D: Jim Sheridan
Palace/Fernadale/Granada (Noel Pearson)
UK/Ireland 1989
103 mins
Drama/Biopic
W: Jim Sheridan & Shane
Connaughton [based on the book by Christy Brown]
DP: Jack Conroy
Ed: J. Patrick Duffner
Mus: Elmer Bernstein
Daniel Day-Lewis (Christy
Brown), Ray McAnally (Mr. Brown), Brenda Fricker (Mrs. Brown), Ruth McCabe (Mary Carr), Fiona Shaw (Dr. Eileen Cole), Eanna MacLiam (Old Benny), Alison
Whelan (Old Sheila), Declan Croghan (Old Tom)
Daniel Day-Lewis gives one of the greatest ever screen
performances in this true story of Christy Brown, an Irish-born man who has suffered his whole life with severe cerebral palsy yet overcomes the odds to learn to paint and write with his
only controllable limb- his left foot.
It's an amazingly acted piece of work, with brilliant
performances not only from its lead actor, but also from Brenda Fricker as Christy's sympathetic mother and Ray McAnally as his abusive father.
An intelligent, heart-tugging and thoroughly
entertaining biographical picture.
8/10