Director John Madden premiered his new film "Onwards and Sideways" on Sunday, a story about friendship, humor and affection built around an incurable illness. The film, starring Laura Linney and Rhys Ifans, had its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival.
Ifans plays Tony, the deputy head of a primary school, while Linney plays Emma, a composer, pianist and single mother of two daughters. The two characters do not know each other, but their lives begin to intersect after they receive the same diagnosis of Parkinson's disease on the same day at the same clinic.
The screenplay was written by Paul Mayhew-Archer, known for his work on "The Vicar of Dibley," who was diagnosed with Parkinson's in 2011. He first turned that experience into material for his comedy work before shaping it into the film.
Madden on tackling illness through comedy
Madden told the EFE news agency that what struck him most when he read the script was Mayhew-Archer's decision to confront the disease through humor. He said he thought it was a very interesting and liberating reaction. Madden said he believes the film can help combat the stigma associated with Parkinson's, though he does not see that as the movie's sole purpose.
Madden said the film tells a story about an illness that people do not fully understand, and that if it gets audiences to think about it with a bit more of an open mind, that would be a good outcome.
Mayhew-Archer, who also appears in the film, told EFE that the humor carries an element of defiance against the disease. He said they refused to play by Parkinson's rules, adding that he personally refuses to retire, stay in bed and quietly die, and that many other people feel the same and want to fight it instead.
Impact of the role on Linney
Linney acknowledged that before preparing for the role, her understanding of the disease was limited and mostly tied to tremors and its progressive nature. She told EFE she had no idea there are around 40 different symptoms and that Parkinson's affects each person in a very particular way.
The actress said she was especially interested in exploring how a physical condition can also alter a person's emotional compass, survival instinct and capacity to relate to others.
Ifans draws on a personal family connection
Ifans found an even more personal link to the project. His grandmother had Parkinson's, and the actor recalled watching as a child how the disease gradually transformed her life. He said she went from being someone who played with him to someone he cared for, over a relatively short period.
He added that reading the script allowed him, as an adult, to try to understand something he had not grasped as a child, and that this became one of the ways he found his way into the character.
Humor is one of the elements that runs through "Onwards and Sideways," but both Ifans and Linney stressed that the key is laughing with people who have the disease, not at them.
A production built with people who have Parkinson's
Ifans said Mayhew-Archer gives audiences permission to enter his world and laugh in a way that might not work if the story had not been written by someone living with the disease. Linney added that comedy can act as a form of survival, saying that when it touches on a truth, it makes people listen to things differently and can make something frightening feel bearable.
The production also worked to avoid a generic portrayal of Parkinson's. Linney and Ifans researched the symptoms and worked with specialists to build distinct manifestations of the disease for their respective characters.
More than 25 people with Parkinson's also took part in the filming, including performers with the disease in speaking roles.
Rory Kinnear and Monica Dolan round out the main cast of the film, which was shot in the English county of Norfolk with a score by Thomas Newman.
