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In this week’s Acteurist Oeuvre-view, we’re still in the early stages of Daniel Day-Lewis’s career, and once again the utterly obscure (Pat O’Connor’s quirky comedy Stars and Bars (1988)) is paired with a much better-known film (Jim Sheridan’s My Left Foot (1989), based on the life of disabled writer and painter Christy Brown). We discuss Stars and Bars‘ attempt to achieve a tone like Scorsese’s After Hours, and why it wouldn’t be the same if Hugh Grant were playing Day-Lewis’s part. Then we move on to discussing what makes Christy Brown a perfect role for Day-Lewis and what emotional qualities make the performance great. We conclude that My Left Foot is sort of like Lynch’s The Elephant Man with a demonic rather than saintly central figure.
Time Codes:
0h 01m 00s: Stars and Bars (1988) [dir. Pat O’Connor]
0h 22m 35s: My Left Foot (1989) [dir. Jim Sheridan]
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* Marvel at our meticulously ridiculous Complete Viewing Schedule for the 2020s
* Intro Song: “Sunday” by Jean Goldkette Orchestra with the Keller Sisters (courtesy of The Internet Archive)
* Read Elise’s latest film piece on Preston Sturges, Unfaithfully Yours, and the Narrative role of comedic scapegoating.
* Check out Dave’s new Robert Benchley blog – an attempt to annotate and reflect upon as many of the master humorist’s 2000+ pieces as he can locate – Benchley Data: A Wayward Annotation Project!
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