Its setting is remote, desolate, and windy. His primary character is a sad Mercurial struggling with his own demons. Subject: A long-lost body found in a muddy mountain.
So far, that’s the standard for a chocolate drama. But there’s something about Crá, the new BBC series that premiered last month, that stands out from the crowd.
It is written as Irish, the first Irish language as a prime time slot on the BBC programme Northern Irelandand lastly in the small but growing genre of noir Gaelic, the commoners who build up Ireland’s historical heritage and literary canon.
“Everybody’s interested in Scandinavian noir, but we’ve created our own genre here: Gaelic noir with different elements,” said Charles Ciarán, creator of the Connemara-born program Fíbín Fíbín.
“It’s the storytelling, the Celtic composer and the frequency of the sound that people seem to really respond to. It’s original and fresh.”
The Irish equivalent of the Coen brothers’ comic crime series Fargo, Crá, which means “crusaded”, is set in the wilderness around Gweedore in north-west Donegal. Ireland.
The six-part murder mystery series combines dark humor with strong contemporary themes, including predatory behavior and terrorism linked to the IRA across the border.
Starring Dónáll Ó Héalai as a sadist who turns himself away from the investigation and Alex Murphy, who played the lead in the TV comedy. Young offendersThe series was shot in January and started on BBC iPlayer on Sunday nights and on BBC Northern Ireland in mid-November.
Since then, it has been “the second most requested program on BBC NI’s iPlayer”, the spokesperson said, mimicking the success of two other Irish-language homemade thrillers, Doineann (Stormy Weather) and An Bronntanas (The Gift).
The show’s prime time slot was still a gamble given that the Irish language is a minority language on the north and south of the border and requires the most discerning viewers. But Karen Kirby, executive director of BBC Gaeilge in Belfast, said it had paid off. They are hoping for a national drama network slot on the BBC next year.
“You might think that Irish language titles might cut some off, but with social media titles, titles are second nature to some,” he said.
“And people get hooked. Scandi noir already has a rival to Gaelic noir. It’s a great time. It encapsulates that culture of storytelling, but has achieved that depth of thriller and drama,” he said.
Production funded by Northern Ireland Ibernii Screen’s Irish-language broadcast funds together with Ireland Screen, Dublin Coimisión na Meán and Welsh media training Gréasán na Meán Skillnet.
But TG4 general director Alan Esslemont lamented the lack of funding from Dublin.
He criticizes the Irish government for the “accident” in the Irish language, which, he says, may continue Kneecapa biopic of the Belfast hip-hop trio, and the Oscar-nominated An Cailín Ciúin proved popular with Irish-language audiences.
“TG4 only receives half of the public funding of S4C, our Welsh language sister channel, a reflection of the deep-seated indifference of the Irish state towards the minority language media, media in the Irish language, Ireland’s first constitutional language and recognized by the EU as a full European language,” said Esslemont.
Northern Ireland Screen will “easily outshine” its western Irish counterpart Screen Ireland in its efforts to deliver Irish-language content for both adult and children’s audiences.
“NI Screen’s appetite for Irish-language drama in this area matches TG4’s own passion and leads us towards ‘Nordic noir’.” [a reference to southern Irish slang for people from Northern Ireland] or ‘Donegal noir’, which I prefer,’ he says.
“This TV series, ‘Crá’, where the bleak and harsh scene of the Donegal Gaeltacht is the very character, deepens and expands the ambition to let the whole world enter into the secret and unique world of the hidden language of Ireland,” he said.
Charles agrees that the desert landscape plays a role in history. “It’s a unique part of the world. Everyone has a character in this part, which is why people are drawn to it for the first time. It’s something raw, and it’s also a scary kind of place, ‘storms, roughness,'” he says. “We really lean into it.”