Munich 91 is a feature length drama set in Ireland and Germany in 1991. The two countries couldn’t be more polarised at this time. Ireland is yet to experience the economic boom of the Celtic Tiger, which would roar into being four years later. Germany’s economy is thriving. For a few years, in the late 80s and early 90s, Irish students travelled in their thousands to take up well paid summer jobs in German cities. They were armed with good work ethics and Irish 5p coins, which they used liberally, nearly caused an international diplomatic incident.
We begin in a small unnamed Irish town. CLIONA O’CONNELL, a young woman who has just completed her Leaving Cert, is packing to join the throngs of fellow Irish students on their way to Germany for the summer. She is not only escaping a poor Irish economy, but a sad and suffocating home life. In this she is joined by her handsome, charming, but stingy boyfriend, JACK FLYNN. The quiet giant, SEAN GORMAN may also make the trip to Germany, if he’s not lured away to break ice off ships’ ropes in the arctic circle.
Together, they face the challenge of arriving in a city, Munich, which is ill prepared for an influx of thousands of Irish workers. They experience the dissonance of cultural differences in every facet of their daily life, but also the sexual freedom that comes with being able to buy contraception freely.
Cliona deals with sexist work colleagues, judgment from interfering relatives, a pregnancy scare, unyielding German landlords and an unsupportive and miserly partner, but she persists because she has to fund the next chapter in her life, university.
When an experience at a racetrack leads to Cliona losing everything she has earned over the summer, there is a very real prospect she will return home to Ireland with nothing. And, when the opportunity arises for Jack to support Cliona, he fails, miserably.
Jack’s charm spell on Cliona is broken. She cuts him loose, takes her revenge and leaves Germany with no money, but also, no naivety. She returns to Ireland to start at university, poorer than she had hoped, but resilient and ready to deal with anything that comes next. Including a new love?
[The piece could be considered nostalgic, it set in a pre-mobile phone world, but it has contemporary themes at its heart. Currently, inward immigration is causing a rise in far-right racism and tension in Ireland and the UK. This film is a timely reminder that not long ago we were exporting vast numbers of our young people to foreign shores for economic reasons.]
