Feature film
Eat the Peach
Peter Ormrod · 1986
Synopsis
In the Irish Midlands, in the time of unemployment and emigration, Vinnie and Arthur lose their jobs when a Japanese factory leaves the country. Inspired by an Elvis Presley film, they build in the middle of the bogs a “wall of death”, a large wooden drum in which to ride their motorbikes; to finance it, they start smuggling goods across the border and seek the attention of television, under the eye of Nora, Arthur's wife.
Context
The film is inspired by two brothers-in-law from Granard, in County Longford, who had built in their yard a wall of death for motorised stunts; the date of their venture varies according to the sources, from 1977 to 1984. Produced by John Kelleher for the Irish Film Board and Channel Four, with a budget of 1,390,000 Irish pounds, it is shot in the Bog of Allen and in several counties, with stuntmen from a travelling troupe. It was released in Ireland on 14 March 1986. Its title takes up a line by T. S. Eliot, and the song over the credits is written with Paul Brady.
Who it is for
A bittersweet comedy in English, of about an hour and a half (93 minutes according to the Dublin cinematheque record).
Prizes and reception
Hailed by American critics as the compassionate portrait of losers who refuse to lose; reissued for its thirtieth anniversary.
Sources for this page 4
The pages consulted to check this page.