ABSTRACT
Though considered one of the best Irish films of all time, shot in Ireland and telling an Irish story, The Commitments as a production is a British film made with American money, or an American independent film made by Los Angeles-based Brits. Though an adaptation, the film is not merely a ‘dilution’ of the book, and novelist Roddy Doyle’s role in the film’s inception, along with Scottish producer Lynda Myles mentorship of him, and Alan Parker’s fidelity to the novel are all integral factors in its artistic success. The transnational contexts of its production and release reflect the machinations and relations of the floundering Irish film industry with the British film industry and Hollywood. Though English, Parker’s pride in his working-class identity manifested in a belief in building the world of The Commitments through a dedication to location shooting, and to casting young working-class Dubliners, using the expertise of Dublin-based casting directors. However, Parker’s aesthetic sensibility favoured using the decaying Victoriana of inner-city Dublin, and the high-rise suburbs of Ballymun, to the low-rise suburbs of Doyle’s Barrytown, thus diverging to some extent from the book. Nevertheless, the film captures the urban fabric of Dublin on the brink of profound social and architectural transformation.
