Film Review
James Martin makes history
Kshitij Pipaleshwar
Short film, An Irish Goodbye, with protagonist and actor having down’s syndrome wins an academy award.
On 12th March 2023, James Martin made history by being the first person with Down’s syndrome to win an academy award. His team members and he won an academy award in the short film (live action) category for their film, ‘The Irish Goodbye’ which had already won BAFTA. Coincidentally, it was also his birthday and his fellow winners took to stage to sing him ‘Happy Birthday’ along with the star studded audience at the Dolby Theatre. ‘Irish Goodbye’ has been winning hearts, acclaim and awards since its release and winning an oscar was the cherry on top for the team who were riding high on the BAFTA win.
While its origins are sketchy at best, the phrase ‘Irish Goodbye’ has come to mean the act of exiting without saying goodbye. The film directed and written by Tom Berkeley and Ross White, is a tale of two brothers reunited by their mother’s demise. With a run time of less than 23 minutes, it manages to tell a heart moving story of family, grief and moving on.
A trip to the countryside
The film, shot in LondonDerry, Templepatrick and Saintfield, opens with countryside views – fenced hillocks, close up of some wool caught in barbed wire fence, flock of sheeps and a close up dead rabbit with a moving car in its background. The car has three passengers and it is here that the protagonists are introduced – Lorcan (James Martin), Turlough (Seamus O’Hara) and Father O’Shea (Paddy Jenkins). Upon sighting the dead rabbit, they stop the car and honk. The rabbit does not move and Father O’Shea proceeds carefully, avoiding running over the rabbit. The trio drive on.
This sets the slow paced mood for the rest of the film – beautiful landscapes, dry deadpan humour, shared silence and bonding due to proximity. The story unfolds as the characters share tea, dinner, petty fights punctured by humour often thanks to Father O’Shea’s ill timed reminiscing.
Turlough arranges for Lorcan to move in with their aunt on the opposite end of Ireland, an idea that Lorcan is thoroughly opposed to. Lorcan wants to stay on the farm and look after it. Turlough believes that Lorcan, with his downs syndrome, is the one who needs looking after and not the farm. Father O’Shea mentions that their mother had a bucket list of the things she wanted to do before the illness took her and the story evolves as the brothers tick off the items off the list while holding an urn of their mother’s ashes.
100 missions to complete
Lorcan agrees to be shipped off to his aunt, if the brothers complete all the 100 items on the list, to which a reluctant Turlough agrees as he does not want to move back to the farm and look after his brother. The brothers bond as they complete tasks like learning Tai Chi, dancing, being pushed down the slope in a wheelbarrow, reading and painting. Reality hits hard for Lorcan when he overhears his brother on a call trying to sell the property. Driven by anger, Lorcan breaks the urn with their mother’s ashes while executing the skydiving wish of hers. This ensues a petty fight between the brothers over their mother’s ashes, sealing Lorcan’s fate of moving to his aunt’s place. Father O’Shea mentions that he did not hand over the list, revealing that it was Lorcan’s attempt to bond with his brother. Brothers come together for the last task of lighting up fireworks and have a heart to heart sitting next to each other. Turlough agrees to consider moving back to look after the farm.
The movie is heavy with Irish directness and dry humour with Father O’Shea asking if she (the mother) is still warm ( her ashes) when he touches the urn. Use of colloquial language, greetings, and explicits makes the film endearing. The film is also a story of how everyone processes grief differently and masculinity. As Irish men, while neither are shedding copious tears and talking about their loss, Lorcan is still relatively open about expressing his sense of loss as he lays down still in the garden and channelling his grief as anger when he calls Jesus, a dickhead. Turlough, on the other hand, buries everything he feels under a stoic facade.
Humor and other thoughts
Father O’Shea for whom funerals, mourning, grief and counselling is a part of his everyday job, is shown to be sensitive but rather inappropriate with his observations and musings. His remarks serve as comic relief while carrying the story further. What starts as a comparison of their mother’s ashes as a tub of bisto quickly escalates to musings of sunday roast. As he sings a hymn, Turlough looks at father as if to rush him but father goes on oblivious to Turlough’s impatience.
While Turlough’s fear of moving back and having to look after his disabled brother run high in the film, Lorcan is hardly the stereotypical representation of a hapless disabled person. He is stubborn, independent, foul mouthed, sarcastic, short tempered, knows his way around the farm and really not afraid of voicing what he feels. He is also creative, smart, emotional, grieving and wants to build a better relationship with his brother. Filmmakers’ decision to not straitjacket him and make him a wholesome character, not defined by just his disability, is a major step forward in the disability representation in films. Lorcan and Turlough behave like any pair of siblings – calling each other’s name, engaging in petty squabbles, cracking farting jokes and complaining about the food’s taste. Lorcan is a fully fleshed individual, for whom , disability is just an aspect of his identity and not his whole identity.
The history of two brothers
As the plot twist of the list’s origins are revealed, we see Turlough’s stoic face drop and his admission that he misses their mother, showcases his willingness to be vulnerable. While the previous shots of the brothers partaking a beverage/food is shown indoors where they sit on the opposite ends of the table in a stuffy room with red drapes, visually cements their emotional distance from each other. In the climax, however, as they sit together outside, the atmosphere is that of relaxed silence and camaraderie instead of a frostiness. Their body language is casual as opposed to the stiffness they exhibited before.
With respect to casting, James Martin, who plays Lorcan, is 31 years old, a coffee connoisseur and football loving actor who is associated with Belfast-based Babosh theatre, which was set up for children with disabilities. He is also a Mencap ambassador and works at Starbucks. The coffee chain put up posters across their outlets in their support for his academy nomination. James’s father was told by the doctor on his birth that he might not even speak but now James is not just speaking but also entertaining and inspiring people across the globe. Starting his career with the drama, Ups and Downs, Martin went on to act in the ITV and Netflix drama, ‘Marcella’.
“A damn good film”
Ivan Martin, James’s father, expressed to the press that everyone involved in the film had “every right to be proud of themselves. It’s won an Oscar not because James has Down’s Syndrome – it’s a damn good film and they all acted their socks off in it. Deservedly it’s been recognised,”.
James Martin, told BBC that “It doesn’t matter if you have Down’s syndrome, as long as you’re doing what you do. I do what I can to be funny.” James added, “I’m the first person with Down’s Syndrome not just getting a Bafta but also getting an Oscar, especially in the time of my birthday – it’s just fantastic.”
As the coverage and excitement over academy awards wanes, we hope that An Irish Goodbye sets a precedent for a more wholesome portrayal of people with disabilities.