| My Left Foot | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Jim Sheridan |
| Screenplay by |
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| Based on | My Left Foot byChristy Brown |
| Produced by | Noel Pearson |
| Starring | |
| Cinematography | Jack Conroy |
| Edited by | J. Patrick Duffner |
| Music by | Elmer Bernstein |
Production companies |
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| Distributed by | Palace Pictures |
Release date |
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Running time | 103 minutes[2] |
| Countries | |
| Language | English |
| Budget | £600,000[4] |
| Box office | $14.7 million[5] |
My Left Foot: The Story of Christy Brown is a 1989biographicalcomedy-drama film directed byJim Sheridan (in his directorial debut) and adapted by Sheridan andShane Connaughton fromthe 1954 memoir byChristy Brown. Aco-production ofIreland and theUnited Kingdom, it starsDaniel Day-Lewis as Brown, an Irish man born withcerebral palsy, who could control only his left foot. Brown grew up in a poor working-class family and became a writer and artist.[6]Brenda Fricker,Ray McAnally,Hugh O'Conor,Fiona Shaw, andCyril Cusack are featured in supporting roles.
The film was theatrically released on 24 February 1989 to critical acclaim and commercial success, grossing $14.7 million on a £600,000 budget. Reviewers praised the film's screenplay, direction, message, and especially the performances of Day-Lewis and Fricker.[7][8] At the62nd Academy Awards, the film received five nominations, includingBest Picture, with Day-Lewis and Fricker winningBest Actor andBest Supporting Actress, respectively. In 2018, theBritish Film Institute ranked it as the53rd greatest British film of the 20th century.[9]
In 1932,Christy Brown is born into aDublin family of 15. Doctors discover he has severecerebral palsy. Christy is unable to walk or talk. He is loved and supported by his family, especially his mother.
One day, Christy's mother trips down the stairs while inlabour, and Christy is the only person home to see it. He alerts some neighbours to help. Christy's father never believed Christy would amount to anything, but becomes proud after witnessing him use his left foot, the only body part he can fully control, to write the word "mother" on the floor with a piece of chalk. Consequently, Christy seeks a hobby in painting. The neighbourhood youngsters include him in their activities, like street football, but when he paints a picture and gives it to a girl he likes, she returns it.
Later, his father loses his job and the family faces exceptionally difficult hardships, so Christy devises a plan to help his brothers steal coal to their mother's dismay. Christy's mother, who has been gradually gathering some savings in a tin in the fireplace, finally saves enough to buy him a wheelchair.
Christy is then introduced to Eileen Cole, who takes him to her school for cerebral palsy patients and persuades a friend of hers to hold an exhibition of his work. Christy falls in love with Cole, but when he learns during the dinner that she is engaged to be married, he considers suicide. His mother helps him build a private studio for himself, but soon afterward his father dies of a stroke, and during the wake Christy instigates a brawl. At this point, Christy starts writing his autobiography,My Left Foot. Cole returns and they resume their friendship.
Later, Christy attends a charity event where he meets his handler, a nurse named Mary Carr. She begins reading his autobiography. He asks Mary to go out with him and they then happily leave thefête together.
Day-Lewis became interested in the project when he read the opening scene, which features him, as Brown, using his left foot to place aphonograph record on a player and then placing a needle onto it so that it will play.[10] He said of the scene: "I knew it couldn't be done... and that intrigued me."[10] Many scenes were filmed through a mirror, as he could only manipulate his right foot to perform the actions seen in the film. He spent some time preparing for the film at Brown'salma mater inDublin. He later returned there for a visit, with hisAcademy Award.[11]
Day-Lewis is known for his extrememethod acting and insisted on staying in character during the production of the film, refusing to do anything that Brown could not do. This meant that members of the film crew had to move the actor around in awheelchair, lift him over obstacles, and even feed him.[12][13][14]
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My Left Foot received widespread critical acclaim. On thereview aggregator websiteRotten Tomatoes, 98% of 44 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 8.2/10. The website's consensus reads: "No doubt most will come toMy Left Foot for Daniel Day-Lewis's performance, but the movie's refusal to go downbeat will keep it in viewers' minds afterwards."[15]Metacritic, which uses aweighted average, assigned the film a score of 97 out of 100, based on 18 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".[16]
Roger Ebert gave the film four out of four stars, writing: "My Left Foot is a great film for many reasons, but the most important is that it gives us such a complete picture of this man's life. It is not an inspirational movie, although it inspires. It is not a sympathetic movie, although it inspires sympathy. It is the story of a stubborn, difficult, blessed, and gifted man who was dealt a bad hand, who played it brilliantly, and who left us some good books, some good paintings and the example of his courage. It must not have been easy."[17]
In 2015,The Hollywood Reporter polled hundreds of academy members, asking them to re-vote on past controversial decisions. Academy members indicated that, given a second chance, they would award the 1990Academy Award for Best Picture toMy Left Foot instead ofDriving Miss Daisy.[18]
