Oscar-winning producer David Puttnam, had a surprise in store for his wife, Patsy, when he mentioned he’d acquired a holiday residence in a country that started with the letter ‘i.’ Patsy gleefully assumed they were headed for Italy, as portrayed at the beginning of the heartwarming documentary “David Puttnam: The Long Way Home” (RTÉ One, Thursday, 10.15pm). Her assumptions stood corrected when they journeyed to west Cork, Skibbereen, to a beautiful house overlooking the Ilen river – it was Ireland, not Italy.
Ever since the early 1980s, minus few stints to Hollywood, the Puttnams have been blissfully living the rural life in Cork. David amusingly admits that he would cheer for Ireland over England when confronted with a World Cup match.
The documentary on Puttnam by Edel O’Mahony, presents two parallel stories. One unfolds his journey as a film producer that included his Oscar-winning effort with ‘Chariots of Fire’ in 1981 and a turbulent period at the helm of Columbia Pictures from 1986 to 1987. He regards his stint at Columbia Pictures, where his feats involved green-lighting Spike Lee’s early feature ‘School Daze’, as an ‘absurd decision’.
The documentary’s essence, though, is focused on Puttnam’s association and fondness for Ireland. The notion of Ireland being a sanctuary from the hustle of London life struck him during the production of ‘Local Hero’ in Aberdeenshire during 1983. After exploring Scotland and Ireland, he found himself drawn to west Cork. He reminisces how a quick look over some brambles gave him his first glimpse of the mesmerising Ilen river. The scene perfectly aligned with the image his mind’s eye conjured up.
The documentary is an exploration of an Englishman’s affair with Ireland and is a testimony of the passion David has for the Emerald Isle.
His films, full of intense moral underpinnings, often see heroes pursuing their goals while upholding their principles. For instance, in ‘Chariots of Fire’, the protagonist wins a gold medal without conceding to competition on Sundays. ‘The Killing Fields’ follows Sam Waterston’s journalist character sticking by his friend and victim of the Khmer Rouge, Dith Pran, during end-1970s Cambodia.
Puttnam’s sense of decency has influenced his feelings towards Ireland, including a deep interest in the Famine, which he sees as the UK’s first major transgression against its nearest colony. Puttnam visited a Famine cemetery in Skibbereen, a place he admires for its ability to overcome hardships and prosper.
Additionally, through his Puttnam Scholarship Programme, he has guided a fresh wave of filmmakers. Puttnam is also a candid critic of the detrimental effects of Brexit on the UK-Ireland relationship, expressing despair at what he perceives as self-infliction by his birth nation.
However, the documentary, The Long Way Home, ends on a positive note as we see Puttnam being granted Irish citizenship. This completes his transition from a cosmopolitan outsider to becoming one among the few English individuals who seem to become nearly as Irish as the Irish themselves.
He asserts his journey to Ireland prompted him to reconsider the British role in Ireland, particularly their significant cultural insensitivity. He acknowledges his move to Ireland was purely serendipitous.