That They May Face The Rising Sun is the eagerly awaited adaptation of John McGahern’s novel. It is directed by Pat Collins, the acclaimed West Cork filmmaker and follows the lives of Joe (Barry Ward) and Kate (Anna Bederke) and the community they are part of in rural Ireland. Beautifully told, the film was awarded the Dublin Film Critics’ Circle Award for Best Irish film at this year’s Dublin International Film Festival. We spoke with Pat Collins to find out more.
A few years before tackling the film, you made a documentary, John McGahern: A Private World. Did you decide then that you would adapt one of his books?
I read McGahern for the first time when I was 18 or 19 and read Rising Sun when it came out. Philip King, the director of the documentary, was working with the Arts Council at the time and meeting McGahern regularly. Philip and I met with McGahern in a hotel in Dublin and pitched the idea of the documentary, and he was very open to us. He had been diagnosed with cancer, which I didn’t know, and was writing his memoir. It felt very natural; he was going back over memories of his youth and his upbringing, so it was perfect timing. We shot the documentary in 2004, and it came out in 2005. I can’t remember whether I suggested making the film when I was making the documentary. I don’t think I would have had the confidence to do it then because I had never done drama, but it was in the back of my head. It is my favourite of his books, partly because it was an accurate portrayal of the Ireland I grew up in. I felt nobody had captured it quite like that.
I would have seen potential from the very first day, but I didn’t think it was possible. I thought it was too difficult to adapt because it was made up of small stories. It wasn’t one big narrative the way films usually are. At the same time, I think that’s what attracted me to it—the fact that it was really difficult to adapt. I felt challenged.
The book’s theme is the passing of seasons. It is hard to make a film about that theme, and it is hard to get funding. The culture of cinema is a big story, but sometimes, the story can be limiting. To capture the world of the novel, you have to leave the one big story out and focus on small unfolding stories. I’m happy that we did as good a job as we possibly could and were able to manage it.
It is a very Irish story, but it has universal themes. Was that one of the draws?
Yes, it is universal, but it is also very particular to rural Ireland. McGahern said that if you start out to create a story about everywhere, you end up with nothing. If you create a story about something particular, it becomes about life everywhere. You start with one person in one room and grow something particular that becomes universal.
I was at a screening at the Santa Barbara Film Festival recently and screenings at the Gothenburg Film Festival, and the reaction was the same as an Irish audience, which I wasn’t expecting. I was sure the film would resonate with Irish audiences, but I wasn’t sure how well it would do outside. It is gratifying to see people connecting with it in other countries. People in Sweden and California said it reminded them of growing up in the countryside.
You have made plenty of documentaries and two feature films with documentary elements. How did you find the transition to a full, narrative feature?
With Silence and Song of Granite, I approached them purely as fiction but with a documentary sensibility. Rising Sun is a pure fiction drama. I knew from the beginning that it wouldn’t have documentary elements. I don’t think it would have worked. I needed really strong actors to pull it off. Some of the characters could easily tip into parody without strong actors. Historically, characters like this are often seen as simpletons, but the rural people that I grew up with had a certain nobility and great intelligence. It was important to have actors portray the characters with respect. With Sean McGinley and Lalor Roddy playing Patrick and Johnny, they brought such knowledge and craft in their acting ability that they could transcend the material. There is a scene where they receive lines from The Playboy of the Western World. On paper, that could so easily not work. You need very skilled actors to do that believably. I was in good hands with those actors.
Lalor Roddy is an extraordinary actor with a fine body of work, yet he is not a household name. What was it like working with him?
He is phenomenal. He approaches with such preparation. He loved his character, and he was very protective of him. I would say to try something, and he would say there was no way Patrick would do that, which is great. Film is a collaborative thing. He had such insight into Patrick. You have to stand back, respect that, and try not to interfere too much. Lalor is incredible; the way he carries himself and his face conveys so much without saying anything. Patrick is an intriguing character; he can be mean, but people are drawn to him, and Lalor can portray that intrigue so well.
How did you know that Barry Ward and Anna Bederke would make the right leads?
We did a readthrough for lots of the characters, but I met Barry Ward for a coffee, and we chatted for an hour. I offered the role right away without even reading the script. The audience will look at the world of the film through Barry’s character, Joe, and Anna’s character, Kate. They are the people who, like the audience, come from outside. Even though Joe comes from there, he was away for a long time. Joe is so attentive to the characters in the film. He thinks about them, and he takes care of them. Barry is a great actor; when you meet him, he has a great presence and is very kind. He was so good on set with everyone. Joe is an understated character, and Barry plays him so well. He is always looking, listening, and making small gestures, which takes a lot of work to play. He is always working, but you don’t always notice it. It is crucial that the audience gravitates towards Joe as a character, and Barry can make that happen.
I met Anna over Zoom meetings and then had a phone conversation, and I cast her from that. She is really great, too. Kate represents the outsiders, the audience, but we see her embrace everyone around her.
I didn’t understand how important casting was for a feature film. That is the big thing I have learned. You are so dependent on your cast, and it is so important to choose correctly. Fortunately, we were lucky with this cast.
When you adapt a book into a film, you have to make changes to fit the narrative and the different medium. Was it hard to make changes, or were you cutthroat?
At the start, you try to do everything you can to protect the novel. I am not ruthless, but after a while, you must accept that not everything fits or belongs in a film version. We started writing the script in 2016, and it took five years before we had a version we were happy with. It is difficult; you are trying to protect the characters, but sometimes you have to lose a character or change something that happens. You are attempting to be true to John McGahern’s vision of the novel, but with a film, you are representing that vision. I think we achieved it; I would have seen it as an awful failure if we hadn’t. I would have disappointed myself if I hadn’t risen to the challenge. The film might not be a full realisation of the novel, but it is true to the spirit of the book.
Your love of nature is evident in all your work, and you have carried it into Rising Sun. How important is it for you to reflect it in your films?
Growing up, nature was all around me. I don’t necessarily see myself as separate from it. It is a modern concept that nature is something you look at, whereas I always think of myself as in nature. In the film, when there is a shot of nature or the sound of birds, it is because it’s there. It is part of reality, so you capture it. Sometimes, Hollywood films do a chocolate box version of nature and overemphasise it. I try to represent it as it is. If you live in the countryside and walk out your front door, nature is all around you. How could you not portray that? Sound is half the story, too. If you are in a city, you hear the sounds of a city. In the countryside, there are birds. I pay a lot of attention to sound; as humans, we are wired to it wherever we are. I don’t over-edit or layer too much sound, but if it’s there, I will record it and use it in the scene.
What would you like audiences to take away from the film?
The main thing is that they enjoy the experience of watching it in the cinema and being with the characters. I hope that they leave feeling either better about the world or connected to the world. I hope they go back to see it a second time.