John Davidson is hardly known in Germany. In Great Britain, on the other hand, the Scot, born in 1971, became a national celebrity as a teenager – as the protagonist of the primetime BBC documentary “John's Not Mad”, which is about his everyday life with Tourette syndrome. The program helped dispel widespread misunderstandings in society about the neurological disease, whose main characteristics include involuntary movements and involuntary sounds, as well as obscene tirades (so-called tics). Tourette's research in Great Britain was also massively advanced as a result of the broadcast, although to date it has only been possible to mitigate the symptoms somewhat if necessary.
Now “Long Live Ned Devine” director Kirk Jones has made a biopic drama about John Davidson – and that's important, after all, according to scientific estimates, 0.3 to 0.9 percent of all children are affected to a greater or lesser extent by the disease, which often becomes significantly worse with the onset of puberty. “I Swear”, based on the autobiography of the same name (here on Amazon*), comes at just the right time because the film does much more than “just” clarify. “I Swear” instead entertains with first-class acting, a touching story and an astonishing amount of humor.
After initially withdrawing from everything as much as possible, John Davidson (Robert Aramayo) finally begins to face his life.
1983 in the small Scottish town of Galashiels: 13-year-old John Davidson (Scott Ellis Watson) is about to move on to secondary school. He is also a promising soccer goalkeeper who dreams of playing for a big club in the future. However, he is now showing the first signs of Tourette's syndrome, which will soon turn his life completely upside down. Because the symptoms he cannot control lead to him being labeled as a troublemaker and even a crazy person at school, in sports and even by his own parents Heather (Shirley Henderson) and David (Steven Cree).
13 years later, the adult John (now Robert Aramayo) still lives with his now single mother. He is unemployed and rarely leaves the house. However, his life takes a positive turn when he meets psychiatric nurse Dottie (Maxine Peake). Even though she recently received a cancer diagnosis herself, she is ready to help John. She takes the young man in with her and her family and tries to help him start an at least somewhat normal life – starting with a job as an assistant to Tommy (Peter Mullan), the headstrong but good-natured caretaker of the local community center…
“Fuck The Queen”
The film begins with a great scene that actually comes at the very end of the story chronologically. The year is 1999 and John is due to receive a major award from Queen Elizabeth II alongside a host of other distinguished figures in the banqueting hall of Holyrood Palace in Edinburgh. All dressed up, he goes to the place allotted for him when he suddenly has one of his attacks in front of the assembled guests including the regent and shouts “Fuck The Queen” at the top of his lungs. Even though we as the audience understand what John's problem is and that he can't do anything about it, these tics still come as a surprise to us as they do to those around him. The drastic nature of the verbal outbursts in often everyday situations, such as on the street or in the supermarket, is not without a certain amount of humor.
“I Swear” is a film about a serious illness and a real individual fate. Nevertheless, director and writer Kirk Jones quickly makes it clear that it's okay to laugh at the absurdity of some situations. You can also see this in the reactions of the characters who are closest to the protagonist: his foster mother Dottie and his boss Tommy each react very well to the young man. You treat him with patience and understanding, and also make it clear to him again and again that he doesn't need to apologize if he can't consciously control it anyway.
It is not surprising that the real John Davidson is now a contact person for Tourette sufferers.
During the credits, archive footage appears in which the real John Davidson explains that he occasionally laughs at what he says or what happens to him. The film honors him without putting him clumsily on a pedestal. John deserves respect and admiration for dealing with his frustration and his willingness to face the unique obstacles in his life, developed after a failed suicide attempt.
These days, the real John Davidson lectures with great passion at courses about Tourette syndrome and acts as a personal reference for those affected and their families who don't know how to deal with it all. The film follows the same principle: “I Swear” enlightens, touches and inspires at the same time – and does so in an enormously entertaining way. The actors play brilliantly and are always believable, the production is reserved and objective without appearing monotonous. So the two hours fly by and afterwards you would like to find out more about the topic, but especially about this John Davidson.
Conclusion: You may have never heard of the hero of this biopic – and yet (or precisely because of that) it is worth giving “I Swear” a chance. There is an acute danger of inspiration here!