FREE ON YOUTUBE Stephen Frears - The Van (Roddy Doyle)

FREE ON YOUTUBE  I once asked my colleague David from Dublin, who works at our video store, where Barrytown is actually located. He explained it to me. Barrytown is a fictional suburb in northern Dublin, invented by author Roddy Doyle for his novel trilogy "The Commitments", "The Snapper" and "The Van". All three were filmed. The third part, The Van, is about two good friends. But their friendship is put to the test to sell fish and chips with an old and dirty truck. This truck has no engine and is covered with rancid fat. "It's like the inside of a leper'' - and yet it embodies all the hopes of the friends. Their names are Larry (Colm Meaney - appears in all Doyle adaptations) and Bimbo (Donal O'Kelly). He has a face that looks very friendly even when angry. At the beginning he is unemployed and drinks a Guinness. That's the best thing about these Doyle adaptations: On the side you can see life in Dublin. It's also a reason to watch movies! And how does Larry's life work? "Who paid for that dinner in front of you, son?" "The state.'' Everything takes place in 1990, a year not only remembered by David from the video store. Because in the summer of 1990 Ireland defeated England during the World Cup. Larry also follows this in the pub and howls into his beer. And the business? It goes like this: a customer gets a fried diaper instead of cod. The Van is just as aimless - and that fits in perfectly with the aimlessness of life itself.