Cast of 'the buttons' to mark anniversary of film

Fri, 10 Aug, 2018 - 15:06

Roisin Burke

HOLD on to your socks because Skibbereen is having a party and we are all invited.

The cast of the cult classic ‘War of the Buttons,’ which was shot in Skibbereen, are having a reunion to celebrate the success of the movie 25 years on.

Organised by the Paul Batt, who played the character of ‘Gorilla,’ 20 of the full cast of 35 are returning to the scene of the enacted crimes, including Gregg Fitzgerald who played Fergus, John Coffey who played Jerome and Eveanna Ryan who played Marie.

Mr Batt said there are people flying in from all over the world including Australia, Germany and Los Angeles to attend the reunion.

“I think, for a lot of people, it was their first film, so they have fond memories of it and a lot of time for the cast and crew.”

Even the director John Roberts is flying in for the occasion, taking a break from a shoot in Los Angeles to be there.

Mr Batt, who was one of the oldest on set back in 1993 at the ripe age of 15, said they had a lot of fun making the movie and the cast were childhood friends.

“The idea for the reunion came last summer when there was a screening of ‘War of the Buttons’ at Cork City Hall. Five of us went along and the notion grabbed us for a full reunion in 2018 to celebrate the movie 25 years on.”

Mr Batt said talking to members of the cast after 20-odd years still felt like they had been living together in Maria’s School House in Skibbereen only yesterday.

“We were childhood friends. For me, one of my best friends from the movie was Ger Kearney who was Best Man at my wedding and I was the Best Man at his.”

Mr Batt said he was looking forward to meeting up with people he hadn’t properly seen in 25 years and having a good time.

Most of the cast are arriving on Friday night and staying at the West Cork Hotel. On Saturday, the crew will have a reenactment of a scene at the bridge by Union Hall, followed by a public screening of the movie at 5.30pm at the West Cork Hotel. Afterwards, there will be a party with the cast, which will be open to the public.