That They May Face the Rising Sun (2023)

That They May Face the Rising Sun is a 2023 Irish film directed by Pat Collins, an adaptation of the 2002 novel by John McGahern. It was the perfect film for St Patrick’s Day. We were delighted to have an Irish member of the RCC audience as our MC.

Most of the discussion group was blown away by this understated, gentle, melancholic film, set in an Irish rural lakeside community in the early 1980s.  It was “absolutely beautiful” and “elegiac” with a timeless and contemplative quality.  We were lucky to have a discussion member who’d read McGahern’s novels and who thought the film had more of a focus on the writer’s life.

Our members with Irish roots shared their experiences. There was a resonance with emotional ties to home and the theme about leaving and returning to a small village. There was no younger generation in the film. One of our members pointed out the close affinity with French village life, the slow pace, the gossip, safely kept secrets and the changing seasons.

The powerful ritual of ‘laying out’ of Johnny after he died was a major talking point. We talked about the naturalness of death as represented in the film and the experiences we had with losing loved ones. The film title is also moving, as it alludes to the tradition of burying a body towards the East.

This was a different kind of film, with little really happening. However, there were some big themes, such as the choices we make, what gives life meaning and what brings happiness.

Anne