Celtic Waves: The Flow of Irish Emigration

While it's hardly more than an introduction to the history of Irish emigration over the past 150 years, John Michalczyk's Celtic Waves offers an intelligent examination of why millions of people physically left the island, but psychologically remained behind. Dividing Irish emigration into four waves--the Great Famine, the Turn of the Century, the 1950s, and the Celtic Tiger of the 1980s and ‘90s--the film concentrates most heavily on the initial diaspora fueled by the decimation of the nation's potato crop. Combining archival illustrations and photographs as well as footage of the relics of useless “famine roads” (constructed as doomed welfare projects), the program examines a nation still scarred by the exodus of past generations. For such a personal story, however, the documentary skips over first-person sources entirely (even in the section on later emigration, not one single interviewee appears who has left Ireland for greener pastures); rather, a roster of expert talking heads—sociologists, historians, economists, and poets--offer insights. Given the nature of the subject, ultimately there's plenty of brains here, but not enough heart. Optional. Aud: H, C, P. (D. Fienberg)