My Left Foot [Blu-ray]

Director: Jim Sheridan Jim Sheridan

Overview

An alternative to the general run of "triumph over the odds" biopics, My Left Foot is the true story of Irish cerebral palsy victim Christy Brown. Paralyzed from birth, Brown (played by Hugh O'Conor as child and Daniel Day-Lewis as an adult) is written off as retarded and helpless. But Christy's indomitable mother (Brenda Fricker) never gives up on the boy. Using his left foot, the only part of his body not afflicted, Brown learns to write. He grows up to become a well-known author, painter, and fundraiser, and along the way falls in love with nurse Mary Carr (Ruth McCabe). There's no sugarcoating in My Left Foot: Brown, a heavy drinker, was by no means lovable. Day-Lewis and Fricker both won Academy Awards for their performances, and the film was nominated for Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Adapted Screenplay. Also notable are the late Ray McAnally in his next-to-last film role as Christy's father, and venerable Cyril Cusack as Lord Castlewelland. Director Jim Sheridan co-scripted with Shane Connaughton from Christy Brown's autobiography.

Product Details

Release Date:	07/27/2021
UPC:	0191329202692
Original Release:	1989
Source:	Miramax
Language:	English
Time:	1:43:00
Sales rank:	16,023

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Daniel Day-Lewis	Christy Brown
Brenda Fricker	Mrs. Brown
Ray McAnally	Mr. Brown
Ruth McCabe	Mary
Fiona Shaw	Dr. Eileen Cole
Eanna MacLiam	Old Benny
Alison Whelan	Old Sheila
Declan Croghan	Old Tom
Hugh O'Conor	Young Christy,Young Brian
Cyril Cusack	Lord Castlewelland
Owen Sharp	Young Tom
Darren McHugh	Young Benny
Sarah Cronin	Girl Friend,Girl Friend
Marie Conmee	Sadie
Adrian Dunbar	Peter
Kirsten Sheridan	Young Sharon
Jacinta Whyte	Jenny
Julie Hale	Rachel
Tom Hickey	Priest
Ulick O'Connor	Critic
Lucy Vigne Welsh	Petra
Daniel Reardon	Tony
Phelim Drew	Brian
Patrick Laffan	Barman,Barman
Derry Power	Customer in Bar
Eileen Colgan	Nan
Jean Doyle	Woman with Pram
Britta Smith	Nurse
Conor Lambert	Punch and Judy Puppeteer
Martin Dunne	Waiter
Simon Kelly	Liam
Eileen Kohlmann	Violinist
Margaret Lyons	Pianist
Patricia Higgins	Violist
Hilery O'Donovan	Cellist
Don King	Double Bassist
Charlie Roberts	Mourner #1
Ger O'Leary	Mourner #2
Milt Fleming	Mourner #3
Jenny Byrne	Actor
Linda Walker	Actor
Albert Kavanagh	Actor
Joe Swan	Actor
Rita Lowe	Actor
Gerard Hourigan	Actor
Dawn Kursinczy	Actor
Elmer Bernstein	Composer

Technical Credits

Jim Sheridan

Shane Connaughton

Christy Brown

Jim Sheridan	Director,Screenwriter
Peter Brayham	Stunts
Paul Heller	Executive Producer,Producer,Producer
Steve Morrison	Executive Producer
Noel Pearson	Producer
Shane Connaughton	Screenwriter
Christy Brown	Screenwriter
Arthur Lappin	Producer
Brendan Campbell	Sound Effects
Paul Delaney	Sound Effects
Kieran Horgan	Sound Effects

Editorial Reviews

Throughout his film career, actor Daniel Day-Lewis has consistently -- and seemingly effortlessly -- tapped into the machismo and swagger of the many characters he's chosen to portray -- from the rugged settler of Last of the Mohicans to a former IRA soldier in The Boxer to the irrepressible rake of The Unbearable Lightness of Being. All of which makes his Oscar-winning performance in My Left Foot so worthy of recognition. Playing the real-life Christy Brown -- the renowned Irish author and painter who suffered from cerebral palsy -- Day-Lewis was called upon to recreate Brown's unsettling infirmities and unusual gifts, none of which were particularly pretty to look at. Grunting his words through a contorted mask of tics and winces, Day-Lewis learned to use, as Brown did, the only unafflicted part of his body -- a foot -- for his daily functions. Still, to many critics, the actor's greatest achievement was his ability to make the audience care about Brown without compromising the character's more unattractive qualities, namely a volatile temperament and drunken belligerence. While the plot of the film turns on Brown's many relationships -- notably with his unassailable mother (Brenda Fricker, who also won an Academy Award for her performance) and his nurse, with whom he falls in love -- My Left Foot is at its most effective when simply celebrating a man's startling triumph over insurmountable odds.

Barnes & Noble - Bruce Kluger

Film and TV productions about the severely ill frequently dwell only on a character's Jekyll, not his Hyde. The idea is to give viewers a feel-good character to root for or cry about, someone who overcomes impossible odds to live a triumphant life or who dies gently without the burning and raging advised by Dylan Thomas. This 1989 production presents the whole of its central character, Christy Brown, a victim of cerebral palsy who has one functioning appendage, his left foot. Not only does the film show viewers a courageous, persevering Christy who contorts himself into a pretzel just to write with his toes, but it also shows them an angry, wrathful Christy who resorts to screaming, kicking, and the foulest of four-letter words to vent his spleen. Daniel Day-Lewis won a Best Actor Academy Award for his moving portrayal of the adult Brown, but young Hugh O'Conor was also impressive in his portrayal of Brown as one of 13 children of a Dublin bricklayer. Unforgettable is a scene in which young Christy huddles in the shadows of his shoddy home, a wretched lump of flesh that his family thinks cannot function physically or mentally. And then, without warning, he shocks everyone by using a piece of chalk and the toes of his left foot to scrawl a word on the floor. Brenda Fricker won a Best Supporting Actress Oscar as Christy's mom, a woman of fierce resolve who helps him liberate his brilliant mind from its prison of darkness. As Christy's father, Ray McAnally ably portrays a weak man who musters enough courage to keep his son at home rather than institutionalize him. The real-life Christy Brown went on to become a famous author and painter -- and an alcoholic -- and this outstanding film gives you all of him, for better or worse.

All Movie Guide - Mike Cummings