The third film that employed Mark Knopfler as a composer after Local Hero in 1983, and Comfort and Joy in 1984, was the film – Cal.
Cal is an Irish and drama-political film from 1984 directed by Pat O’Connor and starring John Lynch and Helen Mirren. This film is based on a novella with the same name written by Bernard MacLaverty who also wrote the script.
For those who didn’t have watched this film yet – the plot is about a young man from Northern Ireland. Actually, he falls in love with a Catholic woman whose husband was killed one year earlier by the I.R.A.
As the film is going, the attraction becomes mutual between these lonely souls. Drama is about Cal’s secret and their inability to rise above the Irish violence, to prevent love from flourishing.
In the USA film was officially released on August 24, 1984, as well as the music of the film by Mark Knopfler.
“Cal” was the third soundtrack album by Mark Knopfler, produced by David Puttnam and directed by Pat O’Connor. The whole album was recorded between February and March in 1984 in the AIR Studios London.
The duration of the album is in total length of 35-minutes. All the lyrics of all 12 songs are written by Mark Knopfler. The genre of this album is predominantly instrumental rock with folk elements and Celtic music.
Besides Mark Knopfler, his longtime friends: Guy Fletcher, John Illsley, Terry Williams, Paul Brady, and Liam O’Flynn have also worked on this album.
Back in 1984, this film was entered into the 1984 Cannes Film Festival. Then, Mirren won the award for Best Actress. At the time in a review in The New York Times, Janet Maslin called the album “an exceptionally lovely and haunting score.”
Facebook Comments