Angela Mooney Dies Again

Tommy McArdle's film documents a day in the life of a small Irish town's eccentric (convincingly played by Mia Farrow), who occasionally likes to provoke social change by publicly attempting suicide -- usually half-naked. That's enough to lure the townspeople away from their day-long celebration of the local creamery's "new management." Indeed, it's this corporate takeover of the industry she and her husband built that drives Angela waist-deep into the nearby lake, where she makes an impassioned plea to onlookers for a new, "enlightened" way of community life and work. Instead, the townspeople snatch her from her watery grave and dismiss her as crazy. By the end of the day, though, Angela and the entire community seem to have deteriorated into genuine madness.

Angela's hopes and dreams are prompted by memories of her first true love; what she doesn't know is, he owns the company that's buying out the creamery. McArdle's poignant flashbacks to that first love give the current day's events weight and meaning. You'll want to brush up on your Irish brogue, however: the accents here can be all too genuine. Screens at the Kendall Square Thursday at 6, 8, and 10 p.m. and Friday at noon and 2 and 4 p.m.

-- Lorelei Sharkey

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