Great
If John Sayles, the independent American filmmaker, is not the greatest director in the history of the medium, he certainly has to be considered among the most daring and diverse filmmakers ever. From tales set in America's past (Matewan), to yuppy dramadies (The Return Of The Secaucus Seven), to urban social satires (The Brother From Another Planet), to more modern looks at American life (Sunshine State, Lone Star, Casa De Los Babys), Sayles has shown a desire to explore things no other filmmaker has. And while he does not have a distinctive look nor style, each of films is well wrought, and a worthy addition to world cinema. One of his most daring films was actually one of his most popular and financially successful- 1995's Irish fantasy film, The Secret Of Roan Inish.
Ok, let me rephrase- to call The Secret Of Roan Inish a fantasy film- even if Sayles adapted the screenplay from a 1957 children's book (The Secret Of Ron Mor Skerry) by Rosalie K. Fry, is to sell it short. It is a very sly and deep look at childhood and the loneliness that accompanies such. In this way, it is very much in league with such other explorations of early childhood loneliness as Val Lewton's 1944 film The Curse Of The Cat People and 1968's Godzilla's Revenge. It is also very much a great family film along the lines of October Sky and My Dog Skip.
It is also very much a mythic film. That term is often overused to describe films that deal with `epic' characters or situations, but that sort of description and film too often wallows in the pseudo-babble of faux intellectuals like Joseph Campbell. This film succeeds by using the exact opposite tack- it presents the film very much from a child's eye point of view, that of its lead character Fiona Coneely (Jeni Courtney)- a cute ten year old blond girl who goes to live with her grandparents after World War Two, because her mother has died, and her father has had to go off to Scotland to find work.
The film did only mediocre at the box office, but that's because it is a terrific and deep film that never condescends. It is a children's film sans explosions and wiseass children, and explodes the idea that films aimed at children need be lesser versions of their adult counterparts. In fact, they have a greater charge- to appeal to kids as well as adults, and on both levels. Children's films, in fact, should have more ideas crammed into them as children can absorb more and learn from them without the biases and fears that a typical adult has acquired.
The film runs a crisp hour and forty-three minutes, and not a second is wasted. The only quibble one might have with the film is its title. It really should have been called The Secrets (plural) Of Roan Inish, for more than the secret of Jamie's fate is involved. Yet, the flaws in this film are very minor- such as Fiona's repeated inability to outwit her wild child brother, compared to the film's virtues- almost all else. The Secret Of Roan Inish is one of Sayles' best films, and arguably a great film in its own right. That this film did what it did with so little shows that true creativity thrives no matter what its source of nourishment is, and that when that creativity is a product of John Sayles' mind, it's likely to be something well beyond the norm.
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