Film review: An Cailín Ciúin is equal parts heart-breaking and uplifting
Beautifully shot and acted, this haunting tale will linger long in the memory
Set in 1970s Ireland, and something of a reverse fairytale, (12A) stars Catherine Clinch as Cáit, the eponymous quiet girl. The reason she’s such a reticent child quickly becomes clear: her father (Michael Patric) is a brute, a womanising alcoholic who leaves his wife (Kate Nic Chonaonaigh) to rear their unruly brood and manage their rundown farm.
When her mother falls pregnant again, Cait is sent away for her summer holidays to the idyllic farm of her Aunt Eibhlín (Carrie Crowley) and Uncle Seán (Andrew Bennett). But can the withdrawn child learn to trust these strangers? And — far more importantly — should she?
Adapted from Claire Keegan’s short story by Colm Bairéad, who also directs, — winner of the Grand Prix at the Berlinale — is equal parts heart-breaking and uplifting. Bairéad and his cinematographer Kate McCullough have conjured up one of those semi-mythical golden Irish summers, creating the perfect rural setting that allows Cáit to flourish. It’s an opportunity firmly grasped by young Catherine Clinch, who is simply superb in the main, primarily non-speaking, role: her grasp of physical nuance is stunning in so young an actor.
Carrie Crowley provides strong support as the affectionate Eibhlín, who first begins to draw Cáit out of her shell, but it’s the rapport between Clinch and Andrew Bennett that delivers the film’s real emotional heft, as child and man observe one another closely across the ramparts of their mutual suspicions and gradually learn to trust again.
Beautifully shot and acted, this haunting tale will linger long in the memory.
(cinema release)
