Orphans **** (1998, Douglas Henshall, Stephen Cole, Gary Lewis, Rosemarie Stevenson) – Classic Movie Review 1704

Fasten your seat belts for writer-director Peter Mullan’s excitingly tough and gritty 1998 black-toned comedy drama set in a poor district of Glasgow. There, Mrs Flynn’s four children gather in their late mother’s home on the occasion of her funeral. It is a dark and stormy night.

During the night before the funeral, a violent storm hits the city, ripping off the church roof. The three brothers are grieving over their mother’s death in the local pub, when one of them (Douglas Henshall) is stabbed in a brawl. His brother (Stephen Cole) sets out for revenge, while Henshall refuses to go to hospital so that he can claim work-injury compensation.

Rivetingly written and directed by Mullan, star of Ken Loach‘s 1998 masterwork My Name Is Joe, this is a dark, dangerous and often extremely funny and finally touching movie, with spot-on performances from a well-chosen cast, especially the quirkily appealing Henshall.

Gary Lewis, Rosemarie Stevenson, Ann Swan, Gilbert Martin and Jan Wilson co-star.

Mullan won four different awards at the Venice Film Festival 1998 and the London Evening Standard British Film Award for Most Promising Newcomer. He is also the of The Magdalene Sisters (2002) and Neds (2010).

© Derek Winnert 2014 Classic Movie Review 1704

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