FILM OF THE WEEK

★★★★ Tarrac (2022) 9.30pm, Monday, TG4

“I want to put together the best crew that Baile na Trá has ever had.” Following the success of An Cailín Ciúin, Róise & Frank, Arracht and Foscadh (see feature page 20), the most recent Irish-language gem to hit the big screen is this heartwarming drama. Penned by Eugene O’brien, this is an intimate character study of a young woman named Aoife (Kelly Gough), who returns home to the Kerry Gaeltacht to help her father, Breandán (Lorcan Cranitch), recuperate from his recent heart attack. Central to the healing process (for both) is the fact that Aoife joins an all-female team of rowers who enter their Naomhóg into the Munster championships.

In lesser hands, this could have been a mawkish, Hallmark movie, but Recks and O’brien manage to rein in the clichés and deliver an Ealing-style feelgood drama that will have you cheering for our central protagonists. While the ensemble cast (Kate Nic Chonaonaigh and Rachel Feeney also star) is uniformly excellent, rst among equals is the excellent, Ifta-nominated Gough. Aoife has to navigate various tricky relationships, with her somewhat gru father, and with friends who knew her before she left to take up a job in the big smoke. Kelly Gough handles it all with aplomb.

A word, too, for the gorgeous cinematography of Patrick Jordan, whose imagery ensures that the beauty of the Dingle Peninsula is a character in its own right. ‘’ The location has such great identity,’’ quoth Eugene O’brien, ‘’from the language to the landscape to the characters and indeed the boat itself.” He’ll get no argument from me. Strongly recommended.