My Left Foot

2 Pages 454 Words

Movie Critique
“My Left Foot”



Irish writer/artist Christy Brown, as portrayed in the new film "My Left Foot," had a rather volatile personality, along with a dry wit. He probably wanted more than anything else to simply be accepted for who he was, but his frustrations at the limitations life placed on him were not well hidden.
Christy Brown was a cerebral palsy victim with his left foot the only appendage over which he had complete control. With that foot he learned to paint, write, type and essentially communicate, though he eventually learned to speak clearly enough so that people could understand him. The film follows Christy's life from his birth into a poor, bricklayer's family in Dublin through a unintentional meeting with a young nurse when he was about 40.
The early part of the film shows Christy as a young boy, right after his birth, Christy is so difficult to raise that others encourage the family to put him in some kind of home, but his loving mother and even his tough-minded, chauvinist father insist that he stay with the family.
At first, as is often the case with handicapped children, Christy is perceived as brain-damaged. But, of course, he is really simply unable to communicate his thoughts and feelings.
Eventually, he learns to write with his left foot and crudely composes the word "mother" with chalk on the floor. It is a very emotional scene, well was fro me anyway. Christy grows up, falls in love and is rebuffed, more than once, and sinks into alcoholism as he vents his frustrations in paintings that are at once evocative and painful, full of dark secrets. Through his art and later through his published autobiography, Christy gains prominence — but not necessarily acceptance. And he feels that pain, despite his frequently displaying a wicked sense of humor.
In fact, some of his pain is so vivid that a couple of scenes here are hard to take, as when he must conf...