It has recently been claimed (in a best-selling title) that the Irish saved civilization, although it was only possible because civilization forgot Ireland. Passed over by the Roman Empire, Ireland missed its modernizing effects, and remained a largely isolated, rural society. It is this pastoral landscape that is such a familiar backdrop in Hollywood films, including The Quiet Man. Yet, it is Ireland's isolation which also allowed the Gaelic culture to persist, and an Irish identity to evolve. In The Commitments, Ireland is called a Third World country, and politically, economically, and ideologically it has been distinct from Western Europe. Its three scourges enumerated in December Bride are England, religion, and the drink, afflictions that enter into virtually every Irish film. If the absence of family through emigration (as in Maeve) is Irish cinema's oft-sounded economic theme, its recurring political and psychological subject is the presence of the past. The Civil War is notoriously spoken of as if it happened yesterday, as in Michael Collins, and this can surely be seen as a comment on the Troubles. What often characterizes Irish narratives is what is not spoken-the refusal to betray a comrade in Anne Devlin, to name a baby's father in The Snapper, to acknowledge a brutal act in Cal. The past erupts in continued violent struggles for independence, but also in cycles of domestic abuse, entwined in the legacy of usurped authority. "Don't look for happy endings-it's not an American story, it's an Irish one," remarks a character in a recent American film. Yet Irish cinema can be characterized as equal parts "the tear and the smile."Countering the silence, Irish storytelling is witty and brash, circuitous, and layered with meaning. Jim Sheridan has referred to the Irish language itself as a weapon of self-defense, and Bob Quinn has made several films in Irish. As today's global civilization discovers Ireland, and its cinema gains recognition, independent Irish filmmakers continue to develop a vital indigenous voice. Kathy Geritz Irish Eyes: The Cinema is programmed at PFA by Kathy Geritz, Associate Film Curator. We wish to thank the Irish Film Archive of the Film Institute of Ireland, in particular Sunniva O'Flynn, Archive Curator, and Caroline Hennessey, Festivals Coordinator; San Francisco Irish Film Society; and Vivienne Dick, Luke Dodd, Peter Flynn, Luke Gibbons, Kathleen Murphy, Pat Murphy, Julie Murray, Lynda Myles, Moira Sweeney, and Mary Trew. (NEH LOGO) This series is presented with the support of the National Endowment for the Humanities, dedicated to expanding American understanding of human experience and cultural heritage. Friday March 5, 1999