Review of Ryan's Daughter (1970) by Christopher S — 28 Jul 2007

I honestly do not understand the hatred directed towards this movie. The absolutely gorgeous cinematography alone, with the gorgeous Irish hills and the amazing beaches, is worthy of immense praise. I particularly love the storm sequence, where the villagers rescue the shipment of IRA guns from a rather vicious (and very real) gale. The overlong love-making scene between Christopher Jones and Sarah Miles is also shot in an unspeakably beautiful forest setting. You almost want to move to this village, if the locals weren't such nasty individuals.

Of course David Lean is one of, if not the, greatest film makers of all time, and this film is a brilliant balance of his widescreen epics like "Lawrence of Arabia" and his more intimate romances like "Brief Encounter". The film features many great set-pieces, the best being the explosive first meeting between Jones and Miles, punctuated by the thumping foot of John Mills as the village idiot and flashbacks to the Western Front. I also love the scene where Robert Mitchum's character "watches" images of his wife and her fancy fellow on the beach with Beethoven on the soundtrack. . . absolutely operatic.

The complaints about the negative portrayal of the Irish are somewhat accurate, but I think missing the point. Inasmuch as this film is based, albeit loosely, on "Madame Bovary", the setting is not the point - Lean simply wanted an interest backdrop for his story, nothing more. Robert Bolt's script, as always, is thoughtful and literate while down-to-earth and unpretentious.

The cast is brilliant from top to bottom. Robert Mitchum is brilliant cast against type as a well-meaning but boring school teacher. Sarah Miles is very lovely as Rosy, the spoiled small-town girl who believes there's something greater out there than her complacent life - a more relatable character there is not. Trevor Howard steals the show as the strong-willed Father Collins, Leo McKern and John Mills also turn in find supporting turns, and Barry Foster almost steals the show as the charismatic IRA leader Tim O'Leary. A wonderful film that should be seen despite its less-than-great reputation.