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EVELYN
A story about
the terrible struggle to unite a family -- a struggle against the
government that said it was trying to do what was best.
Review by Darrel Manson
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EVELYN
(2002)
This page was created on January 2, 2002
This page was last updated on
May 23, 2005
Review -click here
Trailers, Photos -click here
About this Film -click here
Spiritual Connections -click here
Forum -click
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CREDITS
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Directed
by Bruce Beresford
Screenplay by Paul Pender
Pierce Brosnan .... Desmond Doyle
Aidan Quinn .... Nick Barron
Julianna Margulies .... Bernadette
Stephen Rea .... Michael Beattie
John Lynch .... Senior Counsel Mr. Wolfe
Sophie Vavasseur .... Evelyn Doyle
Alan Bates .... Tom Connolly
Niall Beagan .... Dermot Doyle
Hugh McDonagh .... Maurice Doyle
Mairead Devlin .... Charlotte Doyle
Frank Kelly .... Henry Doyle
Claire Mullan .... Mrs. Daisley
Alvaro Lucchesi .... Inspector Logan
Garrett Keogh .... District Judge
Daithi O'Suilleabhain .... Brother Beattie
Andrea Irvine .... Sister Brigid
Marian Quinn .... Sister Theresa
Karen Ardiff .... Sister Felicity
Bosco Hogan .... Father O'Malley
Des Braiden .... Fergal
Sorcha Herlihy .... Mary
Lauren Carpenter .... Annette Farrell
Produced
by
Kevan Barker .... line producer
Simon Bosanquet .... executive producer
Pierce Brosnan .... producer
Kieran Corrigan .... executive producer
Eberhard Kayser .... executive producer
Mario Ohoven .... executive producer
Michael Ohoven .... producer
Cynthia A. Palormo .... associate producer
Paul Pender .... co-producer
Beau St. Clair .... producer
Original Music by Stephen Endelman
Cinematography by Andre Fleuren
Film Editing by Humphrey Dixon
Casting by John Hubbard and Ros Hubbard
Production Design by John Stoddart
Art Direction by Ian Bailie
Set Decoration by Josie MacAvin
Costume Design by Joan Bergin
MPAA:
Rated PG for thematic material and language.
Runtime: 94 min
For rating reasons, go to FILMRATINGS.COM,
and MPAA.ORG.
Parents, please refer to PARENTALGUIDE.ORG
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TRAILERS
AND CLIPS
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CD
SOUNDTRACK
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Evelyn
(Score)
Stephen Endelman
Pierce Brosnan may well be the most hyped James Bond since Sean Connery,
but he's gratifyingly used his burgeoning Hollywood clout to midwife
Evelyn, a warm, intimate portrait of an unemployed widower battling
both the church and Irish government for the custody of his own children.
Composer Stephen Endelman colors the film with a musical mix that
leans on traditional Celtic folk touches (fiddle and pennywhistle),
skillfully weaving them into an orchestral context that ranges from
the gently pastoral to some emotionally detached minimalism. Anchored
by vocal performances from Van Morrison and Sissel, and featuring
a couple good-natured pub songs by Brosnan himself, it's an inviting
soundtrack rooted in Irish traditions, yet one savvy enough to contrast
them against a more modern emotional landscape. --Jerry McCulley
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POSTER
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No
available poster as of January 2, 2002
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AVAILABILITY
ON VIDEO AND DVD
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SYNOPSIS
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 Based
on true events, Evelyn tells the inspiring story of real-life
hero Desmond Doyle (Pierce Brosnan) and his young children, Evelyn
(Sophie Vavasseur), Maurice, and Dermot. Abandoned by his
wife, Doyle does his best to make it as a single dad, raising his
kids alone in Ireland in 1953. Their life isn?t easy ? but
above all else in the world, Doyle loves his children. Unfortunately,
when his wife?s mother reports her daughter?s abandonment to the
authorities, the power of the Church and the Irish courts take his
children away and put them in orphanages. Doyle is devastated.
Vowing
to reunite his family, he enlists the help of new friend Bernadette
Beattie (Julianna Margulies), her solicitor brother Michael (Stephen
Rea), their American lawyer friend Nick (Aidan Quinn), and Nick?s
mentor Thomas Connolly (Alan Bates). Together they attempt
to do what has never been done before ? challenge a law before the
Irish Supreme Court. Doyle?s fight to keep his family intact
becomes an uplifting testament to the strength of a father?s love
and the power of the human spirit.
United
Artists presents, in association with First Look Media and Cinerenta,
an Irish DreamTime and CineEvelyn production of Evelyn,
starring Pierce Brosnan, Aidan Quinn, and Julianna Margulies.
Based on a true story and directed by Bruce Beresford, Evelyn
was written by Paul Pender and also stars Stephen Rea, John Lynch,
Sophie Vavasseur, and Alan Bates. The film was produced by
Brosnan, Beau St. Clair, and Michael Ohoven with executive producers
Eberhard Kayser, Mario Ohoven, Kieran Corrigan, and Simon Bosanquet.
The production team includes André Fleuren as director of
photography, production designer John Stoddart, editor Humphrey
Dixon, and composer and musical director Stephen Endelman, with
costumes designed by Joan Bergin and Paul Pender as co-producer.
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REVIEW
BY
DARREL MANSON
Pastor,
Artesia Christian Church, Artesia, CA
http://netministries.org/see/churches/ch01198
Darrel
has an incredible love and interest in the cinematic arts. His reviews
usually include independent and significantly important film.
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Rabbit-Proof
Fence and Evelyn take place on opposite sides of the
world, and yet they are connected in that both are stories of the
state taking custody of children under the rubric of doing good. And
from the perspectives of those in power, it was doing good. As we
look back, we see the flaws in their efforts.
Rabbit-Proof Fence takes place
in Australia in 1931. Three half-caste girls (one white parent, one
Aboriginal parent) are forcibly taken by the police and sent to a
school in which such children are trained for domestic service or
as farm hands. They escape and begin a journey of 1500 miles back
to their home and family. All the while the forces of the government
seek to catch them and return them to school.
 Evelyn
is set in Ireland in the early 1950s. Desmond Doyle's wife has left
him and gone to Australia. Because Doyle is out of work, his three
children are put into the government's care and placed in schools
run by the Church. When Doyle is employed and ready to get the children
back, the courts will not allow it, because the law requires both
parents? signatures. Eventually, Doyle had to take his case to the
Irish Supreme Court asking them to invalidate the law as unconstitutional
-- something the court had never done.
 Both
stories are about terrible struggles to unite families -- struggles
against governments that said they were trying to do what was best.
The bureaucracies of government are the real antagonists in the films,
although each film gives those bureaucracies human face.
The governments are not trying to do harm. In Rabbit-Proof
Fence, the government (embodied in the Protector of the Aboriginal
People, Mr. Neville -- or Mr. Devil as the indigenous people call
him) is striving to take care of what they see as inferior people.
One of Neville's lines is ?If only these people understood what we're
trying to do for them.?
 Such
sentiments certainly aren't unique to Australian history. Consider
American history and the abuse of Native Americans, recent immigrants
in most any period, and African-Americans both in the time of slavery
and in the years since. Or South Africa under Apartheid. Or the British
as they ?protected? Palestine or India. How often did people think
they were doing some unappreciated good for ?these people??
 In
Evelyn, it seems obvious that the court is concerned about
the well being of the children. When they first went to the schools,
it was the appropriate thing to do to care for the children. But when
conditions changed, other issues took precedence, including the power
and dignity of the state, and support for what today would be called
valuing the family. But in the end, they really did more harm to the
children, the government's dignity and family values than any good
they did.
 As
much as is wrong in what happened to the children in these two films,
those who were doing these things were not evil. They worked out of
what seemed to them an enlightened and appropriate mindset. Mr. Neville
was trying to do what he understood as protecting and rescuing these
girls from a life that seemed to him to be harsh and unfulfilling.
Even being a household worker for a white family would be (in the
thinking of white Australians) a much better life. The various judges
in Ireland had to fulfill the law; without laws how can a society
establish justice? And the law was written to support and emphasize
the importance of the family.
It could well be that fifty years from now films will be made that
show the flaws in things we do with the best of intentions. We constantly
strive to make the world better, not only for ourselves, but for others.
Often sin isn't the result of malevolence. Most people don't seek
to do something evil or harmful. But often it is from the good we
try to do, that we create pain -- unintentional as it may be. Even
when we are doing all we can to better the world, we need to be alert
to the harm we may do. |
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PHOTOS
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Evelyn ? 2002
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