With St. Patrick’s Day upon us, the timing couldn’t be better for the latest documentary from Victoria’s Asterisk Productions.
Patrick, Pagans & Party Animals, which premières Monday at 7 p.m. on Vision/Zoomer TV, explores the 500-year-old story of St. Patrick, the rebellious Catholic priest and missionary.
“It’s always fascinated me,” said David Springbett, who, with partner Heather MacAndrew, produced the film written and narrated by Brian Paisley.
“Why do so many people get excited about the life of a Catholic priest who traipsed around ancient Ireland banishing snakes and converting pagans to Christianity?”
This time last year, the team behind the Vision documentaries Phantom at the Feast and Apocalypse … When? set out for Ireland to retrace the historical saint’s steps.
They discovered a mix of folklore, history and fantasy while seeking an explanation about why on each March 17, many of us go green and wish we were Irish, if only for a day.
Paisley, an Irishman himself, said he was astonished by the fascinating story they uncovered — including the revelation that Patrick wasn’t Irish at all, but English.
“I always envisioned Patrick as this devout Irish priest who was ordered to do a job, and the rest — the heroic tales of battle and banishment — were simply exaggerations of what really happened,” he said. “But as soon as we started to talk to people who had studied Patrick’s life in great detail, that simplistic perspective was quickly abandoned.”
During their tour of the Emerald Isle, the production team encounters several Irish storytellers and scholars, including psychologist Bob Curran; Tim Campbell, director of the Saint Patrick Centre in Downpatrick, County Down; and Thomas O’Loughlin, historical theology professor at the University of Nottingham and author of Discovering Saint Patrick (2005).
Patrick, Pagans & Party Animals also showcases the local talents of researcher Sherry Lepage and editor Martin de Valk.
