Evelyn

This topic contains:

• overall comments and recommendations
• details about Evelyn's classification and consumer advice lines
• a review of Evelyn completed by Young Media Australia (YMA) on 11 May 2004.

Overall comments and recommendations

Evelyn is an absorbing, if somewhat emotive drama which deals with the unjust family law that existed in Ireland in the 1950s, when the movie was set. What could have been a sombre subject is lightened by the love and hope that the Doyle family share. The characters in the movie are well developed, particularly young Evelyn who is a delightful child full of honesty and forgiveness. The acting by Brosnan and young Sophie Vavasseur is excellent and the movie conveys the atmosphere of the time very well.

About the movie

This section contains details about the movie, including its classification by the Office of Film and Literature Classification (OFLC) and the associated consumer advice lines.

YMA review

This review of the movie Evelyn contains the following information:

• a synopsis of the story
• use of violence
• material that may scare children
• product placement
• sexual references
• nudity and sexual activity
• use of substances
• coarse language
• the movie's message

A synopsis of the story

Based on a true story, Evelyn is about a nine year old child named Evelyn Doyle, living in Dublin in the 1950s. Evelyn’s Dad, Desmond, is deserted by his wife for another man and left to bring up his three children, Evelyn and two younger boys Dermot and Maurice.

Desmond loves his children dearly but the Children’s Act of 1941 states that a man is not able to care for his children if there is no mother and therefore children must be placed in state care. Abetted by the Catholic Church, the two boys are placed in an orphanage and Evelyn is placed in a convent. Desmond, an unemployed painter and decorator, turns to hard drinking which doesn’t help his cause. The courts state that Desmond needs to find employment and improve his means to care for his children. Bernadette, a university student working part time as a barmaid at the local pub, encourages him to stop drinking and look for work.

With the help of his father, a fiddle player, Desmond sings in the pub to earn money and finds some work. When he again appeals to the courts they state that the mother’s consent is required to release the children from care. Bernadette enlists the help of her solicitor brother Michael to help Desmond. American barrister Nicholas Barron, also agrees to help free of charge. They appeal again to the courts but the case is again rejected and the children must stay in care until they reach the age of 16 and with no right of appeal. They then turn to Tom Connelly, a retired barrister, who also agrees to help. They decide to take the case to the Supreme Court to challenge the Irish Constitution and set a new precedent in Irish law.

Use of violence

Research shows that children are at risk of learning that violence is an acceptable means of conflict resolution when violence is glamourised, performed by an attractive hero, successful, has few real life consequences, is set in a comic context and / or is mostly perpetrated by male characters with female victims, or by one race against another.

Repeated exposure to violent content can reinforce the message that violence is an acceptable means of conflict resolution. Repeated exposure also increases the risks that children will become desensitised to the use of violence in real life or develop an exaggerated view about the prevalence and likelihood of violence in their own world.

There is some violence in this movie:

• Desmond and his wife argue loudly
• the nuns physically drag Evelyn away screaming from her Grandfather
• Desmond throws a punch at a priest for “making his children orphans” but the priest foils the blow and punches him back, knocking Desmond out.
• Sister Bridget repeatedly hits a child with a strap for not repeating the catechism correctly.
• Evelyn speaks out against Sister Bridget for hitting the child whereupon she flies into a rage, drags Evelyn out of the class and hits her violently across the face several times for daring to question her authority.
• when Desmond hears about the incident he goes to the convent and grabs Sister Bridget by the neck and threatens her with dire consequences should she ever lay hands on Evelyn again.
• Desmond tries to break into the convent one night and falls from the wall having drunk too much.
• Desmond climbs over a barbed wire fence, gets caught on the barbs and is chased by aggressive German Shepherd dogs.

Material that may scare children

Under eight

Children under eight are most likely to be frightened by scary visual images, such as monsters, physical transformations, the death of a parent or child abandoned or separated from parents, children or animals being hurt or threatened and / or natural disasters.

Children in this age group would be scared by the above violent scenes. They could also be disturbed by the following:

• Evelyn watching her Mother leave in a car with another man.
• the mother abandoning her children
• the children being placed in orphanages.
• Desmond’s Dad dies from a heart attack in the pub.

Aged eight to thirteen

Children aged eight to thirteen are most likely to be frightened by realistic threats and dangers, violence or threat of violence and / or stories in which children are hurt or threatened

Younger children in this age group could also be disturbed by the above mentioned scenes.

Over the age of thirteen

Children over the age of thirteen are most likely to be frightened by realistic physical harm or threats, molestation or sexual assault and / or threats from aliens or the occult.

Children in this age group would probably not be disturbed by this movie, depending on their own experiences in life and their sensitivity to the themes in the movie.

Product placement

Research shows that children, particularly children under the age of eight, are vulnerable to product placement in movies. Even if the child doesn’t recall seeing a particular brand in the movie, they will choose that brand in preference to another, if they have just seen it used or displayed in a movie. This effect may be exacerbated if the product is highlighted as part of the story or if an actor or character they admire is seen to endorse or enjoy the product.

The following products were displayed or used in this movie:

• Bird’s Custard Powder
• Kellogg’s Corn Flakes.

Sexual references

There is only one sexual reference, when the barman states that his wife is frigid.

Nudity and sexual activity

There is no nudity or sexual activity.

Use of substances

There is a lot of drinking and smoking in this movie. Desmond is a heavy drinker and smoker but Bernadette helps him to stop drinking so much. Young girls are also shown smoking.

Coarse language

There is a lot of coarse language in this movie, with frequent use of the following words:

• bastard
• bloody
• Jesus.

There is occasional use of:

• bitch
• arse
• for God’s sake.

The movie's message

The take home message is that with faith, hope and determination all things are possible.

Values parents may wish to encourage include:

• love and caring
• forgiveness
• endurance through adversity
• faith
• kindness
• honesty.

Values parents may wish to discourage include:

• turning to drink as a means to solve problems

Ý taking revenge.