Sir Michael Caine delivered a deeply personal and moving eulogy in honour of John McGrath. I was among the capacity audience of friends and leading filmmakers paying our respects at 195 Piccadilly, BAFTA’s London headquarters.
Sir Michael paid tribute to John’s many achievements and the influence he had on film, television and touring theatre. He recalled how John and his wife Elizabeth gave shelter to struggling actors in their early careers, and how he personally had benefited from their generosity. His sometimes-faltering voice remembering that he had never forgotten those early days.
Michael Billington(Guardian 24thJan. 2002) wrote:
In a world of careerists, McGrath was always a passionate socialist: he believed strongly that the function of art was to reach as many people as possible, to heighten awareness and to help change society.
As I left B.A.F.T.A. reflecting on Sir Michael’s words, I was reminded of how privileged I had been to photograph five of John’s films; the last one being ‘Mairi Mhor: Her Life and Songs’. This is a true story about a Gaelic warrior woman, who shared many of John’s traits, to challenge the status quo.
Mairi Mhor (Mary MacPherson) wrote passionate resistance songs and poetry about the ruthless Landlords who had violently removed the Scottish Crofting Communities from their homelands during the Highland Clearances; her evocative words still resonate today.
Born on 10 March 1821, Mairi, a widowed mother of five from Skye was jailed in 1872 and only began writing in herfifties to release the anger and rage she felt after being unjustly imprisoned; maliciously accused of theft.
Mairi’s first poem from her jail cell, was ‘Tha mi sgith de luchd na Beurla’
(I am tired of the English speakers).
As a freedom fighter her vast collection of rousing, inspirational and enduring Gaelic verse contributed significantly to promoting the campaign for Land Reform. Her courage recognised by a commemorative flagstone laid in her honour at the National Literary Monument, in Maker’s Court, Edinburgh.
Alison Kerr writing in the Film Guide said:
‘Stunningly photographed by Mark Littlewood and extremely absorbing, this is the true story of Mary MacPherson…………. Using flashbacks and a soundtrack of MacPherson’s songs, the life of this remarkable woman is pieced together and nineteenth-century Scotland is memorably evoked.
#MichaelCaine #MairiMhor #JohnMcGrath #BAFTA#ShapingtheShadowsAPictureMakersStory
