Hole in the Head (2022 film)

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Hole in the Head
Directed byDean Kavanagh
Screenplay byDean Kavanagh
Produced byDean Kavanagh, Anja Mahler
Starring
  • John Curran
  • James Devereaux
  • Lynette Callaghan
  • John Murphy
  • John Allen
  • Alva Brunkard
CinematographyDean Kavanagh
Edited byDean Kavanagh
Release date
  • 12 August 2022 (2022-08-12) (Ireland)
Running time
95 minutes[1]
Country
  • Ireland
LanguageEnglish

Hole in the Head is a 2022 film written and directed by Dean Kavanagh. It is his first narrative feature film.[2]

Plot

Hole in the Head is an experimental comedy-drama.[3]

The film follows John Kline Jnr,[2][4] a projectionist and amateur filmmaker who is incapable of verbal communication and suffers from missing time due to apparent childhood trauma. He recruits local actors to play his parents in order to re-create home movies from his past and investigate the 25 year-old cold case of his parents' disappearance.[4][5]

Production

The film is based on a short story penned by Kavanagh

Arts Council of Ireland,[7] and co-produced by Anja Mahler.[8] Principal photography took place across the island of Ireland during the early COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns of 2020.[5] Kavanagh also served as the film's cinematographer.[9]

Release

The film premiered at the 34th Galway Film Fleadh in Ireland. It screened In Competition at Seville European Film Festival.[10] and its North American premiere took place at Seattle International Film Festival.[11]

It received a theatrical release in Ireland.[5][12][3]

Reception

Writing in The Irish Times, film critic Donald Clarke called it "extraordinary" and said that "Hole in the Head shows there's space in Irish cinemas for the avant-garde".[5] The Irish Times gave a four star review stating that the film was "a fascinating puzzle piece that balances abstract oddity with genuine narrative intrigue".[13] Paul Whitington of the Irish Independent gave the film four stars and wrote that one particular sequence was "worthy of Stanley Kubrick".[14] In a review for online journal IAMHIST, Ciara Chambers, film scholar and professor at University College Cork, said the film was "tantalisingly mysterious" and "utterly original", commenting that "it paves the way for other filmmakers to share experimental work unapologetically with 'mainstream' audiences".[15] In December 2022, the Irish Times included Hole in the Head in a list of stand-out films of the year.[16]

Some international press outlets also gave positive reviews. Cineuropa wrote that the film was "mystifying and moving, bleak and funny, the film builds to a finale as strange as it is oddly powerful".[17] Spanish film journal Caimán stated that the film has a "totally fresh perspective, demonstrating the possibility of the co-existence of narrative with experimental".[18] Film journal UltraDogme described it as "a simultaneously profound, absurd, deracinating, and visceral experience".[9] Spanish film journal Cinesinfin described the film as "tremendously innovative".[19]

References

  1. ^ "Hole in the Head (2022)". ifco.ie. Irish Film Classification Office.
  2. ^ a b Winters, Danny. "Greystones filmmaker set for cinema debut in Dublin with 'Hole In The Head'". Irish Independent. Bray People. Retrieved 16 August 2023.
  3. ^ a b Murphy, Niall. "Irish Release Hole in the Head". Scannain. Scannain. Retrieved 16 August 2023.
  4. ^ a b "Hole in the Head: Cast and Crew interview". Moving Image Artists. MIA. Retrieved 17 August 2023.
  5. ^ a b c d Clarke, Donald. "Dean Kavanagh on getting his 'bloody weird' film into cinemas". The Irish Times. The Irish Times. Retrieved 16 August 2023.
  6. ^ Kavanagh, Dean. "Like a Hole in the Head - Dean Kavanagh on his new movie". RTE Culture. RTE. Retrieved 16 August 2023.
  7. ^ "Dean Kavanagh's comedy-drama Hole in the Head to release in the Irish Film Institute from August 12th". Irish Film and Television Network. IFTN. Retrieved 16 August 2023.
  8. ^ O'Reilly, Craig. "Hole In The Head – Interview with Director Dean Kavanagh". FRG. Fountain Resource Group. Retrieved 16 August 2023.
  9. ^ a b McCann, Ruairí. "Ghost in the Machine: Hole in the Head". Ultra Dogme. Ultra Dogme. Retrieved 16 August 2023.
  10. ^ "Festival de Sevilla 2022 Programme". Festival Cine Sevilla. Festival de Sevilla. Retrieved 16 August 2023.
  11. ^ "Hole in the Head to have North American premiere at Seattle International Film Festival". IFTN. Irish Film And Television Network. Retrieved 16 August 2023.
  12. ^ "Irish critically-acclaimed new drama Hole in the Head to screen at the EYE Cinema". Galway Advertiser. Galway Advertiser. Retrieved 16 August 2023.
  13. ^ Clarke, Donald. "Films to Watch This Week". The Irish Times. The Irish Times. Retrieved 16 August 2023.
  14. ^ Whitington, Paul. "Weekly Review". Irish Independent. Irish Independent. Retrieved 16 August 2023.
  15. ^ Chambers, Ciara. "Film Review: Hole in the Head". IAMHIST. IAMHIST. Retrieved 16 August 2023.
  16. ^ Brady, Tara; Clarke, Donald. "The Films of 2022: The Good, The Bad and the Unexpected". The Irish Times. The Irish Times. Retrieved 16 August 2023.
  17. ^ Lazic, Elena. "Review: Hole in the Head". Cineuropa.org. Cineuropa. Retrieved 16 August 2023.
  18. ^ Urzola, Daniela. "Hole in the Head (Dean Kavanagh). SEFF 2022 – Revoluciones Permanentes". Caiman CDC. Caimán Cuadernos de Cine. Retrieved 16 August 2023.
  19. ^ Calvo, Borja Castillejo. "Review: Hole in the Head". Cinesinfin. Cinesinfin. Retrieved 16 August 2023.
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