Saturday, 09 October 2021 12:58

Funny Cow






FUNNY COW

UK, 2017, 102 minutes, Colour.
Maxine Peake, Paddy Considine, Alun Armstrong, Christine Bottomley, Stephen Graham, Tony Pitts, Lindsay Coulson.
Directed by Adrian Shergold.

Not the most engaging of titles – but it is the title for a film which has quite a lot going for it. This is a very British story, set in northern England in past decades, in the streets of a city, the touch of poverty row. But, it is the story of a character who emerges from this background to make something of herself, not without many difficulties and challenges.

This is a film about a stand-up comedian. Not an easy profession. It requires a great deal of self-confidence, even self-esteem, a sense of humour (often offbeat) which does not appeal to every audience and, we realise, audiences are hard to please and often become hostile and mocking.

In fact, the film opens with a middle-aged woman in close-up, her microphone, performing for an audience, touches of humour, but many wry touches as she talks about her family background. This performance provides a framework for the whole film, the anchor for the many flashbacks.

And the title? The central character is always referred to as Funny Cow (and, as a little girl, she is listed in the cast as Funny Calf). She is played by Maxine Peake, quite an extraordinary performance in its way, often very brash, often unrelenting, ups and downs in relationships, wanting to be a clown professionally, tongue-tied at an audition when young, stepping into the role unexpectedly and wowing her audience and not looking back. For those with more delicate sensitivities, it needs to be noted that her comedy initiatives at first, routines later, are very earthy, sex-oriented, few holds barred.

But, Maxine Peake’s presence and performance is compelling. Her background as a little girl is harsh, bullied at school but exuberant at home, her mother drinking, her father particularly brutal and whipping her but, when he unexpectedly dies, with eyes initially downcast, she exits the house and yells “Yippee!�. She has a brother and later visit him and his family but to little effect. (Stephen Graham is quite powerful in the role of the father, the embodiment of domestic violence – and also appears, much more subdued, in the role of her brother.)

She has sex in the back of a car with Bob (Tony Pitts who in fact wrote the screenplay). He too is ultimately violent – though there is a moving scene towards the end of the film when Funny Cow visit him in hospital. Her other relationship is fascinating both for herself and for the audience. She is browsing in a book shop owned by Angus, a sympathetic Paddy Considine, and they become friends, Bob threatening, but her going to live with Angus when she leaves Bob.

She uses the words about Angus and his friends, “educated� and “articulate�. She is bored by the performance of a Shakespearean play and realises that, though she is articulate, she shuns Angus’s type of education.

Alun Armstrong appears as a stand-up comedian, getting older, getting weary, trying to dissuade Funny Cow from the profession but her stepping in when finally he refuses to go on stage – which leads to a movingly fatal sequence.

And, there is her mother, sitting at home, perpetually drinking, with her daughter helping her to move away from the brutal past, get off the drink – and there are moving sequences they walk along the beach.

We don’t know where this will all lead for Funny Cow – we leave her, in her monologue, reminiscing, humorous, wondering whether lives a are fatal or whether we mould our own lives.

1. The title, the tone? Stand-up comedy?

2. The structure of the film and the comic touch, the various “bits�?

3. The popularity of stand-up comedy, the comedians, men and women, the audiences, supportive or ignoring, the strain and tests for the comedian?

4. UK, the North, past tickets, the inner city suburbs, the streets, homes, pubs and clubs, change over time, wealthy homes, the beachfront? Angus’s world, the shop, theatre? The musical score?

5. The introduction to Funny Cow? Maxine Peake’s performance, her screen presence, strong? The initial stand-up comedy, the effect, her age, looking back on her life, melancholy, her family? The jokes, the framework for the rest of the film, the flashbacks?

6. The town, Funny Calf and her age, the bullies at school, threatening them with the manure? Giving the balloon to Funny Cow? A strong child, at home, brother and games, her parents, sympathy for her mother, her mother being bullied, her being cheeky, defying her father, his belting her, his death – and her coming out of the room and yelling Yippee? And the memories?

7. Funny Cow in herself, self-esteem, low self-esteem, teenager, the swirling scene of her dancing, the relationship with Bob, the sex in the back of the car, her pregnancy? The relationship with Bob, the years, his violence, talking, leaving? Her aims, work?

8. The encounter with Angus in the shop, the big shop, the shelves, the search for the book, talking with Angus, her cheeky response to him, her return? Their going out, the restaurant, awkward with the spaghetti, the kiss, Bob confronting Angus in the car, the threat? Her leaving Bob and coming to Angus, their life together, the effect on Angus, his insights, literature, music, taking her to see the Shakespearean play, her leaving, hurting Angus?

9. The themes of those who are educated and those who articulate – and those who are not?

10. Lenny, Alun Armstrong’s performance? His act, the jokes, audience reaction, Funny Cow watching him, the audience reviving? The further performances, the same jokes, his failure? Her discussing been comedian with Lenny, the meal, his trying to put her off, wanting to be a clown?

11. Her going to the audition, Bob’s reaction? Her being tongue-tied?

12. Lenny, his attitude, sense of failure, not wanting to go on stage, the compere, Funny Cow going on, responding to the occasion, the bawdy stand-up comedy, cheeky, the customer and his being humiliated, the audience loving it? Her success, getting a contract?

13. Lenny, his dismay, going to the toilet, despair, hanging himself with the chain?

14. The years passing, her success, living alone, the variety of her performances, comic but melancholic?

15. The visit to her brother, sister in law and the mockery, his children? Her mooning them?

16. Bob, hospital, her going to see him, his apology?

17. Her visits to her mother, the mother drinking, remembering the past, the regrets, stopping her mother drinking, the walk along the beach?

18. The finale, her close-up performance? Life and fate? Making a life?

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