It's ☘ St Patrick's Day ☘, a day of celebration of all thing's emerald isle and in patricular a day to celebrate the patron saint who banished all the Mother Fucking Snakes out of Ireland. It's the perfect opportunity to check out one of the Irish cinema classics included on the 1001 list.
Neil Jordan's The Butcher Boy is an absolute manic exploration of childhood mental illness disguised as a coming of age tale and graced with an equal parts cheeky, charming and terrifying performance from Eammon Owens.
Francie Brady (Eammon Owens) recounts for us his troublesome 1960s childhood raised by an Alcoholic musician father (Stephen Rhea) and cupcake obsessed mentally ill mother (Aisling O'Sullivan) in a small town in Ireland. Francie takes it all in good humour with his best friend Joe Purcell (Alan Boyle) by his side, but things soon derail when he crosses paths with the mother of a bullied student - Mrs Nugent (Fiona Shaw). Along the way Francis also encounters Father Bubbles (Brendon Gleason) a priest who covers up Francie's abuse at the hands of a fellow father and has reoccurring visions of the Virgin Mary (Sinead O'Connor).
In the hands of a lesson director Francie would be the OTT villain of the piece, here Jordan ensures he remains firmly our protagonist, a continually engaging and always hilarious character despite his absolute abhorrent behaviour. And Francie really is a turd - he starts off as a Juvenile deliquent bully and it only gets worse from there.
The despicable nature of the character makes the performance from Eammon Owens all the more incredible, as despite his behaviour you still continue to be charmed and laugh along. The narration from Stephen Rea only further adds to the comedic nature with hilarious observations and laugh out loud one liners - and several moments where the narration interacts directly with the character leading us to question is this a recollection of events or the actual voice inside Francie's head as his descent into mental illness continues.
Jordan has the film effectively echo Francie's own manic energy, seemingly getting more and more unhinged as Franchie himself goes further off the rails. His escalating obsession with both his best friend and his hated Mrs Nugent is quite disturbing and the growing unease of his targeted victims with little intervention is reflecting of a failing system to provide treatment for violent mental illness.
The film is seeped in Catholicism although in a smirky, sardonic manner. Brendan Gleason as a priest who seems more concerned about Francie's custard cream addiction than his actual abuse at the hands of a colleague. The walls in every home are adorned with framed portraits of both the Virgin Mary and beloved Catholic US President John Fitzgerald Kennedy. Sinéad O'Connor is an inspired (and brilliant) choice as the Virgin Mary especially considering her history with the Catholic Church and a certain iconic moment on Saturday Night Live that saw her banned from the show for life. I'm a slack Easter and Christmas type Catholic - but we totally need calling out on our shit at times which Jordan does here in a humours manner.
Fiona Shaw as the perpetually stuck-up Mrs Nugent sets the template for her later turn as Mrs Dursley in the Harry Potter Franchise, but I find she does draw sympathy through her performance especially as Francie's obsessions take a darker turn. Look out for cameos from Ardal 'Father Dougal McGuire' O'Hanlon and Sean Hughes - who if you have never seen his brilliant early 90s meta sitcom 'Sean's Show' - then I highly recommend you check it out.
It's not at all for the faint at heart, or the easily offended - it's somehow the antithesis of Kenneth Branagh's Belfast yet just as quintessentialy Irish. The actual poster doesn't do the film justice - it's highlights the disturbing element without any indication of the dark humour contained within. Francie is a unique character voice you won't soon forget.
It's ☘ St Patrick's Day ☘, a day of celebration of all thing's emerald isle and in patricular a day to celebrate the patron saint who banished all the Mother Fucking Snakes out of Ireland. It's the perfect opportunity to check out one of the Irish cinema classics included on the 1001 list.
Neil Jordan's The Butcher Boy is an absolute manic exploration of childhood mental illness disguised as a coming of age tale and graced with an equal parts cheeky, charming and terrifying performance from Eammon Owens.
Francie Brady (Eammon Owens) recounts for us his troublesome 1960s childhood raised by an Alcoholic musician father (Stephen Rhea) and cupcake obsessed mentally ill mother (Aisling O'Sullivan) in a small town in Ireland. Francie takes it all in good humour with his best friend Joe Purcell (Alan Boyle) by his side, but things soon derail when he crosses paths with the mother of a bullied student - Mrs Nugent (Fiona Shaw). Along the way Francis also encounters Father Bubbles (Brendon Gleason) a priest who covers up Francie's abuse at the hands of a fellow father and has reoccurring visions of the Virgin Mary (Sinead O'Connor).
In the hands of a lesson director Francie would be the OTT villain of the piece, here Jordan ensures he remains firmly our protagonist, a continually engaging and always hilarious character despite his absolute abhorrent behaviour. And Francie really is a turd - he starts off as a Juvenile deliquent bully and it only gets worse from there.
The despicable nature of the character makes the performance from Eammon Owens all the more incredible, as despite his behaviour you still continue to be charmed and laugh along. The narration from Stephen Rea only further adds to the comedic nature with hilarious observations and laugh out loud one liners - and several moments where the narration interacts directly with the character leading us to question is this a recollection of events or the actual voice inside Francie's head as his descent into mental illness continues.
Jordan has the film effectively echo Francie's own manic energy, seemingly getting more and more unhinged as Franchie himself goes further off the rails. His escalating obsession with both his best friend and his hated Mrs Nugent is quite disturbing and the growing unease of his targeted victims with little intervention is reflecting of a failing system to provide treatment for violent mental illness.
The film is seeped in Catholicism although in a smirky, sardonic manner. Brendan Gleason as a priest who seems more concerned about Francie's custard cream addiction than his actual abuse at the hands of a colleague. The walls in every home are adorned with framed portraits of both the Virgin Mary and beloved Catholic US President John Fitzgerald Kennedy. Sinéad O'Connor is an inspired (and brilliant) choice as the Virgin Mary especially considering her history with the Catholic Church and a certain iconic moment on Saturday Night Live that saw her banned from the show for life. I'm a slack Easter and Christmas type Catholic - but we totally need calling out on our shit at times which Jordan does here in a humours manner.
Fiona Shaw as the perpetually stuck-up Mrs Nugent sets the template for her later turn as Mrs Dursley in the Harry Potter Franchise, but I find she does draw sympathy through her performance especially as Francie's obsessions take a darker turn. Look out for cameos from Ardal 'Father Dougal McGuire' O'Hanlon and Sean Hughes - who if you have never seen his brilliant early 90s meta sitcom 'Sean's Show' - then I highly recommend you check it out.
It's not at all for the faint at heart, or the easily offended - it's somehow the antithesis of Kenneth Branagh's Belfast yet just as quintessentialy Irish. The actual poster doesn't do the film justice - it's highlights the disturbing element without any indication of the dark humour contained within. Francie is a unique character voice you won't soon forget.
