A Christmas trip to the cinema is often an occasion that requires a bumper box of popcorn as you sit through the latest kids' movie, but this year's festive blockbuster is a little different. The long-awaited release of SAIPAN on St Stephen's Day will attract a very different audience, as the story that never appears to lose its appeal for all of Irish society is given the big screen treatment.
It appears early on. A manky-looking cheese sandwich, seen in extreme close-up during the first few minutes of the film Saipan. Its devastating dramatic impact will only be made clear later: Chekov's Sarnie.
The country would do well to brace itself for impact. Saipan, a film that nobody asked for and that everybody will have an opinion about, premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival on Thursday night. We had our reservations, and you'll have yours. But with a clever team behind the camera - and an accomplished duo at its centre - we are pleased to report that Glenn Leyburn and Lisa Barros D'Sa's film is, quite frankly, an unexpected treat.
