Travelling in the hybrid version of the Ego, it has always been my intention to occupy the driver’s seat but sometimes it just feels right to be a backseat passenger.
Such it was with the post-film discussion of Four Letters of Love (2024), the cinematic version of a Niall Williams’ novel, scripted by the author.
Fellow passengers had some interesting observations and one – a completely undisguised blow-in – had even read the author’s books.
Sad to say, her minority was one amid the 10-strong regular travellers.
None of this (insert non-existent collective noun for 10 people) is usually shy in showing off their knowledge but silence and awe reigned when the merits of Williams and his oeuvre were explained.
However, the regular 10 were not to be completely hit with the mute button or even skip intro.
Interesting opinion and observation abounded.
The 1970s mostly western Ireland era and location was proffered as an explanation for the deep belief in God. ‘Failed’ men scream at the heavens at their inability to control their circumstances, one silently, William (Pierce Brosnan) and another vociferously, Muiris (Gabriel Byrne).
These are the respective fathers of Nicholas (Fionn O’Shea) and Isabel (Ann Skelly), two people born for each other but drawn from different parts of Ireland by God, his earthly representatives, miracles and fate.
It is God who draws William to paint, an act which leads to his wife’s descent into madness and death; his painting of an island scene, the only surviving canvas of his last venture; and his eventual suicide in a burning house.
Nicholas in a quest for answers traces the surviving painting which leads him to the island where Muirus and Isabelle live with her mother Margaret (Helena Bonham-Carter) and wheel-chair bound Seanie (Donal Finn), the couple’s son. Muirus, a schoolteacher-poet, has won the painting as first prize in a poetry competition.
According to eight of the 10 it was a pretty ordinary painting which became the reveal at film’s end but the remaining two – an art teacher and budding artist – liked the canvas. I bow to their eye.
Most of the travellers thought Seanie’s immediate ability to stand unaided was pushing the belief boundaries. Others said it was a miracle and not scientific therefore poetic licence had to be accepted. It did seem strange that the hulking son, without speech or leg movement, regained both within minutes of his leaving the wheelchair.
This has come too late for Isabelle who is willing to bet her impending marriage against Seanie’s cure. Sadly, her path crosses with Nicholas on his way to her house to purchase the painting. She is married but it becomes obvious that, in light of Seanie’s miracle recovery and the presence of Nicholas as guest in her house, that her new husband won’t have her for long.
Nicholas writes letters of love to Isabelle but these are thwarted by Margaret – a fine woman acting out of catholic devotion – from reaching the ferry which will transport the notes to the mainland.
The feeling of one of the 10 was that the film was rushed in this second half. A lot of the threads come together quickly and are stitched into a garment that looked a little rushed in its sewing. Perhaps the first half was made in Ireland and the second in Wuhan?
Everyone lives happily ever after and William’s painting shows the final scene. Was he, as another suggested, the Jesus figure whose short artistic life was needed to bring them all together?
Four Letters of Love is good and I am sure the book is even better but three things stood out for this person in the back seat.
Byrne was wonderful (ably supported by Bonham-Carter, who one passenger said had never been better); the music, composed by Anne Nitikin, was terrific; and the low collective score of the travellers was a surprise.
You think you know people, then they ride with you in an ergonomic vehicle and you get to know them just a little bit better.
2.5
I WRIGHT 