Love & Savagery (2009)

I liked this quite a bit. I will admit though that I initially only turned it on because I saw Allan Hawco's name attached. Jokes on me too because sadly he sports a bad 70's haircut and is beat up throughout most of the movie. This was also obviously made before he decided to hit the gym for all those shirtless scenes he finds himself in, in 'Republic Of Doyle'. Still I ended up getting quite involved with this bittersweet love story and really enjoyed the small Irish village setting and all of its colourful characters. Beautiful scenery throughout too.This takes place in 1969 and (Hawco) is Michael, a student of poetry and geology from Newfoundland who travels to Ireland to explore unusual mineral formations. While staying at a small inn he meets Kathleen (Sarah Greene), a beautiful young woman who works at a neighborhood pub, he is immediately drawn to her and scandal erupts, with the villagers all going a bit nuts at the thought of the pair entering into a romance as Kathleen is destined to join the convent as per her mothers dying wish.Yes this is a love story and it keeps you hanging too, not until the last minute do we know if Michael and Kathleen will get their happily-ever-after... 03.13

The formula is nothing especially new, in fact it's about four hundred years old. Starting with Romeo and Juliet, forbidden love stories, have since been among the most favoured types. Love and Savegery is no masterpiece, but it's more realistic than melodramatic, and very down to Earth.Michael is a geologist from Newfoundland who hops across the pond to study rocks in Ireland, starting with the cliffs outside a small Christian fishing town. He meets Cathleen, young and pretty, but on her way to nunnery. As she starts to win Michael's heart, the town gets increasingly uncomfortable with his presence, but the young man refuses to abandon his feelings.The film from start to finnish looks and feels natural. My one problem with the film comes somewhere between the beginning of the third act, and the last two scenes. The story drags a bit too long with the initial romantic conflict being presented again and again in each scene. It pushes a little hard. Good thing the film ends the way it did, otherwise it would have been a cheesy romance. I also like the way the film closes with the same shot it begins with, it is only at moments like that do you realize how far you've gone through a story, which isn't even that long in running length. So all in all, Love and Savegery is a romance worth seeing.

I just caught this film at a local AMC theatre and was happy to be treated to a crisp 35mm print instead of a substandard digital projection. And a richly textured work of this sort definitely deserves the genuine celluloid treatment. The breathtaking photography of an Irish seaside town was matched only by the excellent sound design. The imagery was as intimately rich as director John N. Smith's Oscar-nominated short of the early 80's FIRST WINTER.The entire cast was pretty solid but the lead Irish beauty played by Sarah Greene simply stole the show. (Let's hope to see more of her in the future!)The camera just adored her from every angle. Stunning.Yes, it does take a little while to get into the story and absorb the setting, but once the romantic narrative takes hold, it ultimately touches the viewer deep down. The metaphorical use of raging seas along the shoreline makes for effective punctuation throughout the quietly stormy relationship between the two leads. Nice music score too.The only weak spots for me related to hair and wardrobe that occasionally made it difficult to believe we were in 1969 but I'm sure that was mostly due to the production's budgetary limits. A minor detail in the end.Overall, this is a sincerely touching and beautiful film made for any viewer looking for a breath of fresh sea air in a world shrouded in cultural smog blowing in from Hollywood. Catch this gem!

I thought the movie was excellent. It was much better than I expected. It started a little slow but picked up quickly and kept my interest all throughout. The acting by both main characters was superb. The acting was mild and emotional and yet very intense. The accent of the main characters was very real. The outdoor scenery was extraordinary. The title "Love and Savagery" depicted well my expectations of the movie. I can certainly highly recommend the movie to all even if one does not have an Irish background. It was so nice to see a normal relaxing entertaining movie for a change. I recently saw two other movies since last week -- while one was good the other was terrible but neither of them could match the quality of the story line or acting of this movie. Both main characters made the movie seem very realistic. They were just both so natural.