Ireland On The Silver Screen: Reel One Quiz

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. For many years it was perhaps the most famous Irish movie of all. Which film told of an Irish-American who returned to his native land to reclaim the family farm?

Answer: The Quiet Man

In 1952, one of the biggest names in Hollywood, John Wayne, traveled to Ireland to play opposite Maureen O'Hara in a movie of romance, comedy and drama.

High production values won John Ford the Oscar for Best Director, while Winton C. Hoch and Archie Stout won for Best Cinematography. It also secured nominations for Best Picture and Best Supporting Actor (Victor McLaglen), but nothing for the two main stars.

2. When a British soldier is kidnapped by terrorists he soon befriends one of his captors. Which movie, set in Ireland, sees the prisoner drawn further into the world of his enemies?

Answer: The Crying Game

"The Crying Game" won Neil Jordan an Oscar for Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen in 1993. It had five other nominations.

While Northern Ireland's troubles provided the background for the movie, it also explored wider themes of race, gender, nationality, and sexuality.

"The Crying Game" starred Forest Whitaker, Miranda Richardson, Stephen Rea, Adrian Dunbar, and Jaye Davidson.

3. Imagine that winning the lottery is such a shock it proves fatal to the ticket holder. In which movie, set in Ireland, do the friends and neighbours of a deceased winner set out to claim the money?

Answer: Waking Ned Devine

"Waking Ned Devine" was made in 1998 with the cast led by some well-experienced Irish actors, including Ian Bannen, Fionnuala Flannigan and David Kelly.

Drama and comedy ensue when the winner of a lottery jackpot, Ned Devine, is found sitting in front of the television in his home, clutching the winning ticket in his cold, dead hand (and presumably with a smile on his face)?

That jackpot, IR�7m should surely not go to waste when there were so many in need (or just greed) in the village...

4. Which movie made in Ireland tells the story of a man born with Cerebral Palsy learning to paint and write with just one controllable limb?

Answer: My Left Foot

Daniel Day-Lewis won a Best Actor Oscar and Brenda Fricker won Best Supporting Actress in 1990.

It was based on the true story of Christy Brown, who was born into a poor family. Because of his Cerebral Palsy, he could only control his left foot.

Despite that, he became a successful writer and painter.

5. When you want to start a band the best thing to do, surely, is to hold auditions at your home. Which movie, made in Ireland, tells of a bunch of struggling musicians hitting the big time?

Answer: The Commitments

The comedy was made in 1991 and was based on Roddy Doyle's novel of the same name. Doyle then collaborated with the top British writing duo of Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais to write the screenplay.

Robert Arkins stars as Jimmy Rabbitte, who has dreams of forming a band from his fellow Dublin folk who can sing American soul music.

6. It was a true story that was long known about but never discussed. Which movie tells of young women who become pregnant and are brutally treated by the church authorities who should be helping them?

Answer: The Magdalene Sisters

Made in 2002, "The Magdalene Sisters" is based on fact.

In Ireland in the 1960s, young women who became pregnant outside marriage were sent to work in the laundries run by the Magdalene order of nuns.

Their treatment there was frequently brutal and their children were often given away for adoption.

Anne-Marie Duff, Nora-Jane Noone, Dorothy Duffy and Eileen Walsh starred as young women who suffered at the hands of the Magdalene Order.

7. The Easter Rising was a defining moment in history as Ireland sought to throw of the yoke of colonialism. Which movie used that backdrop for a love story between a local woman and a British soldier?

Answer: Ryan's Daughter

Made in 1970, "Ryan's Daughter" had a sterling cast of some of the best actors around.

They included Robert Mitchum, Trevor Howard, John Mills, and Leo McKern, with Sara Miles as the daughter and Christopher Jones as the soldier.

The love affair was that between a wounded soldier who had won a Victoria Cross on the Western Front, but was left suffering from shell shock and the barmaid in a pub near the camp he has been sent to command during his recovery.

Against the background of a planned IRA arms landing, all does not go smoothly for the star-crossed couple.

8. It is the story of a leader who fought for the freedom of his country, but finds that when it comes it is not enough to stop former friends and colleagues turning on each other in a bloody civil war. Which movie told of the struggle that led to the death of one of the heroes of Irish independence?

Answer: Michael Collins

Made in 1996, the movie told the true story of Michael Collins, who fought against Britain for Irish independence.
However, when that came, the terms were not all that some people accepted and it turned into a bloody civil war.
Collins, as a negotiator of the peace treaty, found himself on the side of the new Irish authorities - he led their army - but was then to fight against those he had formerly fought alongside.

Despite some historical inaccuracies, the film was well received and for a time was the highest grossing moving in Ireland.

Liam Neeson, Aidan Quinn, Stephen Rea and Alan Rickman led the cast.

9. Long regarded as one of the most unreadable books ever written, which Irish odyssey novel was made into a movie in 1967?

Answer: Ulysses

"Ulysses" was based loosely on the James Joyce novel of the same name.

The story was updated from its original 1904 to Ireland in the 1960s.

Milo O'Shea, Barbara Jefford, Maurice Ro�ves and T. P. McKenna led the cast.
Set in Dublin, the movie and novel, tell of one day in the life of a young poet and the stream of consciousness he creates as he wanders around.
In 1954, meanwhile, a movie "Ulysses" based on Homer's poem "Odyssey" was released.

10. In which movie, set in Ireland, do neighbours squabbling over land lead to a murder?

Answer: The Field

"The Field" was based on John B. Keane's 1965 play of the same name. The play continues to be a regular feature of the vibrant amateur drama circle in Ireland.

The story centres around an Irish farmer who has rented a field from a local widow for 10 years. When the widow decides to sell the field by auction, dark passions of greed, jealousy and anger emerge.

Nothing is made any easier by the presence of an incoming American who wants the field for a hydroelectric plant.

All this proves too much for one of the characters and he turns to violence, with fatal consequences.

The 1990 movie starred Richard Harris, Sean Bean, Frances Tomelty, Brenda Fricker and John Hurt.

While the play had always been well received, the movie was a commercial and critical failure.

Source: Author darksplash

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor skunkee before going online.
Any errors found in FunTrivia content are routinely corrected through our feedback system.

Ireland has a long tradition as a place to make movies, and a place where movies are set. That heritage dates to 1910. See if you can identify these 10 movies with a setting in the Emerald Isle.

NEXT>

NEXT>

NEXT>

NEXT>

NEXT>

NEXT>

NEXT>

NEXT>

NEXT>