Boorman film brings movie fame to small Bray estate

May 1998

Residents of a small Bray housing estate will have more interest than most when director John Boorman’s latest movie goes on general release in Irish cinemas this weekend.

Because for the best part of a month last autumn, the ten-house estate at Cill Sarain across the road from the Green Tree shop on Herbert Road was transformed into a film set to shoot key scenes for ‘ The General’.

Screened at the prestigious Cannes Film Festival, the film’s launch was boosted when County Wicklow resident Boorman was presented with the award for Best Director last weekend.

Starring Brendan Gleeson in the title role, his much talked-about biopic about the life of Dublin criminal Martin Cahill also received a five minute standing ovation after its screening in Cannes.

All of which was being closely followed by the locals of Cill Sarain, who were in a unique position to experience the making of ‘ The General’ when cameras and crew moved in to shoot the move over a four-week period in September and October last year.

Resident Bill Horgan found himself in the thick of it when he agreed to give over his home for a month so that it could be used to depict Martin Cahill’s home in the film.

‘I was amazed at the amount of work involved. I never realised before just how many people are needed to make a film, how labour intensive it all is and the long hours involved,’ he said.

Bill’s impressions of John Boorman were that he was ’very professional, very dedicated and the knew what he was doing.’

‘I am delighted that the film has got such a good reaction and I would see it as another great advertisement both for the Irish film industry and for Bray, given that so much of it was filmed around the town,’ said Bill, who is well known within the community as Bray Town Engineer.