERMISSION immediately after ADAM & PAUL because together they make a brilliant opening night portrait of early-2000s Dublin. ADAM & PAUL shows a city from its absolute margins. INTERMISSION takes many of the same streets, accents and working-class frustrations and turns them into a much faster crime comedy. It’s scruffy, loud, funny and completely uninterested in presenting Dublin as somewhere polished for outside consumption. It also gives us Cillian Murphy and Colin Farrell just before both became international stars.

INTERMISSION was John Crowley’s feature directing debut and became one of the most successful Irish independent films of its period. It won Best Irish Film at the inaugural Irish Film & Television Awards, where Crowley also won Best Director and Mark O’Rowe won Best Script. David Wilmot won Best Supporting Actor for his performance as Oscar. The film also won the Audience Award for Best First Feature at the Galway Film Fleadh and became a major domestic box-office success. Two decades later, the cast alone makes it fascinating to revisit, but the film has lasted because its particular combination of Dublin humour, violence, romantic disaster and general incompetence still feels completely alive.

FOOD AND DRINK POLICY: FOMO Cinema Lounge Bar opens 1 hour before the first screening of the day and closes at 02:00, serving a wide selection of beer, wine, cocktails, and non-alcoholic refreshments including coffee and tea, as well as fresh hot popcorn! Outside food is allowed in the bar but not in the cinema. No alcohol from outside allowed. All guests are invited to arrive early and stay late!

LOCATION: FOMO Secret Cinema, Bazari Orbeliani, Tbilisi. A five minute walk from Liberty Square metro.

HOW TO FIND FOMO: Enter Bazari Orbeliani via Atoneli St above Carrefour and take the stairs on your left to Level 1. Signage on the door. You can also check our Instagram story highlights for a video showing exactly how to find us: https://www.instagram.com/s/aGlnaGxpZ2h0OjE3OTMzMTA2Mjk0MDI5MjM1