A Connemara Family
Notes from Hugh
In 1980, Following the success of the Granada series ‘Disappearing World’, two anthropologist film-makers who had worked on Disappearing World, Chris Curling and Melissa Llewelyn-Davies, moved to the BBC and set up ‘Worlds Apart’, a series using the same production process.
That is, for each film they put in place a pairing of an anthropologist whose work in a community or region gave access and strong relationships with potential key interviewees, and a film-maker with a high level of documentary skill. As one of the first of its projects, Chris and Melissa suggested that we do a film in the west of Ireland, drawing on my field-work there in the 1960s. I had just begun to direct my own films, but agreed to take Melissa Llewelyn-Dayis to Connemara, and the homes of Kate Nee and her family, as Director.
This was a difficult relationship - I was uncomfortable with my role, and Melissa, perhaps quite rightly, came to have rather minimal confidence in me. She was more anthropologist than Director, and I had been, and continue to be, a great admirer of the remarkable set of films she made with the Masai. Paul Henley has written about her work.
In that work, she liked to use extensive commentary, spoken in her own voice, to guide the viewer through her films. I, on the other hand, was always deeply uneasy about commentary. And when it came to the edit of our Conemara film, perhaps aware of our opposing views and following some difficulties on the main shoot, I found myself pretty much excluded from the process. Melissa opted for a commentary in her own voice. I have always felt that this creates a very uncomfortable tension - a posh English voice does not go well with any film about Ireland, least of all this one, which relies on the story of Kate Nee, a woman whose life is deep in landscapes and history shaped by British colonialism.
Nonetheless, Kate is a compelling, articulate presence, and there are sections of the film that I find powerful and moving. One of these is the opening few minutes, before the narrator’s voice sends its first troubling shock-waves through the film. I include it here. There are other magical sections, especially at the end of the film. So it is worth watching - as a journey into the world of Kate Nee, and also as an example of what happens when narration takes its strange and often discomfiting place in anthropological - or any - documentary film.
Synopsis
Connemara on the West coast of Ireland has suffered from massive emigration, but now with recession abroad and the development of the Irish Welfare State people are beginning to return.
BBC Television, 1982
Where to find this film:
Free streaming in the Internet Archive here
Cast & Credits
Director
Melissa Llewelyn-Davis
Research/Anthropologist
Hugh Brody
Production Company
BBC TV
Photography
Dick Pope
Editor
Paul Carter
