Four Mothers
Four outstanding actresses are showcased in a wholly reimagined version of an Italian comedy now set in Dublin.
Image courtesy of BFI Distribution.
It could be said that this film answers the cinematic question when is a remake not a remake. Darren Thornton's film, of which he is also the co-writer with his brother Colin, duly acknowledges that it was inspired by an earlier work, the popular Italian comedy Mid-August Lunch made in 2008 by Gianni Di Gregorio. However, while echoing the situation at the heart of that piece, Four Mothers elaborates it in a wholly new way and creates something that is unusual in character: a gay film which has strong appeal for non-gay audiences. That's a relatively rare category although two examples of it readily come to mind, La cage aux folles (1978) and Get Real (1998).
The comic situation at the heart of Four Mothers is taken directly from Mid-August Lunch and that is the notion of a bachelor who, living with his elderly mother and looking after her, finds himself imposed upon by acquaintances who, going off to enjoy themselves, add to his load by requiring him to look after three elderly female relatives of their own. In the Italian film the occasion was the two days in August when Italians celebrate a national holiday and, while one might ponder the sexuality of the middle-aged bachelor at its heart, that issue never came into play. Four Mothers which is set not in Rome but in Dublin makes it clear that its bachelor figure, now named Edward (James McArdle), is gay as are the three friends who dump their old mothers on him. Indeed, the trip that these friends are taking is to go to Maspalomas in Gran Canaria to celebrate Pride. Nor is this just an incidental element since the mothers in question are aware that their sons are gay and, despite the extent to which Ireland lagged behind in decriminalising homosexuality, the film shows how motherly love has enabled all three to make any requisite adjustments and to accept the sexuality of their children.
Reports of early screenings of Four Mothers indicate that the audience response has been extremely positive and it is pleasing to know that. It suggests that my own slower appreciation for the film may not be widespread but I have to acknowledge that I myself found the second half of the film by far the more engaging. The early scenes set up the situation of Edward, a novelist, having to devote himself to his mother, Alma (Fionnula Flanagan), who has had a stroke and can only communicate by using an iPad to make her voice heard. That is straightforward but, when it comes to the other characters, it is less easy to sort them out. Of the gay friends one can pick out Dermot (Rory O’Neill) because, at the age of fifty-three and having been married, he has only just come out of the closet but it is less easy to know which of the others is Colm (Gearoid Farrelly) and which is Billy (Gordon Hickey). Then the three mothers come bustling in leaving one to work out to which of the men Jean (Dearbhla Molloy), Maude (Stella McCusker) and Rosey (Paddy Glynn) are the mothers. It takes a while too to understand that Raf (Gaetan Garcia) is not only Alma's nurse but Edward’s ex-lover. On top of that, the often-demanding nature of the women, which is part of the comedy, sometimes feel at odds with our wish to appreciate them as admirably strong characters coping with the problems of old age (three of them are widows, the fourth had been a single mother). The Italian film was more adroit in this respect playing on the comic aspects of their quirky behaviour in a witty way in the first half but then stressing later the warmth that they come to feel when all are together. Four Mothers also has the disadvantage of a rather banal music score by Hugh Drumm and Stephen Rennicks.
But, if I found it rather difficult to engage fully with the film’s first half, that ceased to be the case subsequently when the characters, especially those of the four mothers, emerge more individually and we respond to them accordingly. Here the film retains its humour but also becomes involving on a deeper, human level. Whereas Mid-August Lunch was unusually short (75 minutes) and seemed dramatically rather slight, Four Mothers readily fills its 89 minutes and carries greater weight in the way that it develops. Apart from our learning more about the mothers and their history, this also includes showing the conflict that arises when Edward is called upon to promote his acclaimed novel in America and finds this cutting across his sense of duty, his belief that he needs to give priority to caring for his mother in person. Furthermore, the casting could not be better. James McArdle is ideal for the role of Edward and, while Di Gregorio was hugely successful in finding four elderly non-professional players, Thornton has been equally lucky to have four exceptional Irish actresses to play the mothers here. Fionnula Flanagan, Dearblha Molloy, Stella McCusker and Paddy Glynn form a great quartet.
MANSEL STIMPSON
Cast: James McArdle, Fionnula Flanagan, Dearbhla Molloy, Stella McCusker, Paddy Glynn, Gaetan Garcia, Niamh Cusack, Gearoid, Farrelly, Rory O’Neill, Kim Daly, Adam Fergus, Gordon Hickey.
Dir Darren Thornton, Pro Eric Abraham, Martina Niland and Jack Sidey, Screenplay Darren Thornton and Colin Thornton, Ph Tom Comerford and Burschi Wojnar, Pro Des Lucy van Lonkhuyzen, Ed Gary Dollner and Gretta Ohle, Music Hugh Drumm and Stephen Rennicks, Costumes Joan O’Clery.
Port Pictures/Portobello Productions-BFI Distribution.
89 mins. Ireland. 2024. UK Rel: 4 April 2025. Cert. 15.
