Film Studies - My Left Foot
The film my left foot is a perfect example of the views from a famous Russian media theorist called Vladimir Propp. He identified 32 categories of action and over 30 character types who have a specific function within a narrative piece. Some of those function are:
1. The Hero - who seeks something.
2. The Villain - who hinders or is in competition with the hero.
3. The donor - who provides some kind of magic or helps the hero.
4. The helper - who aids the hero in his or her quest.
5. The heroine - princess who acts as a reward for the hero.
6. The dispatcher - sends the hero on his/her way.
7. The false hero - disrupts the hero’s quest and hopes to gain praise.
8. The princess/heroine’s father - who rewards the hero for his/her efforts.
In the film My Left Foot the characters have a number of different rolls to play and fit into the functions of Propp’s theory. Christy Brown played by Daniel Day Lewis is the main character in the piece and suffers from cerebral palsy. He could be considered as the hero in this film. He simply seeks to be accepted equally in society but the film is set in a very poor Ireland in the 1940’s – 1950’s were people with a sickness are looked upon as being inadequate or a cripple. Throughout the film Christy saves the family in a number of different ways. He helps his mother after falling down the stairs, he saves the money from burning in the tin, he helps to steal coal for the family and by the end of the film, he is making a lot of money from his work.
The villain in the film could be considered as a number of different people or the disease that Christy suffers from. Christy’s main obstacle he faces is his crippling disease (cerebral palsy). He is in constant battle from day to day to communicate with his family. At one point we learn that Christy’s father can’t even understand his own son due to his illness. On the other hand the character Eileen played by Brenda Fricker was portrayed as having her own interest at heart more so than Christy’s. She came across as being very miss leading and at one point she tells Christy that she loves him and in doing so lets him believe it could be real love. Later on in the film we learn Eileen is engaged and due to get married to a man called peter.
The donor function can also be applied to Eileen. She may of lead Christy to believe that love could blossom but without her help and speech therapy Christy would have been unable to communicate and realize his potential as an artist and writer.
The helper function could be applied to almost every character within the film. His whole family especially his mother believed in Christy’s ability and they all chipped in to include Christy in everyday life as much as possible. His siblings included him in games of football, his father stood up for him and brought him to the pub on his shoulder and his mother always believed that Christy had something special. Eileen could be considered as the main helper due to the fact she specialized in helping people who suffer from cerebral palsy.
The heroine function could be applied mainly to Christ’s mother. She is Christy’s backbone throughout the film. Christy’s father was a typical male for that period of time in Ireland and he demanded to be respected in his house even if it was by means of violence but Christy’s mother was always on hand to defuse the situation. At one point in the film Christy’s mother refers to Christy as being her heart thus showing her strong love for her son. At various points in the film Christy suffers set backs such as depression and difficult living conditions but Christy’s mother pulls the family through and at one point she single handedly begins to build a room for Christy at the back of the house. The rest of the family comes home and they all chip in with the work. At this point of the movie the family seem to be at their happiest.
The dispatcher function could be applied to a combination of Eileen and Christy. Although a lot of people helped Christy throughout the film, he had to work extremely hard to over come a crippling disease. We could see from an early point in the film that Christy was extremely determined with great strength and drive. With Eileen’s specialist knowledge of how to help people with cerebral palsy and Christy’s hardworking attitude they both managed to over come Christy’s sickness and release Christy’s full creative potential.
The false hero function is the most difficult to apply to any character in this film. No one really benefits a great deal from Christy’s new found fame apart from Eileen but towards the end of the movie Eileen and Christy are both happily in love with their partners. It could be argued that Eileen was considered to have taken the credit for Christy’s work at the exhibition but at no point do we really see Christy or his family having any issues with this.
The princess is Mary, we learn very little about Mary until near the end of the film. Christy asks her out on a date and she turns him down at on point but later in the film we learn she stayed to watch Christy’s exhibition of work. After the exhibition Mary joins Christy in a showfer driven car and they go to have a picnic on a mountain over looking Dublin.
