Review: ‘Dance First’ is a Middling Portrait of Samuel Beckett

Exploring the life of an author in a different medium is an interesting endeavor. While much writing stems from lived experiences, regardless of whether it’s meant to be fact or fiction, an author doesn’t often explicitly insert himself or herself into a work. Samuel Beckett is a notable figure from history, a prominent and influential Irish writer in the twentieth century whose life is brought to the screen by director James Marsh in Dance First. This portrait zooms out to focus on those in Beckett’s orbit, and on the author’s self-reflection later in his life on his many influences.

This black-and-white motion picture opens on Beckett (Gabriel Byrne) about to receive a Nobel Prize late in his career, an honor he doesn’t believe is necessary. When he goes up to the stage, he passes the podium and instead climbs up a ladder to exit the building, where he encounters another version of himself (also played by Byrne). The two Becketts discuss the formative moments that have led up to that point, and extended flashbacks center on a younger Beckett (Fionn O’Shea) under the tutelage of James Joyce (Aidan Gillen) and striving to forge his own path and find his own voice.

Byrne receives star billing in this film due to his name recognition, even though his role is rather minimal as compared with O’Shea’s performance. Byrne does act opposite himself, which surely presents a challenge but isn’t as satisfying an experiment as it could have been, and O’Shea delivers the more notable and praiseworthy interpretation of the author. The star of the endearing Dating Amber makes an impressive transition to drama as Beckett navigates being pushed into a relationship he doesn’t want with Joyce’s daughter Lucia (Gráinne Good), whose unstable mental health condition makes her a prime pariah for the era that her family wishes to no longer have to consider a burden.

Dance First comes from Marsh, an Oscar winner for his documentary thriller Man on Wire. Since then, he has helmed several narrative dramas, including another Oscar-friendly title, The Theory of Everything. That biopic stands out among a sea of others as a strong entry that does justice to its protagonists, probing their best and worst moments and assembling a compelling story around them to weave from start to finish. His latest effort, from screenwriter Neil Forsyth, who most recently worked on the series Guilt, doesn’t approach either Marsh or Forsyth’s previous projects in terms of its ability to successfully extract and highlight the most worthwhile and inviting pieces of its subjects’ journeys.

The lack of impact may best be attributed to its structure, which begins at the peak of Beckett’s career where he has long since lost any curiosity or excitement about what he’s doing. Seeing a much younger and livelier version of the writer contemplating what might be next for his future, engaging with the French Resistance and determining where his time should be well spent to assure himself productive education is far more interesting than watching Byrne’s Beckett ask himself questions about what was and what could have been. There is a mildly entertaining banter to be found in Byrne’s mirrored conversations, but the device never fully takes off to be overly memorable.

Where Dance First does find its most stable and self-assured footing is in its exploration of the relationships Beckett opted to pursue throughout his life, first with Lucia Joyce and then with his wife Suzanne (Sandrine Bonnaire) and a translator named Barbara (Maxine Peake). It hardly paints Beckett as a saint or even someone approaching perfection, a humble and honest look at someone whose writings are just the beginning of his story. For Beckett fans intimately familiar with his work, this film may resonate, but for anyone else, there’s little about this presentation that calls out to be discovered.

Movie Rating: 5/10

Awards Buzz: Though he won a Golden Globe and earned two Emmy nominations for in Treatment, Byrne has never been much of an awards magnet, and this film doesn’t offer him much to do. O’Shea is likely too unknown, and this film, unlike its subject, isn’t going to be a tremendous prizewinner.