Irish Film Institute -International Film Directory – Film Listing

Into the West

    • Director

      Mike Newell

    • Credits

      Producers: Jonathan Cavendish, Tim Palmer. Writers: Jim Sheridan, David Keating

    • Principal Cast

      Gabriel Byrne, Ellen Barkin, Ciarán Fitzgerald, Rúaidhrí Conroy, David Kelly

  • Category

    Feature
    Classic
    Family & Teen

Simplicity proves the greatest charm in this magical tale of two boys and the white horse they ride across Ireland. To help comfort them as father Papa Reilly (Gabriel Byrne) drinks himself into a stupor after the death of his wife, young boys Ossie (Ciarán Fitzgerald) and Tito (Rúaidhrí Conroy) are given the gift of a white stallion, Tír na nÓg, by their grandfather. When the authorities refuse to allow the horse in their tower-block flat, the boys begin a cross-country odyssey astride their beloved horse. As both police and father race after them, the boys experience a series of adventures that, despite the film’s realist setting, always has magic close at hand. Written by Jim Sheridan and directed by Mike Newell, the film was one of a number of successful Irish films from the early 1990s. With its mixture of youthful adventure, adult travails, and an embrace of the improbable this is one of those rare films which is perfectly suitable for adults and children alike.  

Age: PG

97 minutes, Ireland/UK, 1992, Colour

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