Celtic Film Series - "A Man of No Importance" March 8, 2006

A man's search for his own identity in a repressive age is the theme of the 1994 R-rated comedy "A Man of No Importance," the next film of the Celtic Film Series. Reservations are not needed.

Alfie Byrne (Albert Finney) is a middle-aged bus conductor in Dublin in 1963. He would appear to live a life of quiet desperation: he's gay, but firmly closeted, and his sister (Brenda Fricker) is always trying to find him "the right girl." Alfie's passion is Oscar Wilde; his hobby is putting on amateur theatre productions in the local church hall. We follow him as he struggles with temptation, friendship, disapproval and the conservative yet oddly lyrical world of Ireland in the early 1960s.

The Library presents the Celtic Film Series in cooperation with the local chapters of the St. Andrew Benevolent Association and the Ladies Ancient Order of Hibernians. The series explores the history, drama and quirky humor of films made in or about Scotland and Ireland.

Jack Willis, professor Emeritus of literature at the College of William and Mary, will introduce the film.

Event submitted by Eventful on behalf of programs.