Tarrac
County Kerry is the setting for an Irish-language drama about family, community and competitive rowing.
At this time last year the awards season brought fame to a fine Irish film which marked the debut of its director Colm Bairéad. That was The Quiet Girl and, having been filmed in the Irish language, its successes included sharing the award of the London Critics’ Circle as Foreign Language Film of the Year. A more experienced director, Declan Recks, working not for the first time with the writer Eugene O'Brien, now gives us Tarrac and this too, a tale set on the coast of County Kerry, is in Irish with subtitles. To opt for that still feels comparatively adventurous, but in all other respects Tarrac is very conventional. Indeed, its storyline is so simple, so unoriginal, that its impact is inevitably limited. But that is not to say that it fails to deliver for audiences who are ready to warm to it.
The central figure in Tarrac is Aoife played by Kelly Gough. At the outset we see her returning to the community where she had grown up. Being owed some time off from work, she is able to do this and thus to see again her father, Brendan (Lorcan Cranitch), a widower who has recently suffered a heart attack. Aoife and her father have had a troubled relationship but there are old friends with whom she is pleased to reunite. Following in the footsteps of both of her parents, Aoife had been keen on rowing using the Naomhóg boats unique to Ireland’s West Coast and which have established a tradition there. Aoife takes it up again joining a crew which includes her friends Jude (Kate Nic Chonaonaigh) and Aisling (Kate Finegan). Although their love of the sport is strong, the local team is not considered likely to be a winner of the Munster Cup the race for which is imminent. However, with Aoife teaming up with Jude and Aisling and with a skilled young newcomer, Naomi (Rachel Feeney), replacing a less competent rower, they might be in with a chance.
Competently made and with good use of the location, Tarrac is a film that never seeks to surprise the audience as its tale unfolds. The central focus is very much on each stage in the competitive race and on the endeavours of this crew. But there are extra elements as well. One is centred on the continuing tensions felt by Aoife over her father's behaviour in the past, something which is sketched in rather than being explored in detail. Even less is made of the fact that Naomi is under pressure from her parents from whom she has attempted to break away. Nevertheless, these threads feel like some attempt to add ballast in case the sporting endeavour lacks the full weight to carry the film. The acting certainly helps with Gough confident in the leading role and players such as Cranitch and Chonaonaigh as reliable as ever. Slight and predictable as the piece is, Tarrac is made with sincerity and it is secure in its appeal as a tale of women who, relishing their companionship, describe themselves as Sisters of the Sea. If Alexandre Dumas famously offered heroes who were all for one and one for all, here we find their equivalent in women rowers possessed of that very same outlook.
MANSEL STIMPSON
Cast: Kelly Gough, Lorcan Cranitch, Kate Nic Chonaonaigh, Kate Finegan, Rachel Feeney, Cillian O’Gairbhi, Liam Heffernan, Muireann Ní Raghallaigh, Paul Egan, Sam Ireland, James Mogan.
Dir Declan Recks, Pro Clíona Ní Bhuachalla, Screenplay Eugene O’Brien, Ph Patrick Jordan, Pro Des Til Frohlich, Ed Gareth Young, Music Kormac, Costumes Joan O’Clery.
Icebox Films/Broadcasting Authority of Ireland/TG4-Parkland Pictures.
96 mins. Ireland. 2022. UK Rel: 8 December 2023. Cert. 15.
