Different Strokes

Featuring an artist you’ve probably never heard of and the kind of relationship that’s rarely depicted on the big screen, why is intimate biopic Maudie one of the most affecting films you’ll see this year? Total Film talks to Sally Hawkins and Ethan Hawke about a quietly revolutionary drama that’s looking like an early awards favourite.

- Matt Maytum

It’s all a bit risky,” says director Aisling Walsh of assembling a film about little-known folk artist Maud Lewis. “Nobody knew her. It’s not Van Gogh, it’s not Picasso, it’s not even Frida Kahlo. It’s an outsider artist – nobody really knows very much about her work.” Co-star Ethan Hawke, who plays Maudie’s frequently boorish husband Everett, puts it even more bluntly. “There’s a lot of energy pushing zombie movies and Mummy movies and different kinds of movies into the world,” he sighs. “There’s not a lot of energy  pushing movies about disabled Canadian folk artists. But her story’s very valuable. I like to believe in a world that this movie can exist [in].”

Yes, on paper Maudie sounds very much like a hard sell. Its qualities are certainly slow-burn, from the intentionally painterly visuals to its lived-in performances (which deserve to be remembered until awards season, and long after), but it packs a lingering impact. Charting the life and times of Nova Scotia folk artist Maud Lewis (played by Sally Hawkins), who lived in a 12ft by 12ft shack with husband Everett, it gently traces her path from housekeeper to celebrated local artist, as she begins painting on virtually any surface she can find, including the walls and windows of the shack itself. Her decorated home became considered her masterpiece after her death in 1970 and is now exhibited at the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia. Despite suffering from juvenile rheumatoid arthritis, Maud didn’t let her physical ailments hold back her creativity, painting bright, bold, ‘naïve’ pieces that found an audience despite her lack of formal training.