Waiting for Godot, Endgame, Happy Days, and the aptly titled, Play.  Four of Irish playwright Samuel Beckett’s most familiar works are recognizable to anyone who has held a subscription to a reputable regional theater.  The Nobel Prize winner was a crucial figure in the Theatre of the Absurd movement, existential productions that examined the human condition through the deconstruction of language and thought.  Often appearing to lack purpose and point, these works could make you laugh or recoil, but they always make you think.  Beckett was considered a pillar in his field because he possessed an excellent grasp of the unseen forces that seek to control us and relentlessly pursue our consciousness.

I’d understand why a biopic of Beckett would be a hard sell for most studios, even with an ace cast and celebrated Oscar-winning director (James Marsh, Man on Wire) behind the camera.  This man made a name for himself creating works that alienated audiences, often drawing from his troubled upbringing and personal failings to feed his writing.  Biopics are tricky beasts; their narratives usually skip around the edges of the subject’s achievements, but Neil Forsyth’s intriguingly structured screenplay, Dance First cuts a distinct and captivating figure.  This transforms the often-opaque world of Beckett into a compelling film that will engage intellectuals who have studied his work and welcome newcomers who have yet to discover his genius.

Before becoming one of the 20th century’s most influential literary figures, Beckett had a turbulent upbringing in Ireland.  Losing his father at a young age and being raised by his terrifyingly strict and emotionally withholding mother (Lisa Dwyer Hogg), Beckett longed to escape the confines of his home and town for the more decadent streets of Paris, where his literary idols lived.  When a young Beckett (Fionn O’Shea, Dating Amber) meets author and fellow Irish transport James Joyce (Aidan Gillen, Those Who Wish Me Dead), he makes it clear that he wants to be part of the literary greats and eventually takes on the role of Joyce’s assistant.

During his friendship with Joyce, he becomes entangled through kindness with the daughter of the esteemed writer, nearly losing his way with the mentally ill Lucia (Gráinne Good).  Beckett’s poignant relationship with Suzanne Dumesnil (first played by the stunning Léonie Lojkine as a young woman before being taken over by a phenomenal Sandrine Bonnaire in her later years) is the centerpiece of the film, with their work alongside the French Resistance pushing them close together, forever bonding them through the pain of war.  A later-in-life affair with critic Barbara Bray (Maxine Peake) takes a toll on Beckett’s open-ended trust with Suzanne, an intimate betrayal reverberating through their final years.

The structure sounds like your typical biopic, and much of Forsyth’s script is just that, using 100 minutes to give a brief highlight reel of the writer’s professional accomplishments while focusing more intently on the strained spaces of his personal life.  I’ll never understand why critics take away points for a screenplay in a film like Dance First, eschewing readily available information in favor of details that most would never know.  Anyone could follow Beckett’s professional timeline through research, but delving into his process and its effect on those around him is massively more entertaining than seeing the opening night celebration of Waiting for Godot. 

Another element that sets the film apart is Forsyth anchoring the narrative with a fascinating conceit: Beckett converses with a double of himself, reflecting on various stages of his life in a dialogue that blurs the boundaries of time and memory.  The film’s clever use of this pseudo-doppelgänger device, with Beckett engaged in an interior monologue with a duplicate version of himself, adds a layer of introspection and psychological depth that elevates it beyond typical genre trappings. That gives us a double dose of the mesmerizing performance of Gabriel Byrne as the elder Beckett, allowing the actor who has played everything from the poetic to the gritty, a real moment in the sun.  Byrne (The 33) demonstrates a deep understanding of the late playwright’s angst and creates his Beckett as a witty, cynical man struggling to stay ahead of his endgame.

Outside of Byrne, Marsh (The Theory of Everything) cast the film exceptionally well.  Gillen is quietly reflective as famed author Joyce, while Bronagh Gallagher (The Personal History of David Copperfield) rides a fine line between comedy and sadness as his wife who fears for the future of their troubled daughter.  Robert Aramayo’s (The King’s Man) Alfred Peron was a friend to Beckett before the war began but becomes a tragic casualty of the early atrocities of WWII.  I wish Peake’s character had slightly more definition outside of being the other woman, but she’s such a strong actress that it only takes a moment to see why Beckett would be tempted away from Suzanne. 

As Byrne’s younger counterpart, O’Shea looks remarkably like the older actor and provides a more vibrant contrast to the weathered man we see at the beginning, lamenting his Nobel Prize win.  However, the film’s true revelation is the heartbreaking Bonnaire as Beckett’s long-suffering partner and muse.  It’s a tour de force performance that captures the bold core of a woman who, despite her steadfast love for her partner, is ultimately destroyed by his betrayals and the public airing of their private lives.  Bonnaire’s ability to convey torment and tenderness in the same breath adds profound weight to the film. 

The film’s creative use of Antonio Paladino’s black-and-white photography for most of the running time beautifully evokes Beckett’s world with a nostalgic, dream-like quality, contrasting sharply with his childhood memories under a harsh mother and his idealized visions of Paris. Damien Creagh’s production design and Maya Angelus’s period art direction vividly evoke the era, even desaturated with color, and the exquisite costume work of Györgyi Szakács allows viewers to step into Beckett’s time with a sense of immediacy and authenticity.

A thoughtful exploration of (most of) Beckett’s life and work, Dance First (titled after Beckett’s famous mantra ‘Dance first, think later.’) offers a fresh perspective on one of literature’s most mysterious figures. Its creative structure is easy to engage with, and the performances across the board are fantastic, moving, and immensely memorable.  As much a tribute to the power of the creative spirit as it is to Beckett’s work, for those familiar with his writing or those new to his world, Dance First provides a worthwhile and worth-watching experience.