WILD MOUNTAIN THYME
Ireland/UK, 2020, 102 minutes, Colour.
Emily Blunt, Jamie Dornan, Jon Hamm, Christopher Walken.
Directed by John Patrick Shanley.
An initial helpful piece of advice might be that an audience needs to be in a genial frame of mind before entering into this unusual romantic comedy. It is an Irish comedy. In many ways it is fey. In many ways it is twee. So, the genial frame of mind and mood for this visit to County Mayo requires a blend of fey and twee, with more than a touch of tolerance. (The IMDb as something of a catalogue of comments without that touch of tolerance!)
The film has been written and directed by American playwright, John Patrick Shanley, who had some screen popularity in the 1980s with his screenplay for Moonstruck and his foray into film writing and directing with the (fey and twee) Joe versus the Volcano. However, he was very successful with the screen adaptation of his play about a priest and accusations of sexual abuse and his interactions with the local nuns (Philip Seymour Hoffman and Meryl Streep), Doubt.
In fact, he has adapted one of his plays, Outside Mullingar, for this film. He has chosen the title with reference to a flower, the wild mountain thyme, and a song that is sung throughout the film, plaintive melody and lyrics.
The fey begins almost immediately, a narration by the older Anthony (Christopher Walken with the demands of an Irish accent), telling’s that he is dead, but taking us into this tale of his family. We get a glimpse of his son Anthony as a boy, scenes sniffing flowers (no spoiler, but this is most significant for a revelation at the end of the film, more than fey!). Watching him is the little daughter of the neighbours, Rosemary. When Anthony plays with Fiona, Rosemary is more than glum, having to be urged on by her crow-shooting father. So, not exactly Romeo and Juliet, but Anthony and Rosemary are neighbours on rival farms.
Then the adults. Rosemary becomes Emily Blunt, grieving for her ill mother who dies, managing her farm with great energy – and, singing Wild Mountain Thyme, but her eyes fixed on Anthony. Anthony seems to be something of a klutz with his metal detector and pratfalls, also managing his farm. Jamie Dornan plays Anthony, about 180 degree turn from his 50 shades shenanigans.
When older Anthony has a birthday party, and a nephew arrives from New York, Adam, the reliable Jon Hamm, very upfront, very out there, a moneymaker who enjoys drawing attention to himself, thinking about farming, wanting a wife, encountering Rosemary. He invites her to New York and, on impulse, she flies there one day, watches a ballet which is her main ambition, enjoys a meal and flies back, Anthony not noticing her absence.
When Adam decides to return, having kissed Rosemary New York, it is time for some kind of confrontation between Rosemary and Anthony. She, of course, takes the initiative.
What follows is one of the most eccentric romantic conversations in film, he revealing his personal secret (back to his smell and the flowers when young), she not particularly bothered, evoking his jealousy about the kiss with Adam, giving him Guinness to drink, and, eventually, love.
In case anyone was worried, Adam meets a very sympathetic passenger on the plane!
And, in the end, despite the emotional tangles, happiness prevails.
1. Title? The song? The plaintiff words? The melody? Sung throughout the film? By Rosemary? By Anthony? By the people in the pub?
. The work of the writer director, serious themes, comic themes? The adaptation of his play, the theatrical style of the film, especially in dialogue and confrontations?
3. The Irish setting, filmed in County Mayo, the farms, homes, pubs? The contrast with the visit to New York City? The vistas? The ballet? The atmospheric musical score?
4. The opening, the dead father telling the story, the point of coming alive again? His perspective on the characters, the situations? The end and his comments?
5. Anthony and Rosemary as children, Rosemary doting on Anthony, Anthony oblivious, smelling the flowers (and the later comment about his being a bee), interactions with Fiona? Rosemary, glum, at home, her father and his comments (and shooting the crows), her mother?
6. The adult Rosemary, tough personality, running the farm, singing in the pub, her attitude towards Anthony, the clashes, the taunts? The sadness of her mother’s death, the funeral? Anthony senior and his party, her presence, Adam coming from the US, the encounters, the discussions, the different attitudes? The continued longing for Anthony? Setting up situations, pursuing him, in the fields, watching his awkwardness with his metal detector, getting into the house, the long confrontation, discussion, the drink of Guinness, his mother’s ring and the metal detector, Rosemary having it? The discussions about her visit to New York, kissing Adam?
7. Anthony, his personality, morose, as a boy, whispering to Fiona and her laughing, morose, the discussions with his father, the farm and the inheritance, his reticence with Rosemary, discussions with Adam, the farm and the sale, the double gate? Tangles with Rosemary, going into the house, the Guinness, the discussion, his confession about being a bee, the consequences of the discussion, his not going to the airport, the relationship with Rosemary?
8. The older generation, Rosemary’s parents, Anthony’s parents, Anthony’s father and his confession, his death?
9. Adam, American style, liking attention, coming to Ireland, his relations, funeral, discussions with Rosemary and the clash between the Irish- American temperament, the invitation to New York, welcoming her, taking her to the ballet, her response, the meal, his coming back to Ireland, wanting a wife, discussions about farming, the passenger on the plane, talking, his snoring, stood up, finding a partner?
10. An Irish story, a fey story, the touch of the twee, the touch of the superstitious? Offbeat romantic comedy?
