After an eight-year acting hiatus, Daniel Day-Lewis returns to the screen to star in his son Ronan Day-Lewis’s directorial debut “Anemone,” a hermetic depiction of trauma set amidst a fractious sibling relationship in a tightly-wound family drama, which also stars Sean Bean and Samantha Morton, and uses Northern Ireland’s conflict as source material.
Father and son were on stage at 92NY on Manhattan’s Upper East Side on Monday of last week, alongside actor Sean Bean, to speak with Columbia University Professor of Film Annette Insdorf about co-writing the project together.
Bean, much like his character in the film, Gem Stoker, the much put-upon and deeply religious brother of Daniel Day-Lewis’s character Ray, left most of the speaking on the night to his co-star Day-Lewis and his director son Ronan.
The father and son spoke about how the film’s conception was born out of a joint interest in sibling rivalry and developed over the course of four years, with a focus on improvisation over written dialogue. The Falklands War was first considered as the original traumatic backstory for ex-British soldier Ray, but was moved to Northern Ireland due to the actor’s familiarity with the conflict. “I already knew about the Troubles in Northern Ireland but [there was] still more to be learned about that British army aspect of that conflict,” remarked the actor regarding the switch.
“Anemone” director Ronan Day-Lewis speaking at 92NY last week.
Day-Lewis, who has long made his home in rural Ireland and raised his children there, is known for his method-acting techniques in which he immerses himself fully into the role of his characters both on and off stage. He is no stranger to the Northern Irish conflict as a theme, having famously portrayed Gerard Conlon, a Belfast man who was wrongly convicted for the 1974 Guildford Pub bombings in Surrey, England, (and who alongside three others became known as the Guildford Four) in director Jim Sheridan’s “In The Name of the Father” (1993). The film earned him a second Oscar nomination for Best Actor (he’s been nominated five times and won a record three times).
“In The Name of the Father” faced criticism at the time of its release due to factual inaccuracies and “Anemone” struggles with a similar artistic license being employed to create fictional trauma from a real conflict for Ray’s character. Despite this, Daniel Day-Lewis’s performance is on par with his previous body of work and an explosive monologue delivered by him will linger in audiences’ minds long after the credits roll.
It is an impressive feat for painter-turned-first-time director Ronan, 27, whose previous body of film work is pretty slim, consisting of the short film “The Sheep and the Wolf” and a series of music videos, such as for one for composer Philip Glass.
While his father’s celebrity status no doubt has played a factor in this young director’s high-profile directorial debut he isn’t without talent - the film pulls you in not just through the magnetic force of Daniel Day-Lewis and Sean Bean’s performances but well-crafted sequences by the director showcase his origins as a painter, exemplified particularly in the film’s climactic force majeure.
“Anemone” is not a perfect film and some will question whether it was a fitting return for an actor of Daniel Day-Lewis’s caliber. However, critics and audiences will decide where this film ranks in terms of the actor’s previous performances, and sets the stage for a hopeful return of one of Hollywood’s most serious talents.
