Film Pick of the Week: Four Letters of Love - review by Yvette Huddleston
Four Letters of Love Prime Video, review by Yvette Huddleston
Adapted by Niall Williams from his own bestselling 1997 novel, this whimsical drama makes for gentle, engaging viewing. Set in 1971 the narrative moves between Dublin, the west of Ireland and an island just off the coast.
Living on the island is the loving Gore family – poet and schoolteacher Muiris (Gabriel Byrne), his wife Margaret (Helena Bonham Carter), their feisty daughter
Issy (Ann Skelly) and her brother Sean (Donal Finn). Disaster strikes when, shortly before Issy is due to leave for the mainland to join a convent school, Sean suffers a seizure and is confined to a wheelchair and unable to speak. Issy, though reluctant to go, heads off to school but is unhappy there from the start.
Meanwhile in Dublin, young Nicholas Coughlan (Finn O’Shea) is also living through a a crisis. The only child of older parents William (Pierce Brosnan) and Bette (Imelda May), his family’s life is upturned when William, a civil servant for decades, suddenly decides to quit his job and become an artist. He explains that God has told him that is what he should do with his life. He leaves the family home in Dublin for the picturesque west coast of Ireland. His departure plunges his mother into a deep depression, refusing to leave her room. Shortly afterwards she dies and Nicholas is thrown together with his father. There is an element of resentment as the son, not unreasonably, blames William for what happened to his mother. However, the two manage to reconcile and eventually William returns to Dublin and the pair live together while Nicholas completes his university studies. Then another tragedy befalls them.
Issy in the meantime has been expelled from school and has met and fallen in love with Peader (Ferdia Walsh-Peelo). She goes to work in his family shop and convinces herself that she loves Peader, though when her mother Margaret visits, she is of a different opinion. The dual narratives begin to bring Issy and Nicholas closer together as fate contrives a meeting that will ultimately change both their lives. On its cinema release, the film received a number of unfavourable reviews, but this is certainly worth staying with. Its warmth and humanity shine through and the performances from the whole cast are heartfelt and genuine. The west coast locations are beautifully shot by cinematographer Damien Elliott and the music by Anne Nikitin, including a couple of beautiful songs by Johnny Flynn, add to the atmosphere immeasurably.