Cinema
My Left Foot
Jim Sheridan · 1989
Synopsis
In Dublin, Christy Brown is born in 1932 into a large working-class family, with cerebral palsy that prevents him from walking and speaking. Only his left foot obeys him. Supported by a mother who refuses to give him up for lost, he learns to write with chalk, then to paint, and through stubbornness and fits of anger becomes an artist and a writer who sets out to tell the story of his own life.
Context
Written by Jim Sheridan and Shane Connaughton from Christy Brown's autobiography published in 1954, and produced by Noel Pearson with Granada and Irish public television, the film brings together Daniel Day-Lewis, Brenda Fricker, Ray McAnally, Fiona Shaw and Cyril Cusack. Made for some six hundred thousand pounds, it took nearly fifteen million dollars. It was released in France on 4 April 1990 under its original title.
Who it is for
For Daniel Day-Lewis's Oscar-winning performance and an unsentimental portrait of a working-class Dublin family.
Prizes and reception
Five Oscar nominations: Daniel Day-Lewis won best actor and Brenda Fricker best supporting actress.