Christy Brown (1932-1981) was a famous Irish painter and writer born in a family of 22 children. The fact that he was one of the 13 survivors is pretty ironic considering the severe condition he was born with: cerebral palsy. Christy couldn't control his body as if he was in a perpetual battle between his muscles and his will, but destiny, in all mercifulness, left him one avenue to communicate: his left foot. Would you think it was thin consolation? For Christy, it was enough: he could grab objects, hit the doors and eventually write and paint, express his thoughts, and his torments, for cerebral palsy never affected his capacity to learn, to understand, even to surpass the others' intelligence and sensitivity. "My Left Foot" is the inspirational story of Christy Brown.
Christy's struggle starts within his own family where everyone is convinced that he would never be able to get an education, although he's loved and treated like a Brown, he's the cripple of the Family, not to say the retarded. One of the hardest to watch scenes of the film occurs when the father (Ray McAnnaly in his last performance) helps his boy to do his homework and has to find out what a quarter of 25% is. For him, it doesn't make sense since 25% is already a quarter but poor Christy Brown gets the answer and desperately tries to write 1/16 with a piece of chalk between his toes, nobody understands. The scene was frustrating and heartbreaking enough to create a totally opposite feeling when Christy writes M-O-T-H- E-R on the floor, the kids cheer, the father is proud and goes buy a drink, Mrs. Brown is overwhelmed, but not that surprised. Hugh O'Connor delivers a magnificent performance, which I'm sure if it was longer, would have earned him more awards.
But behind the obligatory cheers, there are more insightful and more thought-provoking lessons to be learned. Mr. Brown refused to put him in an institution, because it would be a disgrace. At that time, they probably didn't expect him to survive or maybe it would cost money but it's on the basis of this decision that the parents allowed Christy to grow up in a normal background, and not have his inspiration being suffocated by medical assistance. Had Christy been born in a rich family, he wouldn't have become this talented artist, and it's even clearer considering the life he had. Brown was treated equally to his brothers, he was toughened by the street, he played soccer, he drank at pubs, he hit and got hit, he was an Irishman in flesh and blood, and it shows all through the film. The genius of Daniel Day-Lewis' performance is to never let the feeling of a one-note personality but on the contrary, convey through his body language, his facial expressions and his burning eyes, a tormenting passion and a ferocious desire to live like everybody and to be loved, he can love but it's all about being loved.
The 'love' side is plainly occupied by the other powerful performance of the film, Brenda Fricker (who won the Oscar). She's not just the typical Irish mother, who was pregnant during 16 years (I admit, I counted), she incarnates the capability of a mother to understand her boy. Respect and love are important, but understanding someone is sometimes more valuable. She knows what he feels and even foresees the deceptions. In one movingly intelligent scene, she disapproves Christy's growing affection toward the beautiful doctor Eileen Cole (Fiona Shaw). Something isn't right in Christy's voice, too hopeful. Her motherly instinct doesn't fool her because the hope in Christy is quickly destroyed when Eileen reveals that she's going to be married. Daniel Day-Lewis is so powerful that you could literally see his heart being blown into pieces, and the way the situation becomes more and more out of control, reveals a dark, almost creepy, side in his personality, a dependence to alcohol and an almost childish incapability to accept his condition, his heart suffers much more than the body, but who could blame him?
The power of "My Left Foot" is to rather take an ordinary look of low-budgeted TV family drama rather than a grandiose Hollywood- type biopic, which fits the tone of the film. But it's definitely the three-dimensional, vibrating and passionate Oscar-winning performance of Daniel Day-Lewis that reminds you it's not a TV film. However, the movie is not without a few flaws that don't ruin the overall feeling though. At one scene, the father discovers that his wife was saving money for a wheelchair, we wait for his reaction but then it cuts abruptly to him playing with his kid, tickling him. The mother announces that their daughter is going to marry someone because she's pregnant. Mr. Brown's outburst of rage causes Christy to go into a sort of angry trance, trembling and drooling like a rabid dog, he's eager to kill his father. I thought Christy's reaction was disproportionate regarding an attitude than any father would have, much more in that time. It seemed to me that he was supposed to be a hateful character while he was not. The 'porridge' scene was also confusing because it tried to turn Mr. Brown into a real douche-bag while there were more scenes showing pride than animosity between him and Christy, and nothing to show a sort of complicity between Christy and his sister.
Apart from these little details, "My Left Foot" tells a great story, about a great character, it's not perfect, but what the heck: humanity is full of remarkable examples of persons whose talent and hard work allow them to overcame their handicap and to communicate with the rest of the world and if it was not for Jim Sheridan's adaptation of the biographic book "My Left Foot" and for Daniel Day-Lewis' extraordinary performance, many of us wouldn't have heard of Christy Brown.
Christy's struggle starts within his own family where everyone is convinced that he would never be able to get an education, although he's loved and treated like a Brown, he's the cripple of the Family, not to say the retarded. One of the hardest to watch scenes of the film occurs when the father (Ray McAnnaly in his last performance) helps his boy to do his homework and has to find out what a quarter of 25% is. For him, it doesn't make sense since 25% is already a quarter but poor Christy Brown gets the answer and desperately tries to write 1/16 with a piece of chalk between his toes, nobody understands. The scene was frustrating and heartbreaking enough to create a totally opposite feeling when Christy writes M-O-T-H- E-R on the floor, the kids cheer, the father is proud and goes buy a drink, Mrs. Brown is overwhelmed, but not that surprised. Hugh O'Connor delivers a magnificent performance, which I'm sure if it was longer, would have earned him more awards.
But behind the obligatory cheers, there are more insightful and more thought-provoking lessons to be learned. Mr. Brown refused to put him in an institution, because it would be a disgrace. At that time, they probably didn't expect him to survive or maybe it would cost money but it's on the basis of this decision that the parents allowed Christy to grow up in a normal background, and not have his inspiration being suffocated by medical assistance. Had Christy been born in a rich family, he wouldn't have become this talented artist, and it's even clearer considering the life he had. Brown was treated equally to his brothers, he was toughened by the street, he played soccer, he drank at pubs, he hit and got hit, he was an Irishman in flesh and blood, and it shows all through the film. The genius of Daniel Day-Lewis' performance is to never let the feeling of a one-note personality but on the contrary, convey through his body language, his facial expressions and his burning eyes, a tormenting passion and a ferocious desire to live like everybody and to be loved, he can love but it's all about being loved.
The 'love' side is plainly occupied by the other powerful performance of the film, Brenda Fricker (who won the Oscar). She's not just the typical Irish mother, who was pregnant during 16 years (I admit, I counted), she incarnates the capability of a mother to understand her boy. Respect and love are important, but understanding someone is sometimes more valuable. She knows what he feels and even foresees the deceptions. In one movingly intelligent scene, she disapproves Christy's growing affection toward the beautiful doctor Eileen Cole (Fiona Shaw). Something isn't right in Christy's voice, too hopeful. Her motherly instinct doesn't fool her because the hope in Christy is quickly destroyed when Eileen reveals that she's going to be married. Daniel Day-Lewis is so powerful that you could literally see his heart being blown into pieces, and the way the situation becomes more and more out of control, reveals a dark, almost creepy, side in his personality, a dependence to alcohol and an almost childish incapability to accept his condition, his heart suffers much more than the body, but who could blame him?
The power of "My Left Foot" is to rather take an ordinary look of low-budgeted TV family drama rather than a grandiose Hollywood- type biopic, which fits the tone of the film. But it's definitely the three-dimensional, vibrating and passionate Oscar-winning performance of Daniel Day-Lewis that reminds you it's not a TV film. However, the movie is not without a few flaws that don't ruin the overall feeling though. At one scene, the father discovers that his wife was saving money for a wheelchair, we wait for his reaction but then it cuts abruptly to him playing with his kid, tickling him. The mother announces that their daughter is going to marry someone because she's pregnant. Mr. Brown's outburst of rage causes Christy to go into a sort of angry trance, trembling and drooling like a rabid dog, he's eager to kill his father. I thought Christy's reaction was disproportionate regarding an attitude than any father would have, much more in that time. It seemed to me that he was supposed to be a hateful character while he was not. The 'porridge' scene was also confusing because it tried to turn Mr. Brown into a real douche-bag while there were more scenes showing pride than animosity between him and Christy, and nothing to show a sort of complicity between Christy and his sister.
Apart from these little details, "My Left Foot" tells a great story, about a great character, it's not perfect, but what the heck: humanity is full of remarkable examples of persons whose talent and hard work allow them to overcame their handicap and to communicate with the rest of the world and if it was not for Jim Sheridan's adaptation of the biographic book "My Left Foot" and for Daniel Day-Lewis' extraordinary performance, many of us wouldn't have heard of Christy Brown.