Seen at the 21st Portland International Film Festival
FILM TITLE: THIS IS THE SEA
DIRECTOR: MARY MCGUCKIAN
COUNTRY: IRELAND 1994
CINEMATOGRAPHY: DES WHELAN
MUSIC: MIKE SCOTT, THE WHITBOYS
CAST: Samantha Morton, Ross McDade, Richard Harris,
Gabriel Byrne, John Lynch, Stela McCusker
SUPER FEATURES: Excellent film about one taking the law in their hands.
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I suppose that is hard to appreciate the problems that Ireland has had since its unesasy peace, between the two main factions in their country.
And many a film has dealt with that, specially the theme of the political edge on this tough situation, and how to undo hundreds of years of hatred. It is believed that the British have not done enough in this area at all, and some films in the past have directly pointed the fingers in that direction. This film really gives us another finger to point at, and in its own subtle way, gets us to realize that the problem is not so much a political argument, as it is the individual education of each and every member of the social structure of the country. Not enough has been done to try and help integrate these people, and inevitably, as is the case here, one man or two take the law and war in their own hands, for whatever reasons they feel they wish to conclude their arguments with.
But this excellent film, does it in a subtle way, although it appears to steer our attention in the wrong direction.
It is the story of two young one, who meet and come to know each other and fall in love. And the problems start here. Hazel is a Plymouth Brethren Protestant, and Malachy is a Catholic, even though there is no direct sign that he is one. This creates a problem for the family of the girl, the mother of whom, happens to be stubbornly opposed to the girl even getting involved with anyone and has the girl marked for the role that she has played for years, and her ancestors have followed for at least one previous generation. But this is the nineties. The young girl is supported by an elder, whose relationship to the family is not clear. As the mother finds out that the daughter is skipping out, she gets her son to find out details, and here things start getting complicated. As it turns out, the brother ends up in cahoots with the whole tragedy, and an effort to kill the young man Hazel has come to like a lot, is under way.
During this time, our attention is aimed at Rohan, who appears to be on the British authorities' list of people to be watched all the time. The authorities seem to think that he is involved in many other operations, and keep trying to get us to figure out why what happens in the end is done at all.
And the twist ending in this film, will leave us a bit breathless. As things get clear, the bomb that was set up, was engineered by the old man, whose allegiances we were led to believe were with the young girl. And Rohan was a bit of a side step thing to get the authorities looking in other directions. The tragic side of the affair is that Hazel's young man is not the one killed, but his older brother, and it takes a moment, for the girl to figure out, by over hearing a phone conversation, that the killer is this old man, who has taken upon himself to destroy the future of the young ones, and add to the mess that the country of Ireland already finds itself in.
In between, there is a lot of things that are subtle, that display this director's excellent ability to do what she did. Right in the opening shot sequence, when Hazel is being baptized, she does not have a smile, indicating that she is being forced to do something that she has no desire to do or be a part of. And it is the old man that provides the amusement to help the kids to get through the ceremony. And through out the film Rohan keeps after Malachy's older brother, to recruit the him for various jobs, none of which are discussed, although the whole thing appears shady, and a set up for Rohan, so he can get some money off some people.
But it is a triumph, to see that he most important part of this story makes it to the end in one piece, and makes this film superior... it is of moments like these that hope arises and one can look forward to the future and it is a credit to the director that things like these are not missed at all.
With some magnificent performances, none of which are over done, this is a very well thought out and designed film, and deserves credit for not pointing the fingers to anyone, but the hearts of those who have nothing in it but hate, for selfish reasons. People that live in the past, and are not interested in seeing the future a better one for their own children, despite all the changes. And the future of any country depends on this.
Another very well done thing in this film is the use of music through out. While it has its edge in opinions, it is nevertheless strong, and pointed towards the individual. Once again, the director's well thought out vision comes through, and it makes the film stronger and better because of it. If more artists took that stand, maybe things would change faster.....
4 of 5 GIBLOONS Reviewed by Pedro Sena. Copyright (c) Pedro Sena 1998. All Rights Reserved.
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