Beginning of Essay
The film, Into the West - script by Jim Sheridan, directed by Mike Newell, direction of photography by Tom Sigel, produced by John Cavendish and Tim Palmer, and starring Gabriel Byrne, Ellen Barkin, Ruaidtri Conroy and Ciaran Fitzgerald - contains several themes, ....

Middle of Essay
.... dominant theme is that of personal loss, and then prejudice & fantasy v. reality, respectively. Personal loss is something we all will deal with at some point, and probably several points, throughout our lives. Some may be “luckier” than others when it comes to the severity of such a loss, but the key to surviving it, is how we chose to deal with it. In losing his wife Mary, John Riley lost himself. He was obviously a great man in the time she was with him; “King of all Travellers”, the youngest one ever, seemingly high-spirited, respectable, and fearless as Grandfather points out. With the loss of his wife, and the rejection of settl ....