The very definition of a documentary crowd-pleaser, \u201cIt\u2019s Not Yet Dark\u201d provides an appropriately poignant and upbeat account of Irish filmmaker Simon Fitzmaurice \u2019s inspiring triumph over physical limitations. Diagnosed more than a decade ago with Motor Neuron Disease, and given little time to live, he has instead led a rich family life, written a book, and even directed a first narrative feature film, though his illness has gradually led to his total paralysis. Directed with high polish by Frankie Fenton and narrated by Colin Farrell (speaking the subject\u2019s prose), this should prove a sentimental favorite with viewers in various formats. It will also help boost the fortunes of Fitzmaurice\u2019s film, \u201cMy Name Is Emily,\u201d whose slow international progress continues with a U. S. theatrical opening later this month.
Fitzmaurice was an affable life-of-the-party type \u2014 and something of a writing prodigy from an early age \u2014 though by college he\u2019d switched his primary creative focus to film. A graduation-project short, \u201cFull Circle\u201d (2003), was unusually widely seen. Even more so was 2008\u2019s seven-minute \u201cThe Sound of People,\u201d a Jaco Van Dormael-like \u201call of life in one montage\u201d extravaganza that picked up a slew of awards. Meanwhile, he\u2019d found a soulmate in radio professional Ruth, and they\u2019d eagerly started a family.
It was at this full-steam-ahead juncture that Fitzmaurice developed a persistent limp that required looking at, with the eventual appalling diagnosis of MND, better known as Lou Gehrig\u2019s disease. This degenerative condition of little-understood origin \u2014 the same illness suffered by physicist Stephen Hawking, the subject of the 2014 biopic \u201cThe Theory of Everything\u201d \u2014 triggers gradual loss of all muscle control. This means that the once-vigorous Fitzmaurice now cannot breathe, swallow or speak without mechanical aid. In archival footage (mostly home movies), we see him serially lose physical abilities; the last time he walked, ran, or danced all having been captured on video.
Asking himself what the \u201cbest part of living with MND is,\u201d he says, simply, \u201cIt\u2019s the \u2018living\u2019 part.\u201d Fitzmaurice scoffed at doctors\u2019 offers to \u201cpull the plug\u201d as his physical life narrowed to a degree that would be unbearable to many others. \u201cI love being alive,\u201d he insists. Technology has made it possible for him to remain artistically active \u2014 speaking, writing and directing via eye-gaze-operated computer programs \u2014 and his devoted family has kept his life spiritually fulfilling. Indeed, much of \u201cIt\u2019s Not Dark Yet\u201d is a love story, portraying a marriage so perfectly matched that overwhelming hardship never seemed to seriously imperil its essential health (though Ruth admits it was a boon when nursing assistance let her be less of a caregiver and more of a spouse again).
The climax comes with Simon\u2019s against-all-odds completion of the well-received drama \u201cEmily,\u201d a task he manages thanks to extensive advance storyboarding and a supportive crew. That movie, like \u201cSound of People\u201d \u2014 and this documentary itself \u2014 is a somewhat breathless, bittersweet celebration of life that doesn\u2019t shrink from sweeping poetical gestures. Fenton accesses that element here principally via impressive aerial shots of beautiful landscapes, not just in Ireland, but also Australia (where the family enjoyed a prolonged vacation before the disease advanced further) and Utah (where Fitzmaurice gushes a wee bit much toward his benefactor, the Sundance Film Festival ).
Not a film for cynics, \u201cIt\u2019s Not Yet Dark\u201d at times risks overplaying its heart-on-sleeve emotions, as Fitzmaurice also hazards in his writing. But both subject and execution here summon the skill, as well as sincerity, required to overcome skepticism.<\/p>\n

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Sentiment rank: 6.3<\/div>\n

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