How Harry Became a Tree

2001 ""

How Harry Became a Tree

6.7 | 1h40m | en | Drama

Set in rural Ireland. Believing that "a man is measured by his enemies", Harry Maloney (Colm Meany) sets out to ruin George O'Flaherty – the most powerful man in town, who not only owns the local pub and most of the businesses in the area, but is also the local matchmaker. When Harry's son Gus (Cillian Murphy) – upon whom Harry regularly heaps abuse (mostly mental and verbal) – falls for the lovely Eileen, George helps get the two together. During this time, Harry quietly mobilizes his dastardly plans.

WATCH FREEFOR 30 DAYS

All Prime Video
Cancel anytime

Watch Now

6.7 | 1h40m | en | Drama | More Info

Released: September. 01,2001 | Released Producted By: Canal+ , MACT Productions Country: United Kingdom Budget: 0 Revenue: 0 Official Website:

Synopsis

Stream Online

The movie is currently not available onine

Cast

Colm Meaney , Adrian Dunbar , Cillian Murphy

Director

Goran Paskaljević

Producted By

Canal+ , MACT Productions

Watch Free for 30 Days

All Prime Video Movies and TV Shows. Cancel anytime.

Watch Now

Trailers & Images

Cast

Colm Meaney

as Harry

Unwelcome Save the Cinema Confession Fúria Pixie The Last Right The Singapore Grip The Banker Tolkien

Adrian Dunbar

as George

Adrian Dunbar's Coastal Ireland Blood The Snowman Good Vibrations Line of Duty Hideaways The Last Confession of Alexander Pearce Eye of the Dolphin Kidnapped

Cillian Murphy

as Gus

A Quiet Place Part II All of This Unreal Time Fight for First: Excel Esports Anna The Delinquent Season The Party Free Fire Anthropoid Atlantic: The Wildest Ocean on Earth

Reviews

Aristides-2 Perhaps the problem with this movie is the fact that the director is a Serbian filmmaker. Or that the co-writer is his wife. It could be that his Balkan background was ill equipped to adapt a Chinese story to a 1920's Irish village. (Maybe the multi-national money people behind this project insisted on using Ireland.) Whatever the reason, when you name your leading character "Meaney", portray virtually all the characters in a realistic style and then have the main character turn into a tree, then you've got a melange that sinks under the woven strands of too many stylistic ideas. I would also like to comment on the cinematographer's lighting (though ultimately the director has to o.k. the look when he sees the dailies.) Disclaimer: I worked as a lighting technician in the mainstream U.S. film industry for 25 years. Most of the time when movies are transferred from film/digital to DVD, the bottom line is to do it as cheaply as one can. One really can't fairly comment on good lighting or bad lighting because of this (this cheap approach also heavily impacts sound transfer). But in this film the aesthetic behind many of the interior scenes was that of a hack; let's bash the light in and shoot it. There's way too much "flat" lighting. That is, no contrast in the light on faces or objects EVEN THOUGH THE LIGHT SOURCES LEND THEMSELVES TO GREAT POTENTIAL LIGHTING; lighting that could help further the story.Good performances don't make it when they are serving a poor story in a technically flawed movie.

neadar Well the main reason for seeing this movie would be to see Colm Meaney at his best. During the 1st 10 minutes of this film I was quite irritated by what I thought was another shamrockery and begorrah script. But once you get past that, its a very well acted, well-shot film. The humour was very dark though. Some in the audience were laughing while I felt like crying. I suppose the humour is open to your own interpretation. Overall a very sad story though.

duckgirlie I went to see this film with two of my friends, based solely on the title. None of us read any reviews and so were completely suprised by it. We all enjoyed it, despite being the youngest in the audience by about ten years.What can I say, fantastic acting, fantastic story, fantastic script. Thouroghly enjoyable.

jozsefbiro A story capturing my mind: although most of the audience in the cinema were laughing a lot and the two user comments I found in IMDB both claimed it was a funny movie, I found it rather sad. It is about the anger of a man who cannot handle his personal tragedies and decides to challenge the most powerful man in the village with no reason. The events eventually lead to an inevitable tragedy. The striking motif of self-destruction in this movie is similar to the one that exists in the Balkan and beautifully presented in some Kusturica movies, so despite the Irish environment, the director's (Goran Paskaljevic from Serbia) origin is clearly felt.