Vivienne
Dick's first film after the New York series takes her back to her native
Ireland. Using Super-8 film as a parody of the 'travelogue' or home-movie
style film, Dick takes a expatriate, tourist look at her homeland. The
narrative follows Margaret Ann Irinsky as the American tourist trekking
from a Dublin populated by Hare Krishnas and rock music, to the horse-drawn
carriages in the west of Ireland and the kissing of the Blarney stone.
The quaint perception of Ireland and the Americanization of the native
culture are contrasted with interviews from sectarian prisoners and
footage of political marches. As in all her work, Dick uses a mixture
of verité shots which capture the essence of the locality and intersperses
them with images which have a totally different feel. This method is
used to highlight issues in a subtle way wherein the camera takes an
active rather than a voyeuristic role.