Hush a Bye Baby (1990, UK)

Director

Margo Harkin

Cast

Emer McCourt (Goretti), Michael Liebamn (Ciaran), Cathy Casey (Dinky), Julie Rodgers (Majella)

Screenplay

Margo Harkin and Stephanie English

Format

Live action, colour

Language

English and Irish

Running time

72 minutes

Classification

15

Distributor

Channel 4/bfi

Genre

Drama

Setting

Derry, Northern Ireland, 1984

Main characters

Majella, Sinead, Goretti, Dinky

Narrative focus

A group of young people in Derry

Synopsis

The story follows three teenage girls as they hang out together in and out of school. Goretti starts going out with a teenage boy named Ciaran. There is the ever-present threat of the British army who may 'lift' and detain suspects, apparently at random. The girls laugh and joke a lot about sex but for Goretti the joke ends when she realises she is pregnant by Ciaran. The situation is made worse as Ciaran has been 'lifted'. Goretti's dilemma is whether or not to have the baby and the film does not reconcile this issue.

Background

The film was made by the Derry Film and Video Collective, which was a franchised production organisation of Channel 4. Hush-a-Bye Baby went on to win several award nominations and is a key example of filmmaking from Northern Ireland. It won the prize of Best Drama at the Celtic Film Festival and was the Irish entry at the Young European Film of the Year. The film's director Margo Harkin is regarded as one of Ireland's leading feminist filmmakers, and has a notable career as a documentary filmmaker, continuing to engage with the political landscape of Northern Ireland. A more recent project was the documentary 12 Days in July (1998) about the tensions around the Garvaghy Road during the summer marching season.

Commentary

The film's opening image is dreamlike and some of the most powerful moments in the film develop from a series of intense dreams and nightmares. These sequences contrast with the predominantly naturalistic look of the majority of the film. It has a documentary-like, true-to-life feel to it. Its realist approach is similar to films by Ken Loach and Alan Clarke. There are numerous scenes that typify this approach throughout the film, such as the scenes at Ciaran's home.

The film demonstrates the power of editing to create stark and brutal images, such as in the scenes of Goretti's nightmares. The intense close-ups of the statue of Madonna create a creepy and claustrophobic effect, symbolising the restricted choices that a Catholic upbringing offered a teenage girl who is pregnant. The last sequence of the film is another of Goretti's nightmares, ending with her parents standing threateningly in the doorway. Goretti sees them, her face only half lit in a shot that suggests a sense of terror and doom.

The sequence, close to the end of the film, where Goretti sits listening to a poem being read in class draws together some of the key ideas in the film and has been simply and powerfully composed. We do not see the teacher's face, we only hear the poem being read, while the camera stays on Goretti's face as she listens. She is the only student with whom the poem resonates.

Also recommended

A Taste of Honey (UK, 1961, Tony Richardson) Cutting edge at the time it was made, this film deals with issues of friendship, family, teenage pregnancy and single motherhood.

Teaching suggestions (Key Stage 4, age 14-16)

Citizenship focus

• The legal and human rights and responsibilities underpinning society
• The diversity of national, regional, religious and ethnic identities in the U.K and the need for mutual respect and understanding.

Subject link:

History: Northern Ireland in the second half of the 20th century.

Freeze frame

Watch the scene when Ciaran and Goretti are questioned by the police. Pause the video on the final shot. (See also the sound and image activity using the same scene below.)

• What is significant about the wall mural at the end of the scene?
• What does it reveal about the national and religious tensions within Northern Ireland at the time the film was made?

Sound and image

Watch the scene where Goretti is making a cake and breaks an egg into the bowl with the sound turned down.

• What camera style is used?
• What effect does this have on you?
• How is the egg symbolic?
• What do you imagine Goretti is thinking?

Now watch the scene again with the sound up.

• What is Goretti listening to on the radio?
• What sound effects can you hear?
• What music is used?
• What is your opinion of the woman's speech on the radio?
• What do the sound effects emphasise?
• What is the effect of this on your understanding of Goretti's point of view?

Watch the scene when Ciaran and Goretti are questioned by the police.

• What is important about the use of English subtitles in this scene?
• Why is it a surprise to Ciaran that the policeman can understand and speak Irish?

Spot the shots

Watch the opening scene:

• How does the cross-cutting between the girls and the boys contrast their different experiences and expectations in school?
• What are the stereotypes of the girl group?
• What are the stereotypes of the boy group?

Watch the final scene where Goretti has a nightmare.

• What is the effect of the cross-cutting between Goretti in bed and the close-ups of the Madonna statue?
• What religion is the image of the Madonna associated with?
• How does Goretti see herself in the statue?
• What special effects are used in the scene?
• What do you notice about the use of sound effects and music?
• How does the sequence make you feel?
• What does the sequence tell you about the way that Goretti feels about her situation?
• What is the effect of the final freeze frame? What does this ending suggest about Goretti's future?

Generic translation

Ask students in pairs to write Goretti's and Ciaran's stories as a series of personal diary entries. Separately one student should write from Goretti's point of view and the other from Ciaran's point of view. They should write one entry each for the following incidents:

• When they meet;
• When they are stopped by the police;
• When Ciaran is put in prison;
• When they find out that Goretti is pregnant.

Then they should compare their diary entries and consider how this reflects their interpretation of the film and the different points of view of the main characters.

Discussion

The following questions can be used as a starting point to focus discussion before generalising the issues that the film raises.

• How do Goretti's friends put pressure on her at the beginning of the film?
• How do Goretti's family put pressure on her at the end of the film?
• What do you think Goretti will do about her pregnancy by the end of the film?
• How does the film's use of dream/nightmare sequences add to your understanding of Goretti's situation?
• Where and when is the film set and why is this significant?
• What are the different national and regional identities you can identify among the characters?
• What were the historical reasons behind British troops being in Northern Ireland?
• To what extent might Ciaran's resentment of the British troops be justified?
• What are the personal reasons for Ciaran's resentment of the police presence?
• Why does Ciaran feel that it is important to speak Gaelic?

Debate

Should abortion be legalised in Northern Ireland?

Practical production work

Students could make a short campaigning video to support or oppose the legalisation of abortion in Northern Ireland.