How Harry Became a Tree (2001) Reviews

• striking motif of self-destruction

  jozsefbiro2002-01-06

  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.

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• Forgiving everything but the grudge

  kmk-32002-02-12

  There is much laughter from the audience for this wonderful film, but the laughs gradually become uneasy and scarce as we realize this charmingly presented tale is not a comedy but a little tragedy, after all. The ineffable Colm Meaney (as Harry Maloney) gives the performance of a lifetime as an ignorant but sly peasant farmer who happens to be Irish, but could be any nationality. The story is from a Chinese source; a multinational cast and crew underscore the point. Think Balkans; think Chechyna; think Quebec; think Alabama -- rural places where people have hated others for so long no one knows why. It's a classic tragic tale: Harry entangles his family and neighbors in his web of anger and revenge for imagined slights because he really can't do anything else. The skies and hills are stunningly beautiful, and every detail of the film is pitch-perfect. Go, be charmed and laugh, but be prepared to stop laughing when the sadness of these lives overwhelms you. A fine movie!

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• A Buried Jewel

  rdhad2006-10-26

  As an American, it took me a bit to get used to the language of rural Ireland in the 1920's, but this film draws you into a world that seems not at all foreign after a while. Unlike the relentlessly depressing "The Field", this is a drama of real tragedies - the small, silly tragedies that we create and that are created for us- and also, of real hope. The original Irish title of this film "How Harry Became a Tree" is so much more fitting than the US "Bitter Harvest" (what were they thinking?), though fortunately the brilliant allegory of the tree is not lost with the title change. Performances are universally outstanding and poignant, the photography beautiful, the music haunting. See this film and see how the Irish continue to astonish with their mastery of language and vision.

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• fantastic

  duckgirlie2002-07-27

  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.

• Oddly charming parable

  PeachHamBeach2010-07-22

  This is one of the most unusual comedy-dramas I've seen in recent years. It seemed to have a simple and no-frills premise, and then I learned it's because the film is based on a Chinese story. Harry Maloney (Colm Meaney, always a wonderful presence) is a widowed farmer who grows cabbages. One of his sons died sometime back, and then the wife died. All that remain to him are his little cabbage farm, a dreary house and an astonishingly beautiful yet socially awkward son, Gus (Cillian Murphy). One day at the local pub, as the entire town celebrates the recent birth of a baby, Gus falls in love at first sight with a new girl in town, Eileen (Kerry Condon). All of life's blows have left Harry a hard, soured, downright crazed man, and Gus usually gets the worst of Harry's daily tantrums. Harry isn't physically abusive, but he is distant, cold, shrill and often emotionally domineering, and Gus is submissive, alienated and lonely. With his own agenda in mind, and believing it will be a cure-all for Gus, Harry arranges a marriage between Gus and Eileen. Unfortunately, Harry had to ask the cooperation of Eileen's boss, George O'Flahtery (Adrian Dunbar) a man, for reasons unknown, is Harry's sworn enemy. They are only too happy to profess their hatred for each other in words, and later, in pranks. The main plot is how Harry strives time and again to knock his enemy down. Every time something comes up, Harry sees it as an opportunity to "get" George, but always, something spoils the effect. Harry becomes crazier and more irrational every day, making life unbearable for Gus and Eileen, who, because of Harry's effect on Gus, are having their own marital struggles. It's a very interesting, an unfortunately for me, familiar character study of how one family member can drive the others into their graves with his insanity. Harry's life is so empty and meaningless, his obsession for revenge so huge, his personality so unpleasant, that it's impossible to like him...almost (Meaney is just too delightfully demented!). His effect on his son Gus is very interesting: Gus is so intimidated by his father that he can barely function. The Gus character is described by some as "dim" but I didn't see any mental deficits. I saw a kid who is trying to survive living with an extremely intolerable father, not knowing how to deal. Once Gus is married though, he begins to display surprising strength when he defends his wife against Harry's vicious tactics. I think any fan of Colm Meaney or Cillian Murphy would love this very unusual dark and charming film!

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