Butcher
Boy
Reviewed
by Leonard Heldreth, September, 1999
As any regular reader of this
column knows, I am a big fan of Irish director Neil Jordan. Although
he occasionally directs a film that doesn't quite make it, such as
last month's In Dreams, when he does get it right, the film is often
a small masterpiece like The Crying Game. The Butcher Boy is just
such a film, disturbing in its conception, striking in its presentation,
and unique in its vision. Cited by many critics as one of the top
films of 1998, this story of a boy growing up disastrously in an impossible
Irish childhood is a virtuoso performance for both director Jordan
and lead actor Eamonn Owens.
Set in the early sixties during the fears of thermonuclear
destruction brought on by the Cuban missile crisis, the film traces
the way young Francie Brady (Owens) moves from living in a dysfunctional
family to creating his own fantasy world. His father (Jordan regular
Stephen Rea) lives in a fog of alcohol and violence, striking his
family and then affirming how much he loves them. Francie's mother
(Aisling O'Sullivan) keeps sliding into nervous breakdowns and suicidal
fantasies until she is taken away to the "garage" where
one goes to be fixed after a breakdown; unfortunately, when she returns,
her delusions are not gone but have evolved into an obsessive baking
of cakes. Francie's only salvation is his friend Joe, but when Francie
is sent to reform school for trashing Mrs. Nugent's house, he loses
even Joe.
The film has been compared to A Clockwork Orange, and
there are certainly parallels: the story of a violent young man's
mis-adventures told from the viewpoint of his older self, episodes
with clerics during confinement, feigned reform, dark and sometimes
sacrilegious humor, and scenes of violence. It has also been compared
to the Australian Heavenly Creatures, especially in the age of the
protagonist, in the use of fantasy to illustrate the protagonist's
point of view, and in the violence. The Butcher Boy, in this reviewer's
opinion, is superior to Heavenly Creatures in its use of fantasy because
it draws Francie's delusions from the mythology of popular culture:
it includes scenes from The Fugitive Atomic Café, alien horror
films, comic books, and JFK's Cuban missile crisis speeches, a rich
weave all contributing to Francie's warped visions. Near the end,
for example, a quiet lake in Ireland erupts into a mushroom cloud,
and the boys wander a charred urban wasteland of pig carcasses dressed
in human clothes. Francie even sees visions of the Virgin Mary as
played by the controversial Sinead O'Connor.
Another unique aspect of the film is the way Jordan keeps
revealing humor in what should be horror. Francie chats with the local
ladies in the grocery store as they all predict the apocalypse, and
one affirms that it would be the best thing that could happen to the
town. At the end of the film, the entire town believes that the Virgin
will appear at 6:00 pm, and nearly everyone dresses up and gathers
in the town square to greet her. And it is the destruction of his
fantasy about his parents' honeymoon that pushes Francie past the
breaking point.
Jordan collaborated with novelist Patrick McCabe on adapting
his work to the screen, and anyone familiar with Jordan's other films
and writings can see why he was attracted to the story. The friendship
between the two boys, the stolen apples which open the film, the conflict
and love between the alcoholic musician father and son in the absence
of the mother, the impact of news and popular events upon the individual
life—all are echoed in Jordan's writings and his other films.
An ex-professional musician, Jordan also has compiled one of the most
interesting soundtracks for the film since Kubrick labored for hours
selecting the music for his films. When the opening strains of "Mack
the Knife" sound while the credits are imposed on huge enlargements
of comic book frames, the entire tone of the film is sketched before
the first live actor is seen.
Speaking of actors, Owens is remarkable in his first film
performance. Enthusiastic, exuberant and feisty even when he's just
been beaten, Owens makes Francie attractive whether he's deep in delusions
or striking back at a world that has hammered on him since he was
born. Rea is fine as Francie's father, as the adult Francie at the
end, and as Francie's narrating voice on the soundtrack. The supporting
parts and eccentric characters are all very nicely done. My only reservation
about the film is that, like A Clockwork Orange, one sometimes watches
it from the outside, like a case study, but given its disturbing content,
that reaction may be inevitable. If you want to see a challenging
film that pushes the envelope of the medium, try The Butcher Boy.
