Liverpool Irish Festival: Garage

Running time: 85 minutes

Director: Leonard Abrahamson

Starring: Anne-Marie Duff, Pat Shortt, Conor Ryan

GARAGE weaves tragedy with comedy to present a beautifully drawn tale from the margins of contemporary rural Irish life. Regarded by his neighbours as a harmless misfit, Josie (Shortt) has spent all his adult life as the caretaker of a crumbling petrol station. One summer his world suffers a shift when a teenager, David (Ryan), comes to work with him. Initially performing their menial tasks in silence, they tentatively open up, and suddenly Josie is drinking cans by the railway tracks with the local kids. This awakens dormant needs in Josie, leading to his awkward tilt at intimacy with shop girl Carmel (Duff). Tender though never sentimental, this tautly scripted, naturalistically photographed film withstands comparison to the work of the Dardenne brothers.

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