Secret of Roan Inish (DVD) ~ Jeni Courtney (actor) Cover Art

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Secret of Roan Inish (DVD)

Jeni Courtney (actor), Mick Lally (actor) and John Sayles (director)
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Synopsis

Set on the remote west coast of Ireland, this gentle film follows the adventures of a little girl who's driven to explore the site where her little brother was swept out to sea years earlier and who may have been raised by seals. The film is a quiet, enchanting fairy tale from American director John Sayles.

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Review

Rolling Stone, 02/23/1995, p.81, "...Alive with beauty, spirit and wit, ROAN INISH is pure magic..."

Sight and Sound, 08/01/1996, p.63, "...The film is a pleasure to look at and listen to, graced with a lilting, folk-based musical score....[Sayles] draws strong, sinewy performances from his cast..."

USA Today, 02/17/1995, p.4D, "...The filmmaker's well-earned reputation for unpredictability definitely remains intact..."

Entertainment Weekly, 02/10/1995, p.44, "...[ROAN INISH is] as big as a thimble and as evanescent as Tinker Bell. You'll clap if you believe." -- Rating: B+

Chicago Sun-Times, 03/03/1995, p.37, "...John Sayles and Haskell Wexler, who has photographed the movie with great beauty and precision, have ennobled the material..."

Variety, 05/09/1994, "...Pleasant....[Courtney is] an attractive and convincingly resourceful heroine..."

New York Times, 02/03/1995, p.C12, "...A touching cinematic meditation on people, familial roots and the myths that sustain them..."

Los Angeles Times, 02/03/1995, p.F1, "...It is a crackling good tale with a sense of wonder and mystery strong enough to captivate any age group..."

Premiere, 12/01/1995, p.122, "...Casts its intoxicating spell slowly, exuding warmth like a crackling [fire]..." - Recommended

Title Note

THE SECRET OF ROAN INISH was shown at the 1994 San Francisco International Film Festival.

Filmed on location in County Donegal, Ireland.

Maggie Renzi, director John Sayles's longtime partner and producer, had read the story as a child. She brought the story to Sayles's attention, suggesting that there were not enough intelligent films for children.

"The original story was set in Scotland, but I knew that myth from a similar Irish story. I'm much more versed in Irish literature and culture, so I knew I would only have to do half the research if I made it Irish."--Sayles to Kenneth M. Chanko of the Boston Globe (February 19, 1995)

The film marks the first screen appearances of Jeni Courtney (Fiona), Richard Sheridan (Eamon), and Cillian Byrne (Jamie).

When Sayles's crew first arrived in northwest coast of County Donegal in Ireland, they had to dispel a rumor that they were Mormons intent on stealing the town's children.

For some of the flashback sequences, Sayles didn't use cuts or dissolves; instead, he panned to a different scene, so as to emphasize the connection between the past and the present.

The film grossed $6.1 million domestically.

Product Quotation/Excerpt

"The sea gives and the sea takes away."--Grandfather (Mick Lally) to Fiona Coneelly (Jeni Courtney)

"Once a selkie find its skin again, neither chains of steel nor chains of love can keep her from the sea. From that day on, it was forbidden to harm a seal on the island."--Tadgh Coneelly (John Lynch) to Fiona

Release Note

DVD Features

Region 1 Encoding
Audio Commentary by Writer/Director Sayles
Cast/Crew Biographies
Trailer

Product Notes

Sent to live with her grandparents in a quaint coastal Irish town, 10-year-old Fiona (Jeni Courtney) is fascinated by the village's rich folk culture--especially the local myths about a half-human, half-seal creature known as a selkie. Fiona becomes convinced that her supposedly deceased little brother is living with the selkies, and she travels to the beautiful, enchanted island of Roan Inish, where her grandparents once lived, to confirm her suspicions.

Based on the book SECRET OF RON MOR SKERRY by Rosalie K. Fry, the film is the first John Sayles picture shot outside the United States. Although the magical realism of the film may seem like a departure for Sayles, who is known for gritty slice-of-life dramas, he has covered fantastic elements before (BROTHER FROM ANOTHER PLANET), and has dealt extensively with the theme of returning to one's roots (BABY IT'S YOU, RETURN OF THE SECAUCUS SEVEN, and PASSION FISH). The film will particularly appeal to children and adults who grew up listening to stories rather than watching them on television, and the special effects--including a magical transformation of a seal into a woman--are meant to replicate the imagination of a rural child unfamiliar with the excesses of mass media. With its gorgeous photography and perfectly paced storytelling, THE SECRET OF ROAN INISH stands as one of the finest folklore-based films ever made.

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