THE SECRET OF ROAN INISH

1/2

I loved this film. I don't think that my judgment here can be entirely trusted--for some reason, the movie just struck a chord with me. As with my very favorite films, there was a moment when the movie went from wonderful to magical.

 In this movie, that moment was one of many that deviated from the normal paths of cliché onto an unexpected road. A moment where the fantasy of a little girl is taken to heart.

 This movie is the story of a little girl--Fiona--who, after the death of her mother and on the advise of those-who-know-best, is sent to live with her grandparents. The rough and land-locked life of her father and older brothers is no place for her. So, off she's packed to the coast--a poor land of weathered fisherman and their hardy wives.

 It is here one night that she sees a light off the coast, on a distant island, and--upon inquiry-- learns the tale of that island. It is Roan Inish, and it was the home of her ancestors for many years. And thus the many odd and wonderful tales of the island are woven into her family line, as well. These accounts she learns from just a few individuals, one a young cousin who is her sometimes co-conspirator, the other a more distant cousin by family links, but whose heart is closer to the tales.

 She learns details of the family's having to take leave of the island. Of how, on the day of leaving, her infant brother was lost to the sea in a generations-old cradle, and how the grief of this has shaped her family. She learns that some believe the light she sees on the isle is the ghost of her departed brother, lonely, and haunting the land of his fathers.

 They are partly right.

 On a mystic and fog-enshrouded day, Fiona herself is taken by the sea and shown another side of reality, but she is not sure whether she is dreaming or awake. And neither is the audience. It is here that the movie begins its main departure from its seemingly intended course. The uncertainty of the situation is enthralling. Which of the two worlds will give? The one in which the Fiona's family sadly and stolidly resides--most of them, anyway--or the one of her fantasies and impossible dreams.

 After working hard to please the one while nurturing the other, Fiona lets loose in a tiny fit and then we wait for the reaction of those around her. And then her two worlds collide, and the movie becomes extraordinary.

 John Sayles, the director, has concocted a wonderful film with a very substantial mythical quality of a caliber that is almost entirely absent in filmdom today. Jeni Courtney, as Fiona, puts to shame her more well-paid peers in a completely disarming and spunky performance. This is complemented by Dave Duffy as Jim, the young cousin who sees no harm in helping her in her schemes. Her grandparents are well-played too, giving the story the grounding it needs. And I can't not mention Susan Lynch as the Selkie. Without ever saying a word, she manages to anchor the fabric of Fiona's fantasy world as surely as the grandparents anchor that of the real world.

 The director was helped in his effort by Haskell Wexler, whose cinematography captured the confining and suffocating inland, the harsh and rugged grimness of the mainland shore, and the free sweeps of flowered expanse on the island. The contrasts were psychologically clear due to the excellent filming, without the filming drawing attention to itself. Well done.

 Finally, the creators of this fine story: Rosalie K. Fry, who authored the novel Secret of the Ron Mor Skerry, and John Sayles, who--I'm assuming--adapted it for the screen and then directed it with a loving hand. The entire narrative hearkens back to the fairy tales told years ago.

 And that's part of the magic. We can bridge the gap between Fiona's worlds along with her, because the very nature of the story takes us back to a time in our childhood when both worlds existed for us. To do that is a special power that is not abused by the filmmakers here, but carefully spent to enlighten the audience. Maybe a little faith in our dreams would yield miracles, too.