Pain and Uncertain Humor Mingle in Rowdy ‘Orphans’

“Orphans” begins with a ritual, as three adult brothers and their sister bid formal farewell to their dead mother in her Glasgow, Scotland, row house bedroom as they prepare her for her funeral the next day. But what comes next swiftly careens into chaos.

By the time we learn that Rose Flynn had died suddenly, at 61 of a heart attack the day before, we have already experienced the full and devastating impact her death has had upon her children. We are also left wondering if she didn’t love them a little too well, a little too possessively. Yet in its dark and calamitous way, “Orphans”--which marks the feature writing and directing debut for actor Peter Mullan--is a comedy.

Once Mum has been properly laid out, the four Flynns head for the neighborhood pub. Thomas (Gary Lewis), the eldest brother, a pious mama’s boy, feels compelled to sing a song in his mother’s memory, breaking down in tears. But not before a guy in the pub has jeered poor Thomas’ maudlin dirge. Michael (Douglas Henshall), a shipyard welder estranged from his wife, does a slow burn at the man’s disrespect for his eldest brother and finally explodes. Immediately realizing he has been stupid to lose his self-control, he winds up knifed in the abdomen in the ensuing fracas. Michael’s injury, in turn, enrages his younger brother John (Stephen McCole), a college student, who swears he will kill the man (Malcolm Shields) who laughed at Thomas and then stabbed Michael.

Recently seen as the recovering alcoholic in Ken Loach’s “My Name Is Joe,” Mullan depicts a domino effect as the Flynn siblings’ lives spin out of control in the course of the 24 hours leading up to their mother’s funeral, accompanied appropriately by a violent storm. Mullan has thus set in motion what would seem to be an intensely theatrical film, even to observing Aristotle’s dictum in regard to the span of time a drama should cover. Mullan plays against this premise with much psychological insight and an impressive capacity for drawing from his cast full-throttle portrayals that could go sailing way over the top had he not held firm control of them.

“Orphans” is a rowdy, raucous, risk-taking business with much figurative tearing of hair, gnashing of teeth and beating of chest as the four confront their grief, yet Mullan makes high dudgeon pay off, for he is able to see in such excess humor as well as pain.

All four take off on separate adventures. Michael decides that if he can staunch the bleeding he can pass off his wound the next morning as an industrial injury that just might yield as much as 10,000 pounds in compensation--if he doesn’t bleed to death first. John seeks out his cousin Tanga (Frank Gallagher), who at 35 is stuck delivering Chinese food, not realizing his relative has reserves of anger just ripe to be tapped in service of a lethal act of revenge. Thomas has vowed to his priest that he will spend the night in the chapel, maintaining vigil over his mother’s coffin until the funeral takes place.

Since Sheila (Rosemarie Stevenson) is in a wheelchair because of cerebral palsy, Thomas expects her to stay with him throughout the night. But she becomes bored and restless and sets out for home in her power-driven wheelchair alone--but not before ramming Thomas in anger, which causes him to topple a larger-than-life plaster statue of the Virgin Mary. It’s at this moment we start realizing that it’s OK to laugh at “Orphans.”

“Orphans” deliberately keeps you in a state of uncertainty as to whether or not to laugh, and our hesitance echoes that of Mullan’s people, who need to learn how to pause to think before yielding to an all-consuming anger. Clearly, it is Mullan’s hope that if people can see how laughable they can be when consumed with wrath, then perhaps they wouldn’t follow through in drastic acts that in an instant will ruin their lives and those of others. (Think of the perils of giving in to road rage.)

For the record, “Orphans” comes equipped with subtitles to help us cut through thick Glaswegian accents--but not so thick as to hide four-letter words.

*

Unrated. Times guidelines: language, adult themes and situations.

‘Orphans’

Douglas Henshall: Michael

Gary Lewis: Thomas

Rosemarie Stevenson: Sheila

Stephen McCole: John

Frank Gallagher: Tanga

Alex Norton: Hanson

A Shooting Gallery release of a Beyond presentation. Writer-director Peter Mullan. Producer Frances Higson. Executive producer Paddy Higson. Cinematographer Grant Scott Cameron. Editor Colin Monie. Music Craig Armstrong. Costumes Lynn Aitken. Production designer Campbell Gordon. Running time: 1 hour, 32 minutes.

Exclusively at the Loews Cineplex Odeon Fairfax, 7907 Beverly Blvd., (323) 777-FILM No. 174 or (323) 653-3117.