Angel (1982) Neil Jordan

Angel is an Irish independent film which was released in December of 1982 by Director Neil Jordan.
“Saxophonist Danny witnesses the murder of his band manager and a deaf-mute girl after a gig.
Questioned by the police he remembers only the orthopedic shoes of the killers’ leader. So begins
his quest to avenge her. He seeks an answer to the simple question ‘Why?’ but finds only more, and
deeper questions that resonate with the wider context of ‘the Troubles’, the inter-communal strife
gripping the modern-day Northern Ireland in which is the films setting.” The film has a very strong
Irish background and while the troubles were never directly talked about, there were mentions of
Catholics and Protestants; Danny “Tell me what a sin is.” Deirdre “It’s a habit that the Catholics
indulge in.” Danny “What about protestants?” Deirdre “They don’t know what sinning is.” This
simple conversation between Danny and Deirdre hints at a deeper issue within Ireland itself as both
Catholic and Protestants had been at war with each other throughout the years of 1968-1998. There
were no filming locations outside of Ireland which made it a true Irish Film, there were filming
locations between Bray, County Wicklow, and inner-city Dublin.

The requested funding for this independent film was given by the Irish Film Board (IFB) as Angel
(1982) was the only Irish film ready to begin shooting within 1981, however this decision did tear
apart the Irish film industry between 1981-1982, in the summer of 1981, John Boorman and Robin
O’Sullivan were appointed to join the Irish Film Board by the Irish Government and Louis Heelan was
made chairman, however this still left four seats vacant. The vacancies and the budget aggrieved the
AIP and IFTG which had no representatives this meant that the Irish Film Board would not be the
independent film haven that they had all so wanted. Angel was still given a budget of £546,000 and
was due to begin shooting in October of 1981, one-third of this money was “on a temporary basis”.
Official records report that John Boorman (owner of MPCI- Motion Picture Company of Ireland) was
co-producing with Channel 4 for Angel (1982), this meant that he had a reason to protest for the
money to be given to Angel. The film was later distributed by Film 4 productions and Triumph Films.
Angel (1982) was released in around 18 different countries such as Argentina, United States of
America, France, and Germany, as well as premiering in the Celtic Film Festival back in Ireland. It is
estimated that the film made around $17.5 million at the box office release.
References:

https://letterboxd.com/film/angel-1982/

https://mubi.com/films/angel-1982