'The Quiet Girl,' Ireland's first-ever nominee in the Best International Feature category at the Academy Award, is a stunning portrait of the country that is hopeful and devastating. Our review:
There are a lot of Irish films out there and there are a lot of “Irish” films out there. People have a romantic and contrived idea of what Ireland should look like on film and how the people should act. Maybe it dates back to John Ford’s The Quiet Man, or maybe it’s more recent romances like Wild Mountain Thyme that have created a caricature of Ireland for the benefit of everyone except Irish people.
Cáit arrives at Eibhlin and Seán Kinsella’s house, oblivious to the life and home that awaits her for the next few months. It may seem modest to some, but in comparison to Cáit’s family home, it’s a castle. Eibhlín is not cold nor is she overbearing. One of the most important and noticeable aspects of the film is that there are no caricatures of characters. Eibhlin is both thoughtful and rational.
Touchstones of Irish culture are sprinkled throughout the film but never in a way that stereotypes it. Cáit’s family is so poor because they have so many children - a byproduct of contraception being so inaccessible at that time. The KInsellas aren't seen going to Mass unless it’s for a funeral, but the familiar portrait of Jesus Christ hangs in the kitchen, like almost every Catholic kitchen in the country.
There is power in the everyday moments, and that is what An Cailín Ciúin, its director, and its cast inherently understand. Bairéad noted Lenny Abrahamson as one of his filmmaking inspirations to Collider, and it absolutely shows. If you enjoyed the subtlety, intimacy and pace of Normal People or Room or his criminally underseen earlier film, Grarage, you will appreciate everything about An Cailín Ciúin.
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