MovieChat Forums > Lilies (2007) Discussion > Brian McCardie

Brian McCardie

posted 18 years ago by thylacine89
15 replies | jump to latest

What a fine actor this man is. He plays the role of Dadda excellently, and
I enjoy every scene he's in. There always seems to be an explosion waiting to happen, with that temper of his, yet underneath it all you know he's a decent, caring man. It wasn't the done thing for men to show their affection very much in those days, I suppose.
I was equally impressed with him when he played a nutter in Murphy's Law. The mark of a great actor is the way they make themselves totally believeable in a role, so much so that you can hardly imagine them being any different in real life.

[–] gaby-41 18 years ago

I know! He is the reason I started watching Lilies. He's fantastic! Did you see him in Low winter sun?

[–] thylacine89 18 years ago

No, unfortunately I've not seen that. I've really enjoyed Lilies, notwithstanding any dodgy accents that certain people have pointed out. In the greater scheme of things, it's not all that important, in my opinion. At least they're trying their best to do a good accent.
I've been so impressed with Brian McCardie in this. At first you get the impression that he's an intractable boor of a man, but his good side manages to break through on occasion.
Last week's scene, with Billy's disabled friend wanting to commit suicide, was so moving. One of those series that I don't want to end!

[–] gaby-41 18 years ago

I can really recommend renting Low winter sun, although I must warn you it is quite violent at times. I dislike too much violence in a film, but the plot of this film was very impressive which made up for some of the more bloodier scenes.

I can't judge about the Liverpudlian accent, as I'm not British myself. To me the characters sound pretty much the same, except for Dadda's Irish and the upperclass english of the Brazendales. I'm just really enjoying the terrific storylines and characters. Too bad its only 8 episodes! I would love the idea of a second series, but I have also serious doubts if a second series could be this good!

(PS Are you on the BBC-message board as well?)

[–] thylacine89 18 years ago

Thanks Gaby, I shall look out for it. I don't like violence in films either, though at times a little is necessary for the story, I know.
I've not yet checked out the BBC website for comments on Lilies. It's the kind of thing I get round to doing on quiet Friday nights at work. That means I always have to tape the programme itself, and I'm bound to muck the taping up one day and miss an episode.
I realize that if you're not British then you might have a degree of difficulty picking up certain nuances of accent. I've lived abroad a lot myself, and it always took me a certain while to pick up on regional accents, especially in a language not my own. I have to confess that, not being a Liverpudlian, I didn't wise up to the fact that the accents weren't spot-on. They sounded pretty good to me. I do like the Scouse accent, along with the Geordie accent.
What part of the world do you come from?

[–] gaby-41 18 years ago

I understand what you mean by being afraid to miss an episode: I had to tape yesterday's episode and was so afraid I got the pre-programming thing on the VCR al wrong or that the tape was to old to still be used, but thankfully this morning everything turned out to be fine! :) It did mean I had to watch it without the subtitles. It went quite alright, actually. I missed only a few mumbled sentences. And the regional dialects do sound lovely! I always love to hear dialects in films and tv-series. I am dutch myself and we've got quite a few different dialects here.

In episode 7 Dadda apparently finds romance with a school teacher!

[–] thylacine89 18 years ago

I can't pick up on the nuances of Dutch accents. I used to go to the Eindhoven area pretty frequently, so started learning the language, though I've not been back for almost 2 years now.
Re Friday's episode, I loved the scene at tea, where Dadda needed to open a tin of luncheon meat to supplement the vegetarian fare!
Did you notice the posh woman who was invited to tea said that she wasn't expecting a meal? Probably because 'tea' for working class people means an early-evening meal, whereas she would've thought of 'afternoon tea'. They didn't ram the point home, thankfully, and it was subtly done.

[–] gaby-41 18 years ago

I can imagine, it must be difficult to hear the differences between dutch accents. I work in Eindhoven and live not that far away, so my accent resembles the Eindhoven-one. (Lots of British people in Eindhoven today, for a football match apparently).

That was a funny scene, though I didn't realize about the difference between "tea" as an early meal and the sort of "afternoon high tea". The food did look awfull, haha! And Ruby running after those pigs at night really made me laugh! Ruby is quite a character, and the things she says!

I suppose in episode 7 Dadda will find out about May's pregnancy. I wonder how he will respond.

[–] thylacine89 18 years ago

Well, we found out how he responded when he found out about her pregnancy. This was a fine episode, with Brian outstanding once again. I thought that he played the range of emotions to perfection throughout.
It's hard to believe that people could have been as selfish as his daughters were, but I suppose there were and are people like that around.
By the way, Gaby, it was Helmond where I used to stay, though I often went in to Eindhoven.

[–] garboventures 18 years ago

Agreed this was a fine episode with a great performance from McCardie. However, even though his daughters' response to Miss Bird angered me, I did also wonder if theie fury was party due to their catholicism, as perhaps they saw his marriage to their mother as 'forever' even if she was dead. Hence the slight was greater. I don't think this is a modern Catholic view, but my grandparents expressed similar sentiments.

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[–] thylacine89 18 years ago

That might certainly be true from Iris's point of view, but I wouldn't have thought that the other two sisters were as bothered as her, as they are not so devout as she is.
Having been born into an Irish Catholic family, I can attest that things are nowhere near as strict these days as they were years ago, as you pointed out.
You would have thought that the sisters, having witnessed many explosions of temper from their father, would have welcomed the prospect of someone softening him.
I think that in reality he would have had a few more tries at getting them to accept Miss Bird before breaking it off with her.
Still, a very entertaining episode nonetheless.

[–] gaby-41 18 years ago

Brian was very good this episode in showing us both the softer side of Dadda and his darker side.

Aw, I liked miss Bird so very much! Who knows what a second series might bring...

[–] toxfly 18 years ago

Sorry to be a wet blanket but McCardie has positively the worst Ulster accent I've heard this century. When even Hollywood can get it right, its a shame BBC N.Ireland who produced this couldn't find an actor who sounded right. Spoiled every episode and I gave up in the end.

[–] thylacine89 18 years ago

There are very many examples of actors and actresses making a hash of an accent not their own, but that shouldn't detract from the pleasure of watching them work, especially when they are as good as Brian McCardie.
It's a great pity that you let that spoil the series for you; it's worth making the effort to get over what amounts to a mere trifle.

[–] diayag 15 years ago

It has never been a Catholic view, or a Protestant view for that matter. That's why the old vows say, "Till death us do part." Death is the covenant breaker and in God's hands. It is more of an 18th century Romantic idea, going along with there being only one perfect soul-mate and the logical end is the living mate will waste away and die shortly to rejoin the departed mate. Since marriages have been mostly arrangements of one type or another until the past two centuries, and still are in many cultures, that Romantic idea could never have been part of the official church view. In Dante's Inferno, the "romantic" lovers were joined forever in hell, so no, it's the people's notion, not the church. Fighting siblings, on the other hand, with jealousy over wives and children - is the root of the Mideast conflict for the last 2000 years.

[–] trez1 16 years ago

I just finished watching this series and McCardie was heartbreaking and wonderful even if I could only understand half of what he said! :)

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