Man Of Aran (tbc)

A niche title for the Irish peasant indie fan in your life, Man Of Aran is a 1934 doc about povertystricken islanders off the coast of Ireland making the best of their shoddy lot – newly soundtracked by arch rockers British Sea Power. The band have always been a rural, birdwatching, tweedy bunch, so Robert J Flaherty’s (Nanook Of The North) well-shot black-and-white tale of a family struggling against the elements was an ideal flick for them to go all Sigur Rós on and bring to a wider audience.

The gist? Waves crash as pianos roll and an occasional vocal gets wistful over a little boy scaling a big cliff. Rumour has it that Flaherty coerced (ie paid) locals to act all morose back in the day, so the 1977 doc delving into the film’s fact/fiction blur would have been a nice extra. But, like one of Gus Van Sant’s more meditative movies, the point of Man Of Aran is that not much happens – it’s up to the viewer to think beyond the screen.

As such, the film is snail-paced and will put you off the Aran Islands for life – or at least a holiday, though they have got nicer in the last 70 years – but the music is up to the band’s usual scratch and even includes a brilliantly sweepy version of ‘The Great Skua’ off last album Do You Like Rock Music?. The CD comes with the DVD, too.

What’s more, there’s a pretty cool bit when some fishermen harpoon a basking shark for what seems like two whole days, set to some pulsating drums. If that’s not your bag of audiovisual poetry, then just naff off and watch Jumper instead.

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