MovieChat Forums > Michael Collins (1996) Discussion > Alan Rickman's Performance

Alan Rickman's Performance

posted 17 years ago by cubsfanbobby
31 replies | jump to latest

Julia Roberts and Alan Rickman have been criticized for their Irish accents in this movie. Although Roberts does have an awful accent, Rickman's accent was not meant to be Irish in the first place. Anyone with a basic knowledge of this era in Irish history would know that Rickman's character, Eamon de Valera, was an American citizen, born in the U.S. to an Irish mother and a Cuban father. That is the reason that he was not executed when captured after the battle in the post office (the Easter Rising). Great Britain was attempting to get the U.S. to join the Allies in WWI and executing American citizens would not help their cause. Therefore Rickman's performance should not be tarnished with the slander of the ignorant moviegoer.

[–] 17 years ago

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[–] michael_collins_2001 17 years ago

"Rickman's accent was not meant to be Irish in the first place."

Of course it was!!! Dev spent all his life in Ireland. If you want to know what Dev sounded like go to www.rte.ie and check out the radio archives. Dev had a most pronounced rural Irish accent.

By the way, I thought Rickmans accent was quite good.

"Therefore Rickman's performance should not be tarnished with the slander of the ignorant moviegoer"

In this case it is your own ignorance that is on display. I'm afraid cubsanbobby this is a case where a little knowledge is a dangerous thing!

[–] Ramzi_Nohra 17 years ago

Yeah Roberts was atrocious... just generally superfluous.

[–] krisluvkev 17 years ago

Rickman and Roberts both did good jobs in this film. Rickmans accent sucked maybe that was purposeful, but Roberts accent was ok. Truethfully none of the accents were that great. They were all watered down in order for the American public to understand the film. But in all fairness in order for the world to understand the performances.

[–] Cubs_Fan08 17 years ago

Well, being that Liam Neeson is Irish, I thought his accent was spot-on.

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[–] freakinsweetkamehameha 17 years ago

Liam Neeson had a great cork accent, he can hardly be criticized for it.

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[–] LNMaguire 15 years ago

Yeah but he still would have had to work on his accent, he's from Ballymena in Northern Ireland, Cork accent is hard to get spot-on, thought he done a great job.

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[–] samanthaseaotter 17 years ago

Julia Roberts' acting and accent are both crap. I usually fast forward through all the scenes that she's in.

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[–] 17 years ago

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[–] msflywheel 17 years ago

His accent was spot on. Dev had a creepy voice anyway and Rickman nailed the part.

Check rte.ie for some old footage and recordings of Dev.

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[–] 17 years ago

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[–] sfinn85 17 years ago

Yeah, Alan did a great job. Wish I could say the same about Julia's accent... :-(

[–] blyyfwadgrlcgo 17 years ago

Creepy is right. 1920's politicians are a dodgy lot, but even by those standards he sounds a nasty piece of work.

http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?ammem/nfor:@field(DOCID+@range(90000061+90000062))

[–] loriacerny 15 years ago

Hahahahha, I fast-forwarded through Roberts' scenes, too.

[–] goddessnemesis234 15 years ago

Alan Rickman I say was superb in a role that butchered and molded DEV into the monster he wasn't. Yes I know he was somebody who suited himself when it came to politics but he did not have a huge feud with Collins and he had nothing to do with Collins' death. In fact some historians have claimed that DEV knew nothing about what the IRA and Iregulars were doing in the Civil War until it was too late.

As for the accent, he need to sound like he grew up in Limerick but Rickman's acting was so good that his accent did not bother me so much even though I hate when the Irish accent is butchered. Griped about Ned Kelly for that for weeks.

Julia had neither the talent or depth to play the character so her botched accent was even worse.

All in all a great performance from the cast which was destroyed by Julia Roberts.

[–] MickyBurger 15 years ago

But Dev spoke weird anyway, Rickman's accent was very good. I taught he was an excellent Dev

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[–] buxtehude99 13 years ago

I notice no one really comment on Alan Rickman's acting. He was fantastic, and I almost didn't spot him. Very un-Alan Rickman like, where he's been playing similar characters for the past few years.

[–] spookyrat1 11 years ago

I thought Alan Rickman gave another admirable performance as Éamon de Valera.

Memo to the OP, he lived in Ireland from the age of two and was an advocate for the continued use of the Gaelic language.

[–] PurpleProseOfCairo 14 years ago

I heard Dev speak in person - he was as Irish as they come. He is also an unsung hero in Ireland, often depicted (with some accuracy) as a "cute hoor". He was responsible for Ireland being held back in World terms in a lot of ways, but he also did an awful lot of good for the country.

[–] ciangiff 14 years ago

OP: Just to clarify this point. The fact that Dev was an American citizen is not the reason he was spared from execution. This is a popular rumour. He was a nobody to the American state, proven by the fact that he was so unsuccessful when he traveled to America to gain support and recognition for Ireland. He would have been as insignificant to them as any common person. Surely, if Wilson cared, and if America cared, they would have acknowledged their own citizen seeking support? If you research the facts, Lloyd George had ordered the executions to be ceased before the British got around to executing Dev. He was just lucky.

[–] Sensimilla 13 years ago

well you clearly dont have the basic info then, 1. he was raised in Ireland so he would have the accent and Rickman does a great job of the way Dev talked, 2. Dev wasnt actually in the GPO, thats just in the film, 3. Thats not why he wasnt executed, they were just stopped before they got to him, others got saved aswell

[–] Krauser-san 13 years ago

Its amazing the *beep* people make topics about without even the slightest bit of research.

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[–] rainsom 12 years ago

Indeed. For example, Alan Rickman having an Irish father, and likely other relatives.

[–] zxcv-9 11 years ago

I've just been listening to the real Eamon de Valera's voice and I have to say that I have never heard an accent quite like his before. I'm not Irish myself, so perhaps an Irish contributor could tell us how typical an accent de Valera had.

[–] Prismark10 10 years ago

It might be that just as the regional English accents have changed from the 1930s onwards maybe that the Irish accents have varied over time, hence why de Valera sounds odd.

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[–] barry70 10 years ago

I didn't think much of Alan Rickman's performance. Although I know Michael Collins precedes the Harry Potter films, I saw a lot of Snape in Rickman's character in Michael Collins i.e. the sneery tone of the voice and the withering looks.

As for Julia Roberts, she was competent with her clichéd, cardboard character. You could see the ending coming a mile off.

[–] BR-3 9 years ago

Regarding Alan Rickman. While watching his performance in Michael Collins I came to realize how much this actor wasted his talents by getting involved with the simplistic Potter franchise. He was a much better actor than he ever showed in those movies.

[–] Jefbecco-1 9 years ago

Why be critical of Rickman's involvement with the Potter movies? Acting was how he made his living and the Potter movies were big budget Hollywood movies that paid very well indeed. They weren't trash just entertainment and they paid the bills and then some. Those productions ensure that things run smoothly in a person's life (pay the utilities, medical bills, food, clothes and other mundane things) so the actor can go find the low paying "important" projects and make a "serious film" now and again.