Patricks Day

Looper007

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RXEFbgVRoGg

A very strong Irish film about A young man with mental health issues becomes intimate with a suicidal air hostess, but his obsessive mother enlists a dysfunctional cop to separate them. First of Moe Dunford as Patrick gives a truly amazing performance and is the main reason to check this out

The last third of this film with him been put through Electric shock treatment is some of the toughest stuff and Dunford pulls it off with amazing tenderness and heartbreak

. I expect big things from Dunford. Kerry Fox (from Shallow Grave fame) is great as Patricks mum, who you either love or hate. Catherine Walker as air hostess Patrick falls in love with, is very good but

she disappears half way through the film and isn't seen until the end, I think they could have used her character a lot more

.

Amazing improvement over Director/Writer Terry McMahon's last effort Charlie Casanova, but its a film all about its performances.

e_e

Aye this was a real pleasant surprise for me. Loved what a full sensory experience it was with it being very moving and compassionate too. Packs a real wallop.

AnonoBoy

Gonna struggle with bringing myself to watch it after the horrendous Charlie Casanova. But I'll probably check it out on VOD eventually.

The director is very off-putting in interviews.

JP Liz V1

I expect big things from Moe in the future

Looper007

great to hear some actually seen it I thought I was the only one :pac:
It's a tough watch but a film as e_e said is full of compassion. The last third especially that scene when Patrick was

trying to get rid of the memories of the woman he was in love with, with the intercutting of him been electric shocked (the sound was ear piercing in those scenes) and scenes with the night he spent with the air hostess.

were pretty harrowing.


http://www.rte.ie/ten/news/2015/0210/679154-moe-dunford-patricks-day/

Moe Dunford won an award at the Berlin Film Festival and Nathalie Portman presented him the award, so not a bad days work.

Looper007

AnonoBoy wrote: »

Gonna struggle with bringing myself to watch it after the horrendous Charlie Casanova. But I'll probably check it out on VOD eventually.

The director is very off-putting in interviews.

It's a major step up from Casanova I have to say. I admire his effort with Casanova cause of the budget and stuff but it really needed a lot of work.

Patricks Day is actually well written and brilliantly acted from all round the board. It should get rid of the bad press he got for Casanova.

I think the way he came across during the press for Casanova did him no good or his film but he's not the only director with a ego, he can back it up a little with Patricks Day. He even admits he's a bit of an asshole.

johnny_ultimate

And the award for most improved director goes to...

The film has gotten a lot of attention for its performances, but Dunford aside I didn't find them particularly extraordinary (Fox's ice queen efforts felt a bit artificial to me). But the film itself is an exponential improvement on Charlie Casanova (I admired the intentions behind it, but honestly thought the film itself insufferable), to the point where it's borderline incredible they're the work of the same person.

Cinematically McMahon has matured dramatically in the gap between his abrasive debut and this sophomore feature. From the off the film is visually robust and articulate, full of subtle but deeply motivated camera decisions that communicate what needs to be said beautifully without resorting to dialogue. This leads to some truly beautiful and breathtaking moments, obviously all building towards an excellent and remarkably edited final act that captures the confusion and anguish of its protagonist through uneasy camera movements, constantly shifting focus and stark contrasts in terms of colour

(the 'sky shot' segue into the final scene is so vividly, startlingly blue after the muted colour palette that preceded it)

I'm not a Damien Dempsey fan, but his music is smartly used here, and while music dominates key scenes for sure McMahon also opts to have several others play out without a soundtrack - and the contrast works wonders. And the performances benefit tremendously from a heavy focus on medium and close-up shots, that carefully enhance the intimate yet raw mood maintained throughout the film.

It's not a total success - the policeman character and subplot in particular failed to coalesce IMO, and as said there was something about Fox's efforts that felt off to me (although there are some memorable and powerful character moments towards the end). The handful of brief (but angry) attempts at placing the film in the context of a modern Ireland also felt fairly surplus to requirements, or perhaps simply executed a little haphazardly (since certainly there are wider political and social contexts to consider with Patrick's journey). But emotionally and cinematically this is dozens of times the film Charlie Casanova was, a work of genuine power and force that tackles challenging subject matter with grace, intelligence and empathy. There's nothing like a nice surprise, and frankly with Patrick's Day Terry McMahon genuinely surprised me.