In his films, Jon Bang Carlsen is consistently drawn to people in remote places. In “It’s Now or Never”, the rough west coast of Ireland forms the backdrop of a documentary comedy about love, or rather about the search for a woman in a fairly depopulated area. Jimmy, in his mid-50s and a bachelor for want of opportunity, turns to a local matchmaker who runs his business from a café. So much for the framework of the narrative in which Bang Carlsen transports us to a reality filled with the bachelors’ wishes and doubts, utterly improbably encounters, and innumerable playful moments. It’s soon clear that the reality that unfolds so seductively on the screen is constructed, organised to meet the demands of film: beautifully photographed faces, stone walls placed in the lush green hills like sculptures, changing camera positions, dispersed dialogue, the magic of Irish rain … and Jimmy, always Jimmy, who only wants a woman who’s a good milker.
Matthias Heeder