Love and Savagery
Love and Savagery is a starkly beautiful Canadian production filmed on the coast of Ireland. Michael (Allan Hawco) is a part time Newfoundland poet who in 1969 exchanged one rock for another, heading to Ireland to follow his passion. With this in mind it should come as no surprise that he’s a geologist but his passion for all things igneous is usurped when he loses his heart to Cathleen (Sarah Greene) a pretty fishing village barmaid. Unfortunately the fossils he’s studying aren’t the only ones in town, there’s also stiff Catholic mores dominating the landscape and all the townsfolk are churchgoing. Things get rough in a much more physical sense for Michael when he tries to ignore the fact that Cathleen is earmarked to become a nun. Despite the constant bruising, sparks fly constantly between these two but does Michael have much of a chance when his rival for Cathleen’s love is none other than God? Love and Savagery looks up front like a guy’s adventure but it turns out to be the unconventional empowerment of a maturing young woman.