Tourette syndrome is a motor disorder that begins in childhood or adolescence and is characterized by multiple movement tics and vocal tics. While common tics include blinking, coughing, throat clearing, sniffing, and facial movements, the vocal aspects can sometimes include the loud blurting out of obscenities, including and especially in environments — libraries, churches, etc. — where this is seen as inappropriate.

Those with the condition present a broad range and extent of symptoms, and due to a lack of understanding, until recent times, sometimes it is difficult to diagnose whether figures from the past were sufferers or not. Writer and former French minister of culture André Malraux (1901–1976), for instance, is thought to have potentially been a sufferer, while, "Ringvaade" reported, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756–1791) may too have been afflicted by the disorder.

From our times, singers Billie Eilish and Lewis Capaldi have both been diagnosed with Tourette's.

Kirk Jones ("Waking Ned," "Nanny McPhee," "My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2") is the writer, producer and director of "I Swear," and spoke to "Ringvaade's" Hannes Hermaküla.

The hero of the biopic "I Swear" is a young Scottish man, John Davidson, whose life was transformed irreversibly as a teenager when Tourette's syndrome took over. Readers of a certain age and from a U.K. context may remember the original 1989 documentary "John's Not Mad," broadcast as part of the BBC's Q.E.D. series of the time, as well as subsequent documentaries John has appeared in in the years since then.

While the condition might appear "funny" to some, and was the subject of one episode of adult animation "South Park," it is no joke to those suffering from the disorder, trying to navigate their way around their lives and the outside world: in the case of Davidson, now 54, in the tough Scottish Borders town of Galashiels.

Over time, John has become an advocate for the condition and those afflicted with it, even being honored by the late Queen Elizabeth II as a result.

Jones said he learned two vital lessons in the course of making the film. One of these was that one person's normal is not the same as everyone else's. The other is that it is the manifestations of the condition which must be ignored, but never the person.

The last documentary featuring John. The director had to track Davidson down first, to ask for his permission to make the biopic — this ended up being one of Facebook's more useful features — and John liked the script and concept so much he did not even amend a single thing.

He was also greatly impressed by the two actors who played him, Scott Ellis as a youngster, and English actor Robert Aramayo ("Game of Thrones," "The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power") as an adult. Jones said Aramayo dived deeply into carrying out thorough research into the condition, also spending three months living close to John and hanging out with him too.

The net result has been a movie which is a whirlwind of emotion, and has even led to one case where a "problem" prison inmate was correctly diagnosed with Tourette's after a prison officer watched "I Swear."

As for how much progress has been made since 1989 and the original documentary, according to Kirk, John said that while this has been great, there are now those things which someone might say now which may be more dangerous not only than they were in the late '80s, but at any other time.

This means that while the progress on attitudes to social issues such as gender, race and sex has been substantial, sensitivities to using the wrong language, let alone that language being shouted in a public place in an era of surveillance and armed police, is just that much greater. There is an irony here, Jones said, given the subject of his movie is "the kindest, nicest and gentlest man I have ever met."

The full "Ringvaade" interview with Kirk Jones can be watched by clicking on the video player below; the English-language portion starts at around the 35-second mark.

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