Directed by Aoife Kelleher, exploring the life and career of Mary Robinson, a pioneering constitutional lawyer, the first female President of Ireland, the UN’s High Commissioner for Human Rights and the Chair of The Elders.
You might be surprised to find that a documentary on Ireland’s first female President actually spends fairly little time there. That’s because Mrs. Robinson is a testament not to her time in office but to her wider legacy. It’s a portrayal of exactly what you want from a politician, someone who cares deeply about positive change and seeks to make it a reality. There’s a lot of ground to cover and Aoife Kelleher manages to squeeze in an impressive amount.
It’s edited together really well to weave together Mary Robinson’s past and present. To explore where she came from and how her passion began, while also illustrating how she continues to forge ahead. Perhaps one of the more surprising inclusions is one of Robinson’s shortcomings, briefly shedding a light on the fallible nature of politicians and activists, no-one is without the occasional bad decision.
One of the great things that Kelleher captures is the impact on a wider scale, and how she moved beyond purely the issues that were close to home. However, it could be argued that it perhaps spreads a little too far, there’s so much to cover that it can be keeping itself on the surface and not dedicating the time to digging deeper. Although, it does take the time to explore Robinson’s sweet and endearing relationship with her husband of fifty-five years.
Mrs. Robinson pays a very lovely tribute to the passionate and relentless advocate who is Mary Robinson. It takes a captivating sojourn through her career and all of her many accomplishments. It does perhaps spread itself slightly thin, keeping the audience at arm’s length rather than taking a more intimate view but it still works plenty well without that.
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