John Murry, a singer-songwriter born in Mississippi and adopted by the family of renowned American author William Faulkner, has lived a remarkable life marked by trauma and addiction, as well as a deep love for music. His impressive discography includes five-star albums. He spent much of his life living in Ireland in places like Kilkenny and Dublin. Murry’s journey is depicted in the documentary The Graceless Age: The Ballad of John Murry, directed by Sarah Share. Share reflects on her experiences working with Murry over the years.
Were you familiar with John Murry’s music before you decided to make the documentary?
No. The cameraman, Colm Hogan, knew I had made a documentary about Shane McGowan, and I liked music, so he brought me to see John in the Harbour Bar in Bray. I read up all about him before I went, and when I saw the impact he had, I knew I had to do something with him. When he sings, people are just transfixed; men, in particular, are almost crying. I was very taken by that. The Faulkner element really interested me as well. The first time I went to see John in Kilkenny, he talked about the family lore about Faulkner’s opiate problem and that other men in the family also had issues with opiates. There seemed to be this trail of family dysfunction. John says it was common knowledge in the family that Faulkner had a big problem with opiates, and yet all the literature about him says that he was an alcoholic. I just found the whole thing very curious.
Some parts of the documentary were filmed in John’s home state of Mississippi. How long did you film there?
We got a development fund from Screen Ireland, so we went for four days the first time and got enough filmed to make a really good trailer, but then it took another three or four years to get the rest of the money. We met some Canadian producers at the Galway Film Festival; they said they would come on board. Once we had an outside territory on board, Screen Ireland gave us the rest of the money so we could go back and film for about ten days in Mississippi and do some filming in Canada.
John revisits many sad and dark moments from his life. How do you approach this? Do you guide him or let him open up naturally and follow his lead?
He knew where we wanted to go with the documentary and understood he would have to speak at these places. And at that stage, I talked to him for four years. We spoke for hours and hours and hours, and I learned all about his family, his relationships with his parents, and all the difficulties he has gone through. We worked together and talked so intimately about everything for so long that I knew everything and could see his attitude change. He remembered things and was really angry, but he also found acceptance. The whole thing is a big journey. The editing process he found very difficult. Seeing himself for a whole film for 90 minutes was a shock, and it took him a long time to even watch it. I think he had a lot of trauma watching it. I mean, would you want to watch your childhood for 90 minutes? But we got through the edit, and in the end, he was happy with the cut.
The film features animations based on drawings that John created with artist Stephen Morton. What made you decide to include animated sequences?
Those animations show some really troubling and traumatic aspects of John’s younger years, and I didn’t want to show what happened with actors or recreation. The animation let me tell that story without revealing the true horror of what happened to him.
John is known to be temperamental at times. Were you ever concerned about finishing the documentary?
Not exactly. I know that he is volatile, but he has PTSD, so I expected there to be ups and downs. He used to get quite despondent about how long it took to make. Between waiting for the funding to come through and COVID delays, it did take a long time. I remember John saying, “Sarah, I feel like an idiot telling everybody that a film will be made about me, but it doesn’t seem to be happening”, but that is understandable, too. He shared so much of himself. I have nothing but respect and love for him, and the fact that he sometimes gets upset is totally understandable.
After all the time you invested in this, is it a relief to finally release it?
It is an amazing feeling. I never had a career plan. It happened totally by accident. I never went to film school. I never would have dreamt that I would become a film director. I just had a few lucky breaks, being in the right place at the right time. I was a production manager, and we were doing a project with no director. Someone suggested that I should direct. They knew I wouldn’t go over budget because I’m a production manager at heart. It all happened from there.
What would you like audiences to take away from the documentary?
I hope they think it is a good yarn. People take different things. At Galway, this woman was so touched by the adoption story that she connected to it. Someone else was touched by the abuse story. People pick up different things. There are lots of themes in it. Most importantly, I would like them to feel it’s a good yarn.
Words – Cara O’Doherty
The Graceless Age: The Ballad of John Murry is now showing in cinemas