THE SECRET OF ROAN INISH
A film review by Wendy Betts
Copyright 1995 Wendy Betts
I've now seen THE SECRET OF ROAN INISH twice, and what I've noticed most about it is that it's the only movie I've ever watched that, to some degree, captured the feeling of reading a book. That's partly because much of the movie is told as stories, but it's also because the movie unfolds so deliberately, developing with such delicate momentum it gives the rare illusion that you're moving at your own pace. I was afraid that a second viewing of the movie might be boring--but like a rereading of a really good book, the second viewing was even better than the first, as I could now appreciate the significance of each event.
THE SECRET OF ROAN INISH is a story about a little girl named Fiona. But it's also the story of her ancestor Sean, who almost drowned but was rescued by a seal; and of her ancestor Liam, who stole the sealskin coat from a selkie (half-seal, half-human) and married her; and of her baby brother Jamie, whose coracle-like cradle was swept out to sea, moving with unbelievable swiftness. Most of all it's the story of an island where seals and people lived in harmony--until the people deserted it. As Fiona's relatives tell her the history of her family and the island of Roan Inish, she comes to believe that her baby brother was taken deliberately by the seals because her family deserted their island ... and that he is still there, a last representative of her family on Roan Inish. Strong and steadfast in her belief, Fiona is determined to bring her brother back to her family, even though her "daft" cousin Tadhg says that he's just with "another branch" of it. But a bargain must be kept between the family and Roan Inish before Jamie can return.
With utterly natural performances, perfect authenticity in every detail and exquisite cinematography that captures the atmosphere of solitude and wild beauty of the sea and those who live in it, this movie quietly reveals its secrets--and we delight in believing them, feeling the wonderful rightness of a story happening just as it should. It may be the most fitting homage to storytelling ever filmed. See it. Twice.
-- Wendy E. Betts, Editor "The WEB: Celebrating Children's Literature" finger web@deepthought.armory.com; http://www.armory.com/~web/web.html
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