Dance First

The film documents the Irish writer's life, from his childhood, his friendship with James Joyce until the incarceration of the latter's mentally ill daughter Lucia Joyce, his relationship with his future wife Suzanne Dumesnil, his time as a fighter for the French Resistance during the Second World War, his postwar literary rise and subsequent Nobel Prize for Literature in 1969, his affair with translator Barbara Bray and his later life until his death in 1989. Throughout the film, Beckett carries out an interior monologue.{{Cite web|url=https://www.rte.ie/entertainment/2022/0519/1299873-dance-first/|title=Aidan Gillen joins Gabriel Byrne's Beckett movie Dance First|website=RTE|date=May 19, 2022 }}

• Gabriel Byrne as Samuel Beckett
• Fionn O'Shea as the eldest of three younger Becketts{{cite news |last1=Armistead |first1=Claire |title=A lot of biopics depend on likeness – this is braver’: Gabriel Byrne on playing Samuel Beckett |url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2023/sep/22/gabriel-byrne-dance-first-samuel-beckett |access-date=22 September 2023 |work=The Guardian |date=22 September 2023}}
• Aidan Gillen as James Joyce
• Maxine Peake as Barbara Bray
• Sandrine Bonnaire as Suzanne Dechevaux-Dumesnil
• Léonie Lojkine as young Suzanne
• Robert Aramayo as Alfred Peron
• Bronagh Gallagher as Nora Barnacle
• Lisa Dwyer Hogg as May Beckett
• Barry O’Connor as William Beckett
• Gráinne Good as Lucia Joyce
• Caroline Boulton as Sylvia Beach

In November 2021, it was announced that James Marsh was to direct the bio-pic with Gabriel Byrne playing Beckett from a screenplay from Neil Forsyth and a title taken from Beckett's ethos on life of "Dance first, think later". The project was developed with Sky Arts in the U.K. and produced by 2LE Media's Michael Livingstone and Tom Thostrup, alongside Viktória Petrányi of Hungary's Proton Cinema and Belgium's Umedia.{{Cite web|url=https://variety.com/2021/film/global/james-marsh-samuel-beckett-dance-first-gabriel-byrne-film-constellation-afm-1235104740/|title=Oscar Winner James Marsh to Direct Samuel Beckett Biopic 'Dance First,' Starring Gabriel Byrne|website=Variety|date=November 4, 2021 }}

The project isn't the first time Forsyth has written about Beckett - his Sky Playhouse short film Waiting for Andre was about the real-life friendship between Beckett and a teenage Andre the Giant.{{Cite web|url=https://www.byrneholics.com/2021/news/gabriel-byrne/films/new-dance-first-a-film-about-samuel-beckett/|title= New! Dance First, a film about Samuel Beckett|website=Byrneholics.com|date= November 8, 2021}} In May 2022, it was announced that Aidan Gillen joined the cast along with Sandrine Bonnaire and Fionn O'Shea as a younger Samuel Beckett.{{Cite web|url=https://www.irishcentral.com/culture/entertainment/gabriel-byrne-aidan-gillen-samuel-beckett-biopic|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220523115323/https://www.irishcentral.com/culture/entertainment/gabriel-byrne-aidan-gillen-samuel-beckett-biopic|url-status=live|archive-date=May 23, 2022|title=Gabriel Byrne and Aidan Gillen sign on for Samuel Beckett biopic|website=Irish Central}} Gillen confirmed to The Times that his role was that of James Joyce and that Marsh is “a great film-maker, so the Beckett story is in good hands.”{{Cite news|url=https://www.thetimes.com/culture/tv-radio/article/aidan-gillen-for-edginess-tv-is-where-it-s-at-j6hgb2c65|title=Aidan Gillen "For edginess, TV is where it's at"|website=The Times|last1=Murphy |first1=Lauren }} In September 2022, it was revealed that Maxine Peake, Robert Aramayo, Leonie Lojkine, Bronagh Gallagher, Lisa Dwyer Hogg, Barry O'Connor and Gráinne Good had joined the cast.{{Cite web|url=https://www.screendaily.com/news/first-look-gabriel-byrne-as-samuel-beckett-in-james-marshs-biopic-dance-first-exclusive/5174188.article|title=First look: Gabriel Byrne as Samuel Beckett in James Marsh's biopic 'Dance First'|website=Screen Daily}}

Principal photography began in Budapest in May 2022.{{Cite web|url=https://www.rte.ie/entertainment/2022/0519/1299873-dance-first/|title=Aidan Gillen joins Gabriel Byrne's Beckett movie Dance First|website=rte.ie|date=May 19, 2022 }} Filming locations in Budapest included the corner of Gerlóczy utca and Vitkovics Mihály utca, the steps of the Vígszínház, Dohány utca, the lobby of Hotel Gellért and the New York Kávéház.{{Cite web|url=https://szinhaz.online/gabriel-byrne-szereplesevel-forog-budapesten-a-beckett-eleterol-szolo-film/|title=GABRIEL BYRNE STARS IN THE FILM ABOUT BECKETT'S LIFE IN BUDAPEST|website=Szinhaz.online|date=June 19, 2022 }}

On set in Budapest Byrne was interviewed by The Guardian and described the project as an effort to flesh out a character whom “people know very little about. He was a man who had a sense of humour, who was deeply emotional, who was a failure in his own eyes for a great deal of his life”. Byrne described how the man's sense of self contrasts greatly with the global notoriety and fame that came from being subsequently awarded the Nobel prize, and yet how he remained a man “who lived the last part of his life alone in a very simple room in a nursing home”. Discussing his performance Byrne said “Physically I can sketch him, but with this film we are not looking for an impersonation of Beckett, rather a sense of who he was. What you want is people to believe the man, not focus their attention on the wig or the makeup or the false nose.”{{Cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2022/jul/17/gabriel-byrne-memoir-interview-walking-with-ghosts-samuel-beckett|title=Gabriel Byrne: 'I was never not conscious of being Irish'|website=The Guardian}}

The film closed the 71st San Sebastián International Film Festival's official selection on 30 September 2023.{{Cite web |title=San Sebastian Film Festival |url=https://www.sansebastianfestival.com:443/2023/news/1/20861/in |access-date=2023-08-21 |website=sansebastianfestival |language=en}}{{Cite web|url=https://variety.com/2023/film/global/sky-trailer-james-marsh-dance-first-san-sebastian-1235730074/|website=Variety|date=21 September 2023|first=Leo|last=Barraclough|title=Sky Debuts Trailer for James Marsh’s ‘Dance First,’ Starring Gabriel Byrne, Ahead of World Premiere at San Sebastian Film Festival (Exclusive)}} The film was theatrically released in the United Kingdom on 3 November 2023, by Sky Cinema in association with StudioCanal.{{cite web|title=UK-Ireland box office preview: ‘How To Have Sex’, ‘Bottoms’, ‘The Royal Hotel’ lead new openers|website=Screen International|first=Ben|last=Dalton|date=3 November 2023|access-date=6 December 2023|url=https://www.screendaily.com/news/uk-ireland-box-office-preview-how-to-have-sex-bottoms-the-royal-hotel-lead-new-openers/5187589.article}}

{{Rotten Tomatoes prose|41|5.1|34|consensus=|ref=yes|access-date=4 September 2024}}

{{Metacritic film prose|46|10|ref=yes|access-date=4 September 2024}}

The Guardian{{'s}} Claire Armitstead called Dance First, "a small masterpiece" and said of Byrne's performance, "such is the power of the storytelling that within minutes you believe in him entirely".{{Cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2023/sep/22/gabriel-byrne-dance-first-samuel-beckett|title=A lot of biopics depend on likeness – this is braver: Gabriel Byrne on playing Samuel Beckett|website=The Guardian|date=September 22, 2023 }} The Irish Times called the film "striking" and praised O'Shea's "excellent" performance and Gallagher's "fine turn".{{Cite web|url=https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/film/2023/10/28/fionn-oshea-on-being-cast-as-samuel-beckett-there-was-a-moment-of-elation-followed-by-crippling-anxiety/|title=Fionn O'Shea on being cast as Samuel Beckett: 'There was a moment of elation followed by crippling anxiety’|website=irishtimes.com|date=October 29, 2023 }} The Times called Byrne "one of Ireland's great actors".{{Cite web|url=https://www.thetimes.com/world/ireland-world/article/gabriel-byrne-i-can-t-understand-how-i-went-from-walkinstown-to-hollywood-rlnt35hvh|title=Gabriel Byrne: 'I can’t understand how I went from Walkinstown to Hollywood'|website=The Times|date=October 25, 2023 }} Screen Daily called the film's formal premise "ingenious", adding there is "definitely a Beckettian ring to the dialogue" and called Byrne's performance, "rueful but often tartly humorous evocation of Beckett as a vulnerable, tender figure, he convincingly humanises a writer often represented as an inaccessibly lofty secular prophet".{{Cite web|url=https://www.screendaily.com/reviews/dance-first-san-sebastian-review/5186436.article|title=‘Dance First’: San Sebastian Review|website=Screen Daily|date=October 1, 2023 }}

In The Guardian, Peter Bradshaw mentioned Gillen's performance as one of the best in a supporting role on film in 2023.{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2023/dec/22/braddies-peter-bradshaw-film-picks-of-the-year|website=The Guardian|date=22 December 2023|title= And the 2023 Braddies go to … Peter Bradshaw’s film picks of the year|first=Peter|last=Bradshaw|access-date=22 December 2023}} Bradshaw said the film is “well-acted and tells the story with verve”, and complimented Byrne's “austere and droll” Beckett.{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2023/nov/01/dance-first-review-drama-gabriel-byrne-samuel-beckett-life|website=The Guardian|date=22 December 2023|title= Dance First review – Samuel Beckett’s life given the high gloss Hollywood treatment|first=Peter|last=Bradshaw|access-date=22 December 2023}} The Financial Times called Marsh “a graceful stylist” and praised the performances of Bonnaire and Peake, saying, “There is dramatic elegance to the mirrored excellence of the actresses”.{{cite web|url=https://www.ft.com/content/308bf69f-ec2a-4701-9be3-02d1373a9c46|website=Financial Times|date=22 December 2023|title= Dance First film review — chapters in the life of Samuel Beckett|first=Danny|last=Leigh|access-date=22 December 2023}} The Irish Independent said that Byrne, “sinks into the role remarkably well” and called the film, “an honourable attempt at a Beckett biopic, well cast and not overplayed”.{{cite web|url=https://www.independent.ie/entertainment/movies/movie-reviews/dance-first-review-samuel-beckett-biopic-starring-gabriel-byrne-shows-the-writers-genius-as-well-as-his-messy-private-life-and-failings/a491759572.html|website=Irish Independent|date=22 December 2023|title= Dance First review: Samuel Beckett biopic starring Gabriel Byrne shows the writer’s genius as well as his messy private life and failings|first=Paul|last=Whitington|access-date=22 December 2023}}

The Irish Business Post's review of the film called it “formally ingenious” and observed that “when Byrne – or Byrnes – takes centre stage, the film sings”.{{cite web|url=https://www.businesspost.ie/life-arts/john-maguire-on-film-exploration-of-toxic-masculinity-in-australia-backs-itself-into-a-corner/|website=Irish Business Post|date=22 December 2023|title= John Maguire on film: Exploration of toxic masculinity in Australia backs itself into a corner|first=John|last=Maguire|access-date=22 December 2023}} The Irish Examiner called Byrne and O’Shea “terrific” and said “Dance First is a literary biopic that deserves all the garlands that come its way”.{{cite web|url=https://www.irishexaminer.com/lifestyle/artsandculture/arid-41261923.html|website=Irish Examiner|date=22 December 2023|title= Film review: Dance First is a Beckett biopic that's no deadener|first=Declan|last=Burke|access-date=22 December 2023}} The Arts Desk praised Forsyth's “wonderful” dialogue and “the elegant chiaroscuro of Antonio Paladino's cinematography”F{{cite web|url=https://theartsdesk.com/film/dance-first-travails-samuel-beckett|website=The Arts Desk|date=22 December 2023|title= Dance First - the travails of Samuel Beckett|first=Hugh|last=Barnes|access-date=22 December 2023}}

In March 2024, Bronagh Gallagher was nominated for Best Supporting Actress at the IFTA Film & Drama Awards.{{cite web|title=Cillian Murphy, Andrew Scott Among Irish Film & TV Awards Nominees; ‘Lies We Tell’ Leads Feature Categories – Full List|date=14 March 2024|accessdate=14 March 2024|website=Deadline Hollywood|url=

https://deadline.com/2024/03/irish-film-tv-awards-nominees-2024-cillian-murphy-andrew-scott-lies-we-tell-kin-full-list-1235858253/}}

Dance First won Best Single Drama at the 2024 Celtic Media Festival.{{cite web|title=Dance First|first= Nancy |last=Tartaglione|date=14 March 2024|accessdate=14 March 2024|website=Celtic Media Festival|url=

https://www.celticmediafestival.co.uk/view-entry/7455}}

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Category:2023 biographical drama films

Category:British biographical drama films

Category:Films directed by James Marsh

Category:Biographical films about writers

Category:Biographical films about dramatists and playwrights

Category:Films about Nobel laureates

Category:Films shot in Budapest

Category:2020s Belgian films

Category:Samuel Beckett

Category:Films relating to James Joyce