Maudie (2016)

9.30pm, Monday, TG4

“Show me how you see the world” One of our most celebrated directors, Aisling Walsh, had previously made her mark on both the big (Joyriders, Song For a Raggy Boy) and small screen (Fingersmith, Room at the Top), but Maudie was her most accomplished work to date. Sally Hawkins delivers a towering central performance as the self-taught Canadian folk artist, Maud Lewis. Despite being hamstrung by rheumatoid arthritis and a gru husband (Ethan Hawke) with little appreciation for the arts, Maud discovers a talent for painting that would have admirers beating a path to her door and critics lauding her ‘’pictures of joy’’.

Beautifully shot on location in Newfoundland by Guy Godfree, Maudie o ers Hawke one of his strongest and (initially, anyway) least sympathetic roles; one, incidentally, that had originally been earmarked for Sean Penn. ‘’Let me tell you how it is around here,’’ he gru y explains to his new housekeeper and future wife, ‘’it’s me, them dogs, them chickens, then you.’’as good as Hawke is, this lm is all about Sally Hawkins. The English actress makes you care every inch of the way for this frail, bird-like artist whose irrepressible optimism slowly emerges through her expressive art. Ever the perfectionist, she prepared for the role by painting for up to four hours each day, while also employing a body movement teacher to re ect the juvenile arthritis of her subject. Her performance was rewarded with the top prize from the US National Society of Film Critics, while Ethan Hawke and Aisling Walsh received gongs from both the Canadian and Irish Film academies.