27 December 2023

By Göran R Buckhorn

There has been quite a hype this month about George Clooney’s movie which is based on Daniel James Brown’s bestselling book, The Boys in the Boat. The film was released in American movie theatres on 25 December – and will be released in Australia on 4 January 2024 and in the UK on 12 January 2024.

It will probably surprise many readers that The Boys film is not the only rowing movie that came out in October/December. The Irish Tarrac was shown in cinemas in Ireland on 6 October and in the UK on 8 December. It must be said, Tarrac can not be further away from The Boys when it comes to rowing.

This Irish speaking/Gaelic film is about Aoife Ni Bhraoin, played by Kelly Gough, who returns home to help her father Brendan (Lorcan Cranitch) who lives in rural Ireland and who is recovering from a heart attack. She has not really dealt with her mother’s passing and it doesn’t help that she is not getting along with her father.

Aoife is persuaded to join an all-female rowing team for a regatta on the sea of the Dingle peninsula in south-western Ireland, “[a] place of wild geography, where the weather and the people have a mind of their own,” as it says in a promotional text about the film. The race is in the boat type naomhógs (currachs).

The script is written by Eugene O’Brien and the film is directed by Declan Recks. Besides Kelly Gough and Lorcan Cranitch, the film features Kate Nic Chonaonaigh, Kate Finegan, Rachael Feeney and Cillian O’Gairbhi.

Here is the movie trailer:

Read a film review from The Guardian here.

Special thanks to Sue Fenton, who pointed HTBS in the direction of Tarrac.