A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man (1977)

Director:

Joseph Strick

Writers:

James Joyce (novel)
Judith Rascoe (writer)

Release Date:

23 April 1979 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

Stephen Dedalus is a young man growing up in Ireland in the early part of the 20th century. His search for knowledge and undestanding...

Plot Keywords:

Based On Novel | Independent Film

Cast

Bosco Hogan	...	Stephen Dedalus
T.P. McKenna	...	Simon Dedalus
John Gielgud	...	The Preacher
Rosaleen Linehan	...	May Dedalus
Maureen Potter	...	Dante
Niall Buggy	...	Davin
Bryan Murray	...	Lynch
Des Cave	...	Cranly (as Desmond Cave)
Leslie Lalor	...	Milly
Desmond Perry	...	Casey
Susan Fitzgerald	...	Emma
Luke Johnston	...	Stephen (age ten)
Danny Figgis	...	Wells
Cecil Sheehan	...	Uncle Charles
Brendan Cauldwell	...	Father Michael

Runtime:

UK:92 min | USA:98 min

Country:

Ireland

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

UK:15 (video rating) (2004) | UK:AA (original rating)

Company:

Ulysses Film Company

Quotes:

Stephen Dedalus: You have asked me what I would do and what I would not do. I will tell you what I will do and what I will not do. I will not serve in that which I no longer believe whether it call itself my home, my fatherland or my church: and I will try to express myself in some mode of art as freely as I can and as wholly as I can, using for my defence the only arms I allow myself to use-silence, exile, and cunning.

Delicate and brooding

A delicate, brooding adaptation of Joyce's slim novel. The well-chosen cast struggles and mostly succeeds with the dialogue, largely taken directly from Joyce's words. In effect, this movie is the book come to life - as exactly as 90 minutes of film will allow.

Standouts include Stephen's father and a rousing interpretation of the famous description of Hell from John Gielgud.

The sensual novel, however, is made stiff and sometimes rather bland in deference to its philosophy. Bosco Hogan, as Stephen, gives a stone face and precious little energy to the interior monologue. By the end, his subtle gestures are a tad too subtle.

This movie takes perhaps too reverent a tone with the book. Even the sex scene is handled with a delicate, dry touch. What we are left with amounts to a series of images with a spoken word soundtrack. Sometimes this faithfulness to the book is to the detriment of the movie - It can be difficult to follow and drags in many places. Many of the shots are suggested directly from the text as if it were a screenplay in code - I found myself wishing that the director would take control and actually tell a story.