Writer and director Rioghnach Ní Ghrioghair introduces her new RTÉ Storyland film Balor Hall, a whodunit around a family land grab set in a large country house where murder is on the menu... Watch it here, via RTÉ Player.
Producer Deirdre Levins and I are big genre fans, and one genre we especially love is a fun, murder mystery whodunnit. As opposed to crime murder mysteries, Nordic noir, a whodunnit exists in a more heightened space and old school favourites like Agatha Christie's Poirot stories to recent incarnations like Knives Out were all big influences.
Still, we wanted to make a whodunit with a thoroughly Irish spin on it. Wealth and rich family dynasties in Ireland are different to other countries like Britain. For us, land means a lot more than it would elsewhere. It’s not just birthrite, it’s history and it’s post colonial. We’ve tended to define ourselves by the land we now have, and that trickles into bitter and often violent family disputes. Balor Hall is about an Irish family, with land, with an empire, with meat in their teeth who can all smell fresh blood.
Making the show in the height of the summer was a joy, between the brilliant cast we assembled, the wonderful crew and the beautiful August weather that put a sun bleached look over everything.
I had unfortunately broken my ankle a few weeks earlier so I had to hobble on a cane between takes – it added for extra directorial mystique nonetheless.
In terms of advice for other creatives, I think it’s best to always be open to collaboration, assemble strong teams and trust in their instincts as well. I was super lucky to have an incredibly smart cast who all blended together well, who interrogated the script in order to get the heart of who the characters were, what their motivations could be. Everyone coming on board has a take, and it’s always worth considering and discussing. Assemble a smart team, be open to suggestion, remember you don’t have all the answers and work together to make it the best it can be.
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