Patrick's Day

I didn't know what to expect from this small Irish film, but I was blown away by its script and acting. Patrick's Day was extremely well- received by the audience at its world premiere at Austin's SXSW Film Festival. This setup that the story is about a mentally ill man's quest to find love turns out to be much more complex as the role that his mother plays in his life becomes clear. The film explores issues such as the meaning of intimacy, memory, sanity and love. Writer/Director Terry McMahon has done an excellent job of exploring these issues and Moe Dunford does a beautiful job in the lead role. This is the type of gem that one can often find at a festival like SXSW, but which often have a difficult time getting wider distribution. I hope this small film gets wider distribution, because more people really need to think about the complicated issues that it raises.

Stunning work. The writing, direction, cinematography and acting are all remarkable. David Fincher talks of the difference between movies and films however the best of both blur the lines of each, and Patrick's Day does just that. From the very opening Patrick and his world are seen caged as we view them from the inside a shopping trolley Patrick pulls and pushes. Immediately it is obvious there is more than narrative at work. His world may be behind bars, but so are we. Static locked inside the trolley. We are pushed and pulled by him and his world, by him and his day, and by Terry McMahon's film. And if you have drowned so deep in Patricks Day and the madness of love by the ending that you have forgotten your part in it all...even then you will still find what you need. It's as open as Moe Dunford's performance. Moe who won many accolades for his Patrick is central to the creation of Terry McMahon's hyper-real dream. He is sublime.

As a piece of Irish Film, in keeping with the best of Irish Films, it could be set nowhere else and yet it's setting is irrelevant. It is a universal story being told where it needs to be. The passionate commentary and probing of a culture and society makes it immediately universal. There is not a single motif of the worst of Irish movies to be seen or thankfully heard. It stands to all critique, and unusually for a lot of Irish film it warrants and stands to a political, social and film reading. There are no post-modern laughs from a comedic social underclass. There is no easy trite targeting of the 'okayed' cultural targets. It's original. It's fresh. The writing and narrative are so strong that the 'movie' happens while the 'film' happens...seamlessly as one.

Is it masterpiece? No. Because after watching Terry McMahon's debut, zero-budget, punk, polemic, political critique 'Charlie Cassanova', and now watching this stunningly accessible yet multi-layered love story, which he created for next to nothing...you can only be excited by how good he could be with time and money. Perhaps this would be a masterpiece for some...but I hope the McMahon masterpiece is yet to come and I get to see it. But if all you ever did as a film maker was half of what these two films do...that'd be a victory.

Love is madness. Dive in.

I couldn't wait to see this in the run up to it's release, and I certainly wasn't disappointed. Patrick's Day is a very moving piece of work, an assault on the emotions, and has a fantastic central performance from Moe Dunford. There is excellent support from the rest of the cast, and especially Kerry Fox, brilliant as the manipulative mother who has convinced herself that everything she does is for Patrick's sake. Nicely shot too, with several compositions that seemed to evoke Patrick's state of mind at the time. It is an extremely compelling film, and difficult to come away from. There are different kinds of love, and this film shows us how far people will go to give it, receive it, and to feel it. In all it's forms. Love is madness. Great film.

Patrick's Day is a tribute to the much misunderstood and beautifully brilliant world of mental illness. Those affected, are disabled by society and not by their condition. The film will open the door to much needed change in social attitudes. It is too real and raw to even begin to describe the flawless acting, let alone the magnificent script writing and I was not surprised to learn of its worldwide success. From the opening scene of this film I was entranced. The camera work from beginning to end, is superb; but especially the initial tracking shot which creates intimacy with Patrick from the first second. The film, like its predecessor Charlie Casanova, took me straight out of my comfort zone; this may be disconcerting for some, but we need this perspective and true insight. Patrick's Day is a love story in its most raw form. The film is a must see for anyone struggling to understand the dynamics of love and vital importance of intimacy. When the two lovers meet, they each need, trust and almost demand that intimacy. This is how it could always be, if people weren't caught up in social 'norms' and expectations. It is obvious that Patrick's innocence, beautiful mind and body are the perfect sanctuary for a very obviously traumatised Karen. It all makes magnificent sense.

For intimacy we need trust, and in trust we need truth. So frightening, rare and beautiful, that truth is often found in those we choose to call 'disturbed', or 'mentally ill'. Karen and Patrick find solace in each other. It is their unique bond that holds the story together, while every other character seems to fall apart. The film masterfully contrasts the simplicity of a loving connection with a complex dysfunctional environment. It brings the viewer feelings of unsure empathy for the abusers. This is rare and true art.

No one should watch this film needing to understand it, or over-analyse it; far better to just feel every second of it and allow it to resonate. We are all oppressed in one way or another, sadly tending to accept the unacceptable. This film, in a myriad of ways shows how fundamentally wrong that acceptance is. To coin an apt phrase, in so many senses, 'the lunatics are running the asylum'...

A truly beautiful film.

I'd been wanting to see Patrick's Day from the moment I read about it. I have vivid memories of how affected I'd been by Terry McMahon's previous film, Charlie Casanova. I've followed the progress of Patrick's Day on social media, and was frustrated at the time it took to be shown in England. Thanks to the Tricycle for supporting its first London screening, I had the privilege to see Patricks Day in my home town last weekend. What an extraordinary film it is! One measure of a film for me is how many times during the screening that I 'leave' the film and think for myself. I was captured from the first frame as Patrick, in his own world, wheels a supermarket trolley around the store. From that moment I was completely drawn into Patrick's (Moe Dunford) world. Moe was utterly compelling as Patrick, as was Kerry Fox, who played his mother. Terry always takes on challenging subjects, and a film about a schizophrenic is as challenging as it comes. I came away from the cinema quite shaken, and moved by my experience. I'm not a film critic, but I know what I like. I'm also not a cinematographer, but I know sublime visual storytelling when I see it, and I know sublime visual moments when they are offered, like a gift. If you want to be challenged, and asked questions; if you want to be drawn into both anger and sadness, and then dumped back into a seat in a cinema, alone but surrounded by people who have just undergone the same emotional ride as you, then see this film! Haters will always hate, but if you have a gramme of decency and compassion you will be moved to a new understanding by Patrick's Day. If you don't then I recommend Jeremy Kyle.