Cinema Eclectica

Listeners, are you aware that Shuhada Sadaqat - or Sinead O'Connor, as she was - once played the Virgin Mary? If that sounds like a provocative idea, you ain't seen nothing yet. Neil Jordan's The Butcher Boy is one of the darkest and most mordantly funny entries in a directorial career that's also included Interview With the Vampire and The Company of Wolves, and we've got We Are Cult's Mark Cunliffe back in to talk about every deliriously sick moment. The story of a school bully spiralling into psychopathy against a backdrop of early '60s nuclear paranoia, it features an astonishing lead performance from Eamonn Owens and a stacked supporting cast of superb Irish thesps. (You'll never look at Milo O'Shea in the same way again) We discuss how the film defies '90s media cliches about Ireland, as well as the unusual circumstances of its funding from David Geffen. Plus a lot of chat about O'Connor's career, and an appreciation of Kris Kristofferson for offering support at the height of her post-SNL backlash. U