The Guarantee to hit Irish cinemas 30th October with a Special Live Event Screening hosted by Matt Cooper!

Posted on September 20, 2014 by Darren

We’re big fans of Irish cinema here at the m0vie blog, so we are quite excited about The Guarantee, the new film written by Colin Murphy and directed by Ian Power, covering a crucial moment in modern Irish history. With the talent involved, it could easily develop into something like Peter Morgan’s “Blair trilogy”, a fascinating look at contemporary politics through the lens of key and defining events.

There is a special screening taking place at the end of October. I’ve included the press release below.

New Irish feature film THE GUARANTEE starring Love/Hate’s Peter Coonan, David Murray (Amber), Orla Fitzgerald (The Wind That Shakes The Barley), Morgan C. Jones (Vikings), and Gary Lydon (Calvary) will be hitting Irish cinemas on Thursday October 30th with a special live event to kick off the release. The first of its kind in Ireland, the live event screening will allow cinema audiences across the country to watch the film and take part in an interactive panel discussion and Q&A hosted by Today FM’s Matt Cooper live from Movies@Dundrum.

Based on Colin Murphy’s stage play Guaranteed!, directed by Ian Power (The Runway) and produced by John Kelleher Media in association with the BAI, the Irish Film Board and TV3, THE GUARANTEE recreates the drama surrounding the most significant political decision in modern Irish history when the Irish government decided to guarantee the entire domestic banking system. It’s the first time the story has been told on the big screen and charts the origins of that pivotal decision and follows developments through the peak of the boom to the beginning of the bust.

Speaking about the release, Patrick O’Neill, CEO Wildcard Distribution said: “Wildcard is delighted to be bringing this feature and live cinema event to cinemas across Ireland. That night in 2008 was a defining moment in Irish history and the story and its impact is still very relevant today. We’re very excited to be incorporating a live event and interactive element to the evening, something that’s never been done before in Ireland. We’re also thrilled Matt has come on board to host the evening and we’re very grateful to Graham Spurling and all at Movies@ for their enthusiasm and support of the project”.

In the film we see Peter Coonan and Gary Lydon, who are currently starring in Borstal Boy in the Gaiety Theatre, star as Anglo Irish Bank Chief Executive David Drumm and Brian Cowen respectively, with David Murray, Morgan C. Jones and Orla Fitzgerald also starring as Brian Lenihan, Sean Fitzpatrick and Kate Walsh.

This special live event screening will mark the world premiere of THE GUARANTEE on Thursday 30^th October. The cinema release will be followed by a television broadcast on TV3 and DVD release later this year.

More About THE GUARANTEE

The Bank Guarantee was the most significant decision in modern Irish history.

On the night of September 29, 2008, the Irish government decided to guarantee the entire domestic banking system. That decision was made by a handful of men in a room in the middle of the night. By the time the costs can be fully counted, in another 30 years or so, it will have cost over €60 billion – the most expensive bank rescue in history. THE GUARANTEE tells the story of that night, and what led to it. Starting four years earlier, it charts the peak of the boom and the beginning of the bust.

The drama shows the key players in the establishment as they struggle to come to terms with the unfolding consequences of their earlier failure to rein in the property market as the global banking system buckled and the Irish economy faced collapse.

It is a gripping drama of classical proportions, in which the tragic hero is Ireland. Like Cinderella, Ireland was the poor sister of Europe, who finally got a chance to go to the ball. But when she got there, she forgot herself; she stayed past midnight, and suddenly all her riches returned to rags.

At the heart of the drama are the figures of the Taoiseach, the Minister for Finance and the Central Banker, Officials in the Department of Finance and the heads of the key banks. Other characters come and go, but these are the key decision makers. The film moves quickly between locations, moving ever quicker towards the night itself, as it charts the end of the boom and the onset of the global financial crisis.