Helen Mirren Troubles film remastered 40 years after release

When Bernard MacLaverty’s Cal was adapted for screen in 1984, it received widespread praise and accolades.

It even earned Helen Mirren her first major award, and briefly made Belfast’s Queen’s Film Theatre one of the highest grossing cinemas in the UK.

However, over the ensuing 40 years, the film had become lost, the only remaining version a poor quality 35mm that left the author “ashamed”.

Now, the film has been remastered, and was shown again at Queen’s Film Theatre in Belfast on Friday.

Cal, which was adapted from the novel of the same name by Bernard MacLaverty, depicts a young Catholic man, Cal, in 1970s Northern Ireland.

Cal is a member of the Provisional Irish Republican Army, and is involved in the killing of a member of the Royal Ulster Constabulary.

He later falls in love with the victim’s widow, who is unaware of Cal’s involvement in her late husband’s death.

Helen Mirren, who stars as the widow Marcella, won an award for Best Actress at the 1984 Cannes Film Festival. She was the first British performer to win the award in 12 years.

The film was also nominated for the Palme d’Or, as well as two Baftas.

At the time, the Financial Times’ Nigel Andrews wrote that “Cal is the most moving and convincing portrait of life in Northern Ireland the cinema has yet given us”.

Bernard MacLaverty, who wrote the original novel, as well as the screenplay for Cal, said it has been years since he has seen the film.

“The last time I saw it was in Glasgow University and I was so disappointed in [the condition of] it and ashamed of it that I said I would never talk about it in public again.

“It was in a bad state.”

Mr MacLaverty said it is “exciting” that the film has now been remastered, and expects the story to retain its appeal with modern audiences.

“I think the storyline is one that is universal.

“It’s a love story. One would hope that love hasn’t exited from our lives.”

But he feels there is some risk to the film becoming available again.

“Maybe it will be badly written. It may date, and I’ll be the one to blame.”

When Cal was first screened in 1984 at the Belfast Festival, it was successful enough to warrant a further run 42 consecutive sell-out showings.

Such success meant that, during the initial two weeks of screenings, the QFT became the second-highest grossing cinema in the UK outside of London.

Hugh-Olding Smee, Manager of Film Hub NI, said the idea to remaster ‘Cal’ originated when Queen’s Film Theatre (QFT) was celebrating its 50th anniversary in 2018.

“Cal is a very important film to the QFT. It was really the first kind of Irish premiere that broke through, and it was very successful at the QFT when it came out.

“It’s a very emotional film about a particular time in our history.”

Mr Smee said he believes the re-release of Cal is important for young filmmakers in Northern Ireland, and described the film as an “important cultural touchstone”.

“People have seen it the odd time down the years, but the lion’s share of people haven’t seen it since it came out”, he said.

However, Mr Smee had no doubt that the film will continue to appeal to today’s audiences.

“MacLaverty has a gift for creating stories that are individual but universal at the same time.

“It was an important story then, and it’s an important story now.”

Mr Smee also noted the film’s relevance in the context of various conflicts that continue to take place around the world, and said that art can be useful in helping people deal with traumatic situations.

“Films are empathy machines. Empathy is how things get healed.”