THE DAISY CHAIN
UK, 2008, 91 minutes, Colour.
Samantha Morton, Steven Mackintosh, Mhairi Anderson, Eva Birthistle, Flora Montgomery.
Directed by Aisling Walsh.
While the story is set in modern Ireland, the location is a remote village on the Atlantic Coast where every so often and with a number of older characters, we seem to move back into a mysterious and even superstitious past.
The basic plot outline is simple enough and many aspects are familiar. A young couple (Tomas and Martha), who have suffered the loss of a baby to sudden infant death syndrome, pull up stakes from London and return to the town where Tomas grew up and where he will teach in the school. The wife is pregnant again. They settle in a picturesque family cottage with a studio where Martha can paint near the rugged cliffs and beaches. All seems well and perfectly normal until they encounter a mysterious young girl, Daisy, whose parents were killed in a fire and seems to run wild, many people thinking she is autistic.
But, her behaviour is sometimes bizarre and villagers and the audience (who see more of how Daisy behaves than the locals) become suspicious of her. Martha, however, does not and wants to take Daisy in and care for her and love her. Is it a compensation for the death of her daughter? Tomas is of that mind. But, he goes along with what Martha wants. Their crochety and religious neighbour, Sean (David Bradley), tries his hardest to get rid of the girl – which Daisy resents and shows she does.
Daisy goes to school but the children won't play with her and, when three of them do, strange things happen. There are so many odd and destructive occurrences that the villagers see her as a changeling. She compounds this opinion by often dressing as a fairy when she plays and when she goes out. Is she autistic? Is she a changeling? Is she a bad seed? Is she a victim?
Mhairi Anderson who plays Daisy is absolutely convincing, tantalising, eliciting sympathy and then frightening. She is a Scots ten year old who is an impressive screen presence. Samantha Morton is at her best as the caring pregnant mother who becomes almost obsessed with saving and loving Daisy. Steven Mackintosh makes a convincingly loving but confused Tomas.
The director herself seems to have become obsessed with the Irish coast both its tempestuousness as well as its calm and the fields, the cliffs and the beach are beautifully filmed at every time of day - and there are scenic inserts very frequently which make you feel that you are there.
Director Aisling Walsh's films often show a concern about social situations and crises (she made Sinners (The Magdalen Laundry) and Song for a Raggy Boy both about violent and sexual abuse in Irish Catholic institutions).
1.The impact of the drama? Beyond the natural? Irish legends? Superstitions? Fears?
2.The Atlantic setting, the isolation of the town, its beauty, the moods of the coast, the weather and the times of day, the water, the cliffs, the beach, the fields, the houses? The inserts of the seascapes throughout the film?
3.The contrast with the house, the modern school, the modern swimming pool, the hospital? The blend of the old and the new? The atmospheric score?
4.The title, the credits and the drawings, the implications of the daisy and the daisy chain? Daisy herself and the chain of events?
5.The introduction to Tomas and Martha, driving, leaving London, her pregnancy, her delight in the house, her studio? Tomas and his teaching? The story of Chloe, the Sudden Infant Death Syndrome? The doctor and his care? Audiences identifying with Martha and Tomas, a nice couple, their hopes?
6.Life in the village, friends, Tomas’s family, the children, the atmosphere?
7.The introduction to Daisy, her age, a wild child, dirty, on the cliff? Martha and her finding the drowned baby? The grief? Sean as the cantankerous next-door neighbour, his continued attacks on Daisy, wanting her to go away? At the hospital, her wanting to play? The family grief? Her taking the doll, her being allowed to have it, with Martha, looking after the doll, not smothering it, calling it Eddie?
8.Martha and her taking Daisy, her compassion, love? The memories of Chloe? A substitute or not? Tomas accepting this but wary? The visit of the social worker, her wanting to take Daisy, her driving, Daisy playing with the card, the car crash? Daisy letting the card fall?
9.The suggestions about Daisy, the drowned baby, the car accident? The flashbacks to the burning of the house and the death of Daisy’s parents? Daisy surviving? Evidence and suspicions?
10.Tomas and his life, teaching, the children, at home, making the crib, building, redecorating the house? The past friendship with Orla, their discussion, the evening in the pub, his drinking?
11.Martha and her pregnancy, her pace of life, with Daisy, going to the social welfare office, her plea, allowed to take Daisy home?
12.Daisy as an enigma, her calling Martha Mummy, her past, the death of her parents, the death of her little brother? Autistic and the discussion of the definition? Was Daisy autistic? The village and the talk about the changeling? Daisy dressing as a fairy continually and the reaction of people? Going to school, the welcome in the class? Wary of the children? The suspicions and her going home and not going to school? The three children coming to play? On the cliff, her threats? Their having meningitis? The reaction of the parents?
13.Tomas and his reaction, the clashes with Martha? Orla, the kiss – and Orla giving him strong directions as what he should do?
14.The children, the young babies, the encounters with Daisy, the parents?
15.Kat, her visit, giving birth? Daisy in the car, going into the ward, holding the baby, Kat trying to get it back, Tomas rescuing the child?
16.Martha and her love for Daisy but playing with the other children, with the little girl, Daisy deflating the sponge, pushing the girl into the pool, having to save her?
17.Tomas and Martha and their discussions, going to the church, the discussions with the doctor, repapering the wall?
18.Daisy and Sean, Sean’s character, crotchety, making the sign of the cross, fearful of Daisy? Her spitting and the effect on his face? Going out and digging the trench, the fire, putting Daisy in the trench, people searching for her, her being saved, Sean and his being burnt to death?
19.The final decision, Martha in the bath, the blood, the birth of the child, Daisy telling her the truth about what she had done? Martha’s collapse?
20.Martha and her lying on the floor, Tomas finding her, the baby alive and cared for like the doll? Was Martha dead or not? Her face? Daisy and her seeming to be possessed by Martha’s spirit? The final close-up of her face?
