“An Cailín Ciúin” (The Quiet Girl) (M) ***

AFTER winning Best Feature Film at this year’s International Film Festivals in Berlin and Dublin Ireland; this film got 10 nominations at the Irish Film and Television Awards, resulting in seven wins, including Best Film, Best Director and Best Actress in a Lead Role.

Writer/director Colm Bairéad’s first fiction feature is an adaptation of Claire Keegan’s novella “Foster”.

In rural Ireland in 1981, her parents have sent quiet, independent, nine-year-old thinker Cait, for whom connecting with family and peers is not easy, to spend summer on the Waterford dairy farm where cousin Eibhlin (Carrie Crowley) and husband Sean (Andrew Bennett) are offsetting a tragedy.

Cait’s time there opens up a completely different world. Kind and motherly, Eibhlín tells her there are secrets in the house, things that are not talked about. 

At first, Séan is distant and stand-offish. However, as his relationship with the girl grows, we discover a heart that is arguably the biggest of all. It’s a wonderful portrayal. The couple’s story is gradually revealed and explored in a lovely and satisfying way. 

One of the best scenes involves a funeral, followed by an entertaining encounter with a neighbour with an inquisitive nose for information and plenty of dirt to dish behind others’ backs. The tears such as might come from real life that the film’s ending might generate are well earned. 

Playing Cáit, 13-year-old Catherine Clinch’s photogenic face suggests wordless insecurity and stifles emotions that mightn’t speak much but her movements fill the gaps eloquently. She left me wondering optimistically about her future in movies.

At Dendy and Palace Electric

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