My Left Foot: The Story of Christy Brown

1989 "A film about life, laughter, and the occasional miracle."
7.8| 1h43m| R| en
Details

No one expects much from Christy Brown, a boy with cerebral palsy born into a working-class Irish family. Though Christy is a spastic quadriplegic and essentially paralyzed, a miraculous event occurs when, at the age of 5, he demonstrates control of his left foot by using chalk to scrawl a word on the floor. With the help of his steely mother — and no shortage of grit and determination — Christy overcomes his infirmity to become a painter, poet and author.

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Also starring Kirsten Sheridan

Reviews

Matrixston Wow! Such a good movie.
Clarissa Mora The tone of this movie is interesting -- the stakes are both dramatic and high, but it's balanced with a lot of fun, tongue and cheek dialogue.
Keeley Coleman The thing I enjoyed most about the film is the fact that it doesn't shy away from being a super-sized-cliche;
Delight Yes, absolutely, there is fun to be had, as well as many, many things to go boom, all amid an atmospheric urban jungle.
wisneskilife Daniel Day-Lewis proves that he is the greatest actor of a generation. No other human could have fit the mold for this role. The story is incredible and you truly feel like you're experiencing a story instead of just watching it through a screen. Bravo.
ibrahimctit Dis movie is dah bomb. My heart has been thoroughly and properly wrenched. Go watch it.
Utanka Bhattacharya Sometimes one movie can show you so much of life.. Teaches you the brutality, the sweetness, the harshness, the beauty of life.Life is not fair, and for a cripple it's far more tough, a child whose 10 years of his childhood was just to hold the chalk by his only active left foot to write a letter 'A'.From a child suffering from Cerebral Pulsy to become a Man Christy Brown and earning his name through his painting by his only active left foot was never so easy.But not even one time he saw the world from outside, nor he liked to be sympathized. He grew amidst all the harshness of society , to be recognizable. To fail in Love, to Womanising, from anger and frustration to Success, the journey was never been easy.Yes the journey is predictable in the end but the way this movie showed Christy Brown, like a man with all the negative qualities to show his positive side, is commendable.Very few movie inspires me so much.The movie is not about fantasy, not about scifi, not about neo noir gangstar mafia ballad,nor about dream and illusion reality, its about LIFE, and LIFE throughout. Hugh O'Connor what an acting.. Tears rolled down my eyes when you tried so hard to write the word 'MOTHER'.I have never seen a scene so intense.Daniel Day Lewis, I am awestruck, amazed,how you totally forgot you are not Christy Brown.. Any adjective to describe your portrayal of character will be insult to your acting. I am grateful to see you in this character , Always been a fan of your method acting, from LINCOLN to GANGS OF NEW YORK, you are surprisingly good, but this movie surpassed all. You deserved an Oscar,you got it, so does Brenda Fricker for portrayal of a mother who did not loose her hope. I will be forever grateful to this movie.The way it filled my heart with happiness and pain simultaneously.
Jafar Iqbal 'My Left Foot' is the remarkable story of Christy Brown, born into a working-class Irish family with cerebral palsy. Growing up in a life full of poverty and extreme prejudice, Christy defied everyone's expectations. Using his left foot, the only part of his body he had proper control over, the young man learned to write and paint.I could spend this review talking about the film's excellent portrayal of working class Ireland, and the working class Irish family specifically. I could talk about how the film does a good job of showing how the attitudes towards Christy Brown changed as Ireland's own political landscape changed. I could probably also talk about the role of women in Christy's life, from his mother and sisters, to the loves in his life. All of these things are worthy of mention.However, when talking about 'My Left Foot', there is one thing that stands out above everything else; that being Daniel Day-Lewis. Day-Lewis had already proved his acting chops in the excellent 'My Beautiful Laundrette, but it was this movie that put him on the map globally. And rightly so: he is absolutely fantastic as Christy Brown.Acting is difficult at the best of times, when you're playing a fully-functioning human being. What Day-Lewis achieves, therefore, is even more admirable. It is an extremely effective and realistic portrayal of someone suffering from cerebral palsy, and the actor goes gung-ho with both the physicality expressiveness required for the role. It is a joy to watch.An honourable mention also needs to go to Hugh O'Conor, who plays the younger Brown. I can only assume that it is even harder for a child to go through the rigours that the role requires, but O'Conor is brilliant. What makes the character difficult to play is that, in trying to make it look real physically, the emotion required can be lost. Both actors avoid that problem with what seems like relative ease: at no point does the efficacy or emotion of the moments falter.All the other stuff mentioned above are worthy of talking about, if I intended to write a longer review. But for this small thing, I think it is more than enough to say that 'My Left Foot' deserves to be seen just for this landmark Daniel Day-Lewis performance. Whatever you may think of the film as a whole, or whether you care about the story of Christy Brown or not, it is secondary to the simple appreciation for an actor at the top of his game.