In 1984, with two soundtracks to his credit, Mark Knopfler continued penning music for the movies with his moody Celtic score for Cal. Director Pat OConnors politically-oriented film, based on the novel by Bernard Mac Laverty, stars Helen Mirren and John Lynch as star-crossed lovers in 1980s Ireland. Roger Ebert said that OConnor delivers a story that has been told many times before, but tells it quietly and powerfully.

Myles Palmer, in his unauthorized biography of Mark Knopfler, says of the films music: the guitars and keyboards suggest mutual regret, longing, possibilities. As he used Scottish folk songs and themes to paint the backdrop of his first soundtrack, Local Hero, Knopfler beautifully uses Irish influences to set the scenes of this heartbreaking story. He recruited his friends, Irish musicians Paul Brady (whistle and mandolin) and Liam OFlynn (Uilleann pipes), to help with the recording of the tracks.

Despite the fact that OConnor was nominated for the Palm dOr at the Cannes Film Festival in 1984, and that Helen Mirren was nominated and won several major awards for her work, the film was not a commercial success. When asked by reporter Simon Garfield of Time Out Magazine in 1988 if anyone would go out and see a film simply because it had a Mark Knopfler score, Knopfler replied, I should hope not. I dont think so. I dont think it helped Cal. Cal was a really good film but it didnt do that well.

The 12-track score, which clocks in at a scant 35 minutes, was released on CD by Mercury/Universal (B000001F95) and can still be purchased via Amazon.com. Five of the tracks (Irish Boy, Irish Love, Father & Son, Potato Picking and The Long Road) can be found on Knopflers best of soundtrack CD entitled Screenplaying. The Warner Bros. CD (B000002MNR) is still available through major retailers.