Adam and Paul
Encyclopedia
Adam and Paul is a 2004 Irish film centred around a day in the life of two Dublin drug addicts
, Adam and Paul. Adam is the taller and slightly smarter of the two while Paul is his sidekick. It follows the two in a "day in the life" set up as they wander around Dublin trying to score heroin.
Stylistically, Adam and Paul is a cold, contemporary take on classic, physical comedy. At heart it is a minimal, Beckettesque fairytale about two vulnerable children in the grip of forces too powerful for them to handle; they are shown as vulnerable, lost, and sometimes pathetically optimistic. The film is not without hope; it is unsentimental and often very funny testament to the persistence of the human spirit in even the most marginal of people.
The film opens with the protagonists waking up sick in the middle of a field with Adam glued to a mattress. They make their way into town via a run-in with a terrified and terrifying drug dealer named Martin in Flat 63 of Ballymun
Housing, a hasty exit from the top deck of a bus, a long trudge down the median of a dual carriageway and an incident with a moped that injures Paul's leg. Wandering through St Stephen's Green they meet their old gang who are drinking cans and having "a little picnic for the kiddies". Made feel unwelcome, the boys sit down to a roasting from the Marian and Orla who are furious with them for not turning up that morning to the month’s mind of Matthew, the boys' best friend and Orla’s brother. Marian, backed by her brother Wayne, warns them to stay away from his sister. To the disgust of Wayne and the girls, Georgie lets slip that there is a "do" on for Matthew that night in the Bunker pub.
From here we follow the boys aimlessly wandering around the city looking for an unknown person – perhaps a contact that might be able to sort them out with a fix. They have a misunderstanding with a homeless boy in a sleeping bag who thinks they're looking for a local troublemaker under the alias of "Clank" who he mistakenly gathers owes them money. Paul hurts his hand in a botched attempt at a smash and grab
; they get kicked out of a Café for trying to steal a handbag and Paul gets barred from a shop for "feelin' bread". After a random argument with a Bulgarian immigrant, and failing to get anywhere in their search for drugs, they make their way to Janine’s. She is not home but the door is left open. The boys are just about to steal her telly, when they hear the sound of a baby crying. Janine returns home to find the two gently holding and whispering to the baby. They leave Janine with the promise that they will see her again that night at the Bunker.
The pair mug an adolescent with Downs syndrome, but he does not have any cash or valuables. Later, a furious man grabs them, accusing them of spreading rumours that he owes them money. He identifies himself as Clank. Clank and his friend Zippy kidnap the two and force them to keep a lookout for trouble while they "cause a bit of mayhem" in a nearby garage with baseball bats. However, Adam and Paul do not notice the arrival of police and both Clank and Zippy are arrested.
The pair decide to take Clank's car to a fence
, but crash in the process. Sitting on an old cooker down a back lane, they come across a flat-screen TV. They and Kittser, a stolen goods merchant, take the telly to Ballymun Housing and attempt to sell it to a drunk older man. But Kittser and the buyer argue and the telly gets damaged, forcing the again hopeless depressed Adam and Paul to leave. On the way out they pass the door of drug dealer Martin who is being raided by a gang of vigilantes. As the two sit outside the block, the contents of Martin's flat are thrown off of his tower block flat and land on the ground around the boys including two bags of heroin.
After spending the night in the center of Dublin intoxicated on their find, Paul wakes up the next morning on Dublin Bay
. Adam, who is lying behind him, has overdosed and is dead. Paul leaves with the two bags of heroin.
At the 2005 Berlin Film Festival, 'Adam & Paul' played to an enthusiastic reception as part of the official program of the Panorama section.
Substance dependence
The section about substance dependence in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders does not use the word addiction at all. It explains:...
, Adam and Paul. Adam is the taller and slightly smarter of the two while Paul is his sidekick. It follows the two in a "day in the life" set up as they wander around Dublin trying to score heroin.
Plot summary
Adam and Paul are childhood friends who as adults have withered into two hopeless, desperate addicts, tied together by habit and necessity. The film is a stylised, downbeat comedy, following the pair through a single day, which, like every other, is devoted to scrounging and robbing money to buy heroin.Stylistically, Adam and Paul is a cold, contemporary take on classic, physical comedy. At heart it is a minimal, Beckettesque fairytale about two vulnerable children in the grip of forces too powerful for them to handle; they are shown as vulnerable, lost, and sometimes pathetically optimistic. The film is not without hope; it is unsentimental and often very funny testament to the persistence of the human spirit in even the most marginal of people.
The film opens with the protagonists waking up sick in the middle of a field with Adam glued to a mattress. They make their way into town via a run-in with a terrified and terrifying drug dealer named Martin in Flat 63 of Ballymun
Ballymun
Ballymun is an area on Dublin's Northside close to Dublin Airport, Ireland. It is infamous for the Ballymun flats, which became a symbol of poverty, drugs, alienation from the state and social problems in Ireland from the 1970s...
Housing, a hasty exit from the top deck of a bus, a long trudge down the median of a dual carriageway and an incident with a moped that injures Paul's leg. Wandering through St Stephen's Green they meet their old gang who are drinking cans and having "a little picnic for the kiddies". Made feel unwelcome, the boys sit down to a roasting from the Marian and Orla who are furious with them for not turning up that morning to the month’s mind of Matthew, the boys' best friend and Orla’s brother. Marian, backed by her brother Wayne, warns them to stay away from his sister. To the disgust of Wayne and the girls, Georgie lets slip that there is a "do" on for Matthew that night in the Bunker pub.
From here we follow the boys aimlessly wandering around the city looking for an unknown person – perhaps a contact that might be able to sort them out with a fix. They have a misunderstanding with a homeless boy in a sleeping bag who thinks they're looking for a local troublemaker under the alias of "Clank" who he mistakenly gathers owes them money. Paul hurts his hand in a botched attempt at a smash and grab
Smash and grab
A smash and grab raid or smash and grab attack is a particular form of burglary. The distinctive characteristic of a smash and grab, that distinguishes it from other forms of burglary, is its elements of speed and surprise...
; they get kicked out of a Café for trying to steal a handbag and Paul gets barred from a shop for "feelin' bread". After a random argument with a Bulgarian immigrant, and failing to get anywhere in their search for drugs, they make their way to Janine’s. She is not home but the door is left open. The boys are just about to steal her telly, when they hear the sound of a baby crying. Janine returns home to find the two gently holding and whispering to the baby. They leave Janine with the promise that they will see her again that night at the Bunker.
The pair mug an adolescent with Downs syndrome, but he does not have any cash or valuables. Later, a furious man grabs them, accusing them of spreading rumours that he owes them money. He identifies himself as Clank. Clank and his friend Zippy kidnap the two and force them to keep a lookout for trouble while they "cause a bit of mayhem" in a nearby garage with baseball bats. However, Adam and Paul do not notice the arrival of police and both Clank and Zippy are arrested.
The pair decide to take Clank's car to a fence
Fence
A fence is a freestanding structure designed to restrict or prevent movement across a boundary. It is generally distinguished from a wall by the lightness of its construction: a wall is usually restricted to such barriers made from solid brick or concrete, blocking vision as well as passage .Fences...
, but crash in the process. Sitting on an old cooker down a back lane, they come across a flat-screen TV. They and Kittser, a stolen goods merchant, take the telly to Ballymun Housing and attempt to sell it to a drunk older man. But Kittser and the buyer argue and the telly gets damaged, forcing the again hopeless depressed Adam and Paul to leave. On the way out they pass the door of drug dealer Martin who is being raided by a gang of vigilantes. As the two sit outside the block, the contents of Martin's flat are thrown off of his tower block flat and land on the ground around the boys including two bags of heroin.
After spending the night in the center of Dublin intoxicated on their find, Paul wakes up the next morning on Dublin Bay
Dublin Bay
Dublin Bay is a C-shaped inlet of the Irish Sea on the east coast of Ireland. The bay is about 10 kilometres wide along its north-south base, and 7 km in length to its apex at the centre of the city of Dublin; stretching from Howth Head in the north to Dalkey Point in the south...
. Adam, who is lying behind him, has overdosed and is dead. Paul leaves with the two bags of heroin.
Cast
- Adam - Mark O'HalloranMark O'HalloranMark O'Halloran is an Irish scriptwriter and actor. He is a native of Ennis, County Clare. He has written award-winning screenplays for the films Adam and Paul and Garage and the RTE mini-series Prosperity....
- Paul - Tom MurphyTom Murphy (actor)Tom Jordan Murphy was an Irish theatre and film actor best known for his 1998 Tony Award winning performance in The Beauty Queen of Leenane....
- Clank - Gerry Moore
- Zippy - Anthony Morris
- Eastern-European Man - Ion CaramitruIon CaramitruIon Caramitru is a Romanian stage and film actor, stage director, as well as a political figure. He was Minister of Culture between 1996 and 2000, in the Romanian Democratic Convention cabinets of Victor Ciorbea, Gavril Dejeu, Radu Vasile, Alexandru Athanasiu, and Mugur Isărescu.-Early life and...
- Marian - Deirdre Molloy
- Orla - Mary Murray
- Wayne - Paul Roe
- Kittser - David HerlihyDavid HerlihyDavid Herlihy was an American historian who wrote on medieval and renaissance life. Particular topics include domestic life, especially the roles of women, and the changing structure of the family...
- Gringo - Eamonn Hunt
Awards and Reception
Adam & Paul' has won the Best Director Award, as well as being nominated in 8 categories for the 2004 Irish Film & Television Award. These include Best Irish Film, Best Script, Best Actor and Best Music.At the 2005 Berlin Film Festival, 'Adam & Paul' played to an enthusiastic reception as part of the official program of the Panorama section.