Patrick's Day

Terry McMahon's PATRICK'S DAY is a profoundly moving masterpiece, and a wake up call to Irish filmmakers to quit with the self-mocking crime caper film which never takes itself seriously and to make meaningful films that stick in our heads long after the credits roll.

It takes balls to make a bold film like this.

It probably wasn't since after Gaspar Noe's 2002 film IRREVERSIBLE that I staggered out into the Dublin daylight, trembling with emotion, numb…my mind racing with possibilities in the car on the drive home, trying to recollect the immensity of what I had just witnessed.

All of the craft elements coalesce perfectly – photography, editing, music, direction, script, performance, everything else – and a piece of true cinema magic is born.

The film is a sledgehammer to the jaw – a raw and honest film from a writer/director who is the real deal, and who is going to play a huge role in shaping Irish cinema moving forward. It's one of the most powerful films I've ever seen -- I was moved to tears many times.

I would personally rank this with the best of Irish cinema, up there with greats such as IN THE NAME OF THE FATHER.

A modern classic. A must see.

Go out and buy it and support hardworking Irish filmmakers who need our support.

I saw this film at the Galway Film Fleadh. I found it deeply moving and in a creative way, disturbing. I was pondering it and reliving it for several days afterward, and in fact have never forgotten its impact, which continues to evolve as the weeks go on. It is beautifully acted, directed and edited; all that skill contributes to a kind of magic, the film's ability to dive directly and compellingly into the emotions of the situation from the point of view of each character. The plot summary will never do it justice, as the film itself calls into question almost every easy name for anything. From my own point of view it is a film of love and heroism. But that's just how I see it myself. I have had strenuous arguments with other viewers defending their points of view, which are equally well supported. It's a film that stimulates strong emotion, not least because it avoids preaching about anything. The result is a very meaningful, heart-opening experience.

Stunning work. The writing, direction, cinematography and acting are all remarkable. David Fincher talks of the difference between movies and films however the best of both blur the lines of each, and Patrick's Day does just that. From the very opening Patrick and his world are seen caged as we view them from the inside a shopping trolley Patrick pulls and pushes. Immediately it is obvious there is more than narrative at work. His world may be behind bars, but so are we. Static locked inside the trolley. We are pushed and pulled by him and his world, by him and his day, and by Terry McMahon's film. And if you have drowned so deep in Patricks Day and the madness of love by the ending that you have forgotten your part in it all...even then you will still find what you need. It's as open as Moe Dunford's performance. Moe who won many accolades for his Patrick is central to the creation of Terry McMahon's hyper-real dream. He is sublime.

As a piece of Irish Film, in keeping with the best of Irish Films, it could be set nowhere else and yet it's setting is irrelevant. It is a universal story being told where it needs to be. The passionate commentary and probing of a culture and society makes it immediately universal. There is not a single motif of the worst of Irish movies to be seen or thankfully heard. It stands to all critique, and unusually for a lot of Irish film it warrants and stands to a political, social and film reading. There are no post-modern laughs from a comedic social underclass. There is no easy trite targeting of the 'okayed' cultural targets. It's original. It's fresh. The writing and narrative are so strong that the 'movie' happens while the 'film' happens...seamlessly as one.

Is it masterpiece? No. Because after watching Terry McMahon's debut, zero-budget, punk, polemic, political critique 'Charlie Cassanova', and now watching this stunningly accessible yet multi-layered love story, which he created for next to nothing...you can only be excited by how good he could be with time and money. Perhaps this would be a masterpiece for some...but I hope the McMahon masterpiece is yet to come and I get to see it. But if all you ever did as a film maker was half of what these two films do...that'd be a victory.

Love is madness. Dive in.

Director Terry McMahon courted controversy in 2011 with his debut, a satirical thriller called Charlie Casanova. A film he described as his 'punk rock statement', it was a feature made for the impressive sum of E1000 with the aid of a cast and crew assembled mostly through Facebook. Casanova was more than a bit rough around the edges, but McMahon kept that provocative streak for his second effort - and caused a stir for all the right reasons.

Patrick's Day tells the story of Patrick (Moe Dunford) a young man in his late twenties who suffers from schizophrenia. We open at Dublin's St. Patrick's Day parade with Patrick on day release from the institution he calls home, having a day out with Mother Maura (Kerry Fox) to celebrate his birthday. Together they enjoy a fun fair, buy novelty hats , eat candy floss and do everything you would do with a ten year old on his birthday. But when Patrick and Maura get separated in the crowd, Patrick meets Karen (Catherine Walker) who is a bit tipsy and takes a liking to him. 'I have schizophrenia,' he feels compelled to blurt out to her, 'Sure haven't we all?' is her response. Patrick falls for Karen, to Maura's horror. She drives her son back to the institution, and even enlists a detective (Philip Jackson) to help her convince him that Karen is merely one of his delusions. Patrick is rocked, forced to confront the draconian way he is treated because of his illness, and is compelled to escape and find her. Or at least find out if she's fictitious.

Patrick's Day is a remarkable piece addressing the lingering stigma surrounding mental illness, and a mentally ill person's right to intimacy. It is a fiercely humane drama, one of those rare ones that shatters you then sets you soaring, all the more moving for extending it's understanding toward well-meaning antagonist Maura. And that's not an easy task, in a film reminiscent of One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest. The writing is snappy ('Only a woman could demolish you with a compliment,' grumbles Jackson's beleaguered detective) and it's well shot too, McMahon and DoP Michael Lavelle filling it with expressive images.

A vital and thought-provoking piece, it gave me a new perspective and made me re-think my attitude towards the topic and people in my life, and there's no higher praise than that. Not that there's no lightness to the film - 'Patrick is a twenty-six year old schizophrenic virgin...' was the entirety of the blurb for it at my local cinema, and that captures this film's mischievous spirit.

Patrick's Day is a tribute to the much misunderstood and beautifully brilliant world of mental illness. Those affected, are disabled by society and not by their condition. The film will open the door to much needed change in social attitudes. It is too real and raw to even begin to describe the flawless acting, let alone the magnificent script writing and I was not surprised to learn of its worldwide success. From the opening scene of this film I was entranced. The camera work from beginning to end, is superb; but especially the initial tracking shot which creates intimacy with Patrick from the first second. The film, like its predecessor Charlie Casanova, took me straight out of my comfort zone; this may be disconcerting for some, but we need this perspective and true insight. Patrick's Day is a love story in its most raw form. The film is a must see for anyone struggling to understand the dynamics of love and vital importance of intimacy. When the two lovers meet, they each need, trust and almost demand that intimacy. This is how it could always be, if people weren't caught up in social 'norms' and expectations. It is obvious that Patrick's innocence, beautiful mind and body are the perfect sanctuary for a very obviously traumatised Karen. It all makes magnificent sense.

For intimacy we need trust, and in trust we need truth. So frightening, rare and beautiful, that truth is often found in those we choose to call 'disturbed', or 'mentally ill'. Karen and Patrick find solace in each other. It is their unique bond that holds the story together, while every other character seems to fall apart. The film masterfully contrasts the simplicity of a loving connection with a complex dysfunctional environment. It brings the viewer feelings of unsure empathy for the abusers. This is rare and true art.

No one should watch this film needing to understand it, or over-analyse it; far better to just feel every second of it and allow it to resonate. We are all oppressed in one way or another, sadly tending to accept the unacceptable. This film, in a myriad of ways shows how fundamentally wrong that acceptance is. To coin an apt phrase, in so many senses, 'the lunatics are running the asylum'...

A truly beautiful film.