In an ideal world more films would be uplifting, funny, brave and tug at your heartstrings. Conor Horgan’s documentary on Ireland’s most famous drag queen Panti Bliss — the “big painted lady” played by entertainer and “accidental activist” Rory O’Neill does all this and more. Queen Of Ireland is part biography, part recent social history.
Using archive family and news footage, Horgan shows his subject’s transition from Rory to Panti, while situating this personal narrative in the context of changing LGBT rights in Ireland — the underground clubs before decriminalisation; David Norris’ fight to change the law; the gay-bashing death of Declan Flynn in Fairview Park; and of course, 2014’s infamous “Pantigate”, which helped galvanise public opinion in support of marriage equality. Interspersed throughout the film are Panti’s performances — including some wonderfully strange early incarnations — as well as interviews with O’Neill’s family, friends and collaborators such as artist Niall Sweeney, theatre director Phillip McMahon, and activist Tonie Walsh.
Panti may be the film’s subject, but it is O’Neill who is the star of the show. O’Neill is whip smart, with both a sense of the ridiculousness and zinging one-liners, but also open and honest. In one particularly touching scene he discusses receiving his HIV diagnosis, and the effect this had on his parents. Queen Of Ireland thankfully resists the urge to turn Panti into tragic clown, and instead it is a celebration of O’Neill’s art, activism and Ireland’s overwhelming support of marriage equality. Queen Of Ireland is a feelgood film, and purposefully so, but Horgan’s direction is so skilful and Panti so self-deprecating, that you’re more than happy to let them manipulate your emotions.