Dir. Bruce Beresford, 2002, Ireland/US/UK/Germany/Netherlands, 94 mins
Cast:
Pierce Brosnan, Sophie Vavasseur, Julianna Margulies, Aidan Quinn, Stephen Rea, Alan Bates, Niall Beagan
This is the heart-warming real life story, told with frank simplicity, of a family torn apart by prejudice, tradition and fear - all in the name of religion. Family man Desmond Doyle's (Brosnan) life is changed forever when his unhappy wife abandons him and their children one Christmas. He's unemployed and as such is ruled to be an unfit father to the three children Evelyn, Noel and Brendan. In their infinite wisdom the combined efforts of the Catholic Church and the Irish courts decree that the children be placed into strict Church-run orphanages, that is until Desmond's financial circumstances change for the better. The ensuing struggle to get the children returned to their home is told out with a great of humanity and not just a little pathos, at turns told by Desmond and young Evelyn, from whose autobiographical novel the film is taken. The book itself is anything but sentimental and painstakingly yet lovingly recalls the struggle by her father to reclaim his children - the film, although making a few key artistic licences (the amount of children for one) follows these principles perfectly.
The denouement of course gives us the requisite happy ending. With Desmond finding work and an understanding woman to fill the wife and mother roles he needs he goes up against the Supreme court, winning the case and rightfully reclaiming his children. In doing so he changes the course of Irish legal history.
The film is a well-rounded piece of filmmaking, with director Bruce Beresford (Driving Miss Daisy) extracting solid performances all round. Pierce Brosnan is well cast as the charming yet ordinary Irish bloke; a working class, all singing all drinking, desperate, devastated and committed father. Julianna Margulies plays the role of barmaid and surrogate mother as if she were born to it - perhaps her stint as Nurse Hathaway in ER helped her prepare for this! Stephen Rea, Aidan Quinn and the ever dependable Alan Bates as the legal team provide sterling support to the cause but it is perhaps the title role of Evelyn that we should revel in as the impressively convincing Sophie Vavasseur steals the show.
The film's take on the Irish legal system is enlightening and the portrayal of life in the convents distressing, with the girls stripped of any dignity by the strict and fearsome nuns. However the real story here is of family and one man's fight to keep it together with the films final courtroom scenes particularly gripping.
If you're looking for a film that depicts Irish life in the 1950s with a rather understated humour and lots of joie de vivre thrown in go and see this film - your Irish eyes might just be smiling too.
Nick Huntress
|
