The Vintagent Classics: The films that inspired us.

EAT THE PEACH (1986)

Run Time: 1:37:00
Director: Peter Ormrod
Writer: Peter OrmrodJohn Kelleher
Key Cast: Stephen BrennanEamon MorrisseyCatherine Byrne

FILM MAKERS

Eat the Peach is a 1986 British-Irish comedy film, directed by Peter Ormrod. The title is derived from the T.S.Eliot poem ‘The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock’. The film was was written by Peter Ormrod with John Kelleher. It’s a film about eccentricity and companionship, and having a dream.

SUMMARY

The story takes place in an Irish village a few miles from the border with Northern Ireland. When the local Japanese-owned computer factory closes, the principal employer in the area seems to become the mob that runs a smuggling operation. One day Vinnie (Stephen Brennan), one of the men thrown out of work, and his brother-in-law Arthur (Eamon Morissey), happen to see a videotape of the 1964 Elvis Presley film Roustabout, in the village bar. They see a cyclist in the film ride in a carnival Wall of Death – a high walled barrel-like tank where centrifugal force keeps the rider up in the air circling. Straight away Vinnie begins to draw diagrams, make plans, and measurements; he clears a patch of land near his house.

Vinnie’s wife Nora (Catherine Byrne – Alice More in the series ‘The Tudors’) protests and goes back to her mother with their daughter Vicky. It’s a new kitchen she wants, not a Wall of Death. The men however, continue with the work and sinking tree posts into the ground and putting up a huge cylindrical construction. They become energetic and resourceful. Vinnie believes his Wall of Death will be a source of income – that people will buy tickets to stand on a gallery around the top of the rink and watch him and Arthur give their daring performances. Nora returns.

The film is based on actual events: a true story of two brothers-in-law Connie Kiernan and Michael Donoghue living in Granard, County Longford (Ireland). They build a wall of death in their back garden for fun. The director, Peter Ormrod, had seen a huge, wooden tank just off the road when he was looking for items for Irish television.

RELATED MEDIA

watch the full film on Youtube


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