It is easy to assume that actor James Martin is excited about his upcoming trip to Hollywood. The star of the short film An Irish Farewell, which has already won a Bafta and is now vying for an Oscar, has more reason to celebrate. The ceremony on Sunday falls on his birthday.
The leopard-skin jacket will soon be available, he declares.
“I wish I could meet Tom Cruise. His film Top Gun was excellent. I would love to meet Robert De Niro since we have a similarity. My true name is Robert James, therefore it would be interesting to meet someone with the same name. We’re both actors who can be cranky on set, so perhaps it’s a family trait!”
Martin, who has also appeared in BBC One’s Ups and Downs and ITV’s Marcella, portrays Lorcan in Ross White and Tom Berkeley’s film about two estranged brothers forced to reunite following their mother’s death.
Lorcan lives and works on the family farm in Northern Ireland, but Turlough (Seamus O’Hara) arrives from London to explain that Lorcan, who has Down syndrome, will have to move in with his aunt now that their mother has passed away. Lorcan is definitely dissatisfied with the concept.
“Everyone desires independence, and I am extremely independent of my parents,” Martin adds.
“It is crucial to demonstrate the abilities of people with learning difficulties.” It’s not often that a person with Down syndrome gets their own role on a television show. But, do not judge a book by its cover.
“Lorcan is extremely autonomous, but the love, hatred, and feeling he has for his brother are phenomenal. It is beneficial to have a special link. If not for that special link, he would simply view him (Turlough) as a caregiver.”
White claims that the concept of a homecoming began to develop after he and Berkeley made a significant life decision several years ago.
“Ten years ago, Tom and I met during our training as actors while living in London and writing plays in addition to acting.
“As our careers progressed, we wrote more and performed less. In 2019, we made the monumental choice to leave London, return to our respective hometowns — Belfast for me and Gloucester for Tom — and focus solely on writing, transitioning from writing for the stage to writing for the film.
“At the time, we were pondering a great deal the notion of having left home and then returning, with a sense of ‘Are you from that place again?'”
But they needed a story, and Berkeley’s attendance at a football game provided it.
“I happened to witness a pair of brothers watching the game a few rows in front of me, and the younger brother had Down’s syndrome, just as in our narrative,” he informs me.
“While they watched the game, there was an odd juxtaposition between their typically fiery, adversarial brotherly relationship and their friendly competition. They were verbally abusing one another! And then… there was also this additional layer of duty between them, which I found incredibly fascinating. There was something incredibly moving about their bond.”
Berkeley explains that it prompted them to consider how individuals deal with loss differently.
“It was the idea of two individuals who see the world and experience emotions extremely differently. The elder brother is stern, somewhat repressed, and somewhat cynical.
Then there is the younger sibling, who wears his emotions on his sleeve and has an empathy capacity that is superhuman.
We felt it would be fascinating to watch these two polar opposites go through the grieving process together.
While a portion of the plot is Lorcan’s learning problem and his need for assistance after his mother’s death, White and Berkeley were adamant that this not be the only focus.
“We discussed the concept of the character having Down’s syndrome… once, and then we simply didn’t talk about it too much because there were so many other interesting aspects of that character,” explains White.
“That wasn’t a priority for us, and when you meet James as an actor, you realize the many facets of his personality; Down’s syndrome is actually one of the least intriguing things about him. He is naturally humorous. He exudes charisma.
“When it comes to representation, it’s not enough to slap someone in the face and declare that we’ve done our duty. The function must be significant.”
Berkeley continues,
“Lorcan is the protagonist of his own story; he does not orbit the other characters. He directs the action.”
Amano Miura from Dublin’s EPIC: Irish Emigration Museum wrote:
“The dynamic, humorous, and heartwarming relationship between brothers confronts the audience with existential concerns about what truly counts and where we truly call home.”
MySohoTimes’ Rukayat Moibi stated,
“An Irish Farewell is an ambitious film that, in a fulfilling and heartwarming way, nearly seems to transcend the short film genre.”
The film is an emotional roller coaster that will have you crying tears of despair one minute and joy the next.
“There is a gap between sorrow and comedy that feels like the middle of the truth,” explains White.
“Being from Belfast, we have a certain type of gallows humor with regard to dealing with adversity, and it struck me as a very Northern Irish trait.
“It’s also rather a male thing,” Berkeley says.
David Bradley portrayed an aging, lonely widower in their earlier short film, Roy.
“Both films are about men coping poorly or struggling with sorrow. And I believe that’s something we recognize from our own experiences and also from the men in our life.”
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