The Bargain Shop (1993)
Writer/director/co-prod Teleplay commissioned by ZDF-Arte, RTE.
Late 1980s Dublin: Billy (Garrett Keogh) takes over his father’s rag and bone shop in a Dublin Northside backstreet. Dispensing with the past but not his father’s on-the-run shop-hand Packy (Belfast actor Stuart Graham) he transforms the premises into a glittering pound shop with financing from his mentor Jim (Brendan Gleeson). The presentable southsider Maria (Emer McCourt), the daughter of a golfing buddy, might offer some respectability and a chance to elbow Packy out. However, the mortgage is soon called in and Billy realises that Jim has big plans for his shop and for the street. The whole community is pointing the finger at Billy for selling out and it is left to Packy and Maria to try and save the shop – and the street.
“The shop with its original form and its converted form becomes an allegorical place with which the filmmaker sees the whole city...”
“The performances are superb and there’s real flair in the script writing”
“Quietly and unobtrusively, Gogan’s film targets some of the key issues in our society, using the classic device of illustrating the personal experiences that lie behind the political debate. Are we living in a bargain shop or an antique shop?”