The Secret of Roan Inish
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''The Secret of Roan Inish'' is a 1994
independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...
fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving Magic (supernatural), magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and sometimes inspired by mythology and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then became fantasy ...
-
adventure film An adventure film is a form of adventure fiction, and is a genre of film. Subgenres of adventure films include swashbuckler films, pirate films, and survival films. Adventure films may also be combined with other film genres such as action, an ...
written and directed by
John Sayles John Thomas Sayles (born September 28, 1950) is an American independent film director, screenwriter, editor, actor, and novelist. He has twice been nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay, for ''Passion Fish'' (1992) and ''L ...
. It is based on the 1957 novel ''Secret of the Ron Mor Skerry'', by Rosalie K. Fry. It is centered on the
Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...
and Orcadian folklores of
selkie In Celtic and Norse mythology, selkies (also spelled ', ', ') or selkie folk ( sco, selkie fowk) meaning 'seal folk' are mythological beings capable of therianthropy, changing from seal to human form by shedding their skin. They are found ...
s—seals that can shed their skins to become human. The story, set on the west coast of
Ulster Ulster (; ga, Ulaidh or ''Cúige Uladh'' ; sco, label= Ulster Scots, Ulstèr or ''Ulster'') is one of the four traditional Irish provinces. It is made up of nine counties: six of these constitute Northern Ireland (a part of the United King ...
in the north-west of
Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...
, is about Fiona, a young girl who is sent to live with her grandparents and her cousin Eamon near the island of Roan Inish, where the selkies are rumored to reside. It is a family legend that her younger brother was swept away in his infancy and raised by a selkie. Part of the film takes place in
Donegal Town Donegal ( ; , "fort of the foreigners") is a town in County Donegal, Ireland. The name was also historically spelt 'Dunnagall'. Although Donegal gave its name to the county, now Lifford is the county town. From the 15th until the early 17th ce ...
.


Plot

Set in 1946, the story is told from the point of view of Fiona (Jeni Courtney), a young girl who is sent to live with her grandparents in an Irish fishing village, after the death of her mother, illness of her father, and her own failing health. In the evenings, her grandfather tells tales about the family's history, including the evacuation from their generational home on the tiny island of Roan Inish during the
Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
. Known in
Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...
as ''Rón Inis'', meaning "Island of
Seals Seals may refer to: * Pinniped, a diverse group of semi-aquatic marine mammals, many of which are commonly called seals, particularly: ** Earless seal, or "true seal" ** Fur seal * Seal (emblem), a device to impress an emblem, used as a means of a ...
", Roan Inish is a real location near Narin, a village on the west coast of
County Donegal County Donegal ( ; ga, Contae Dhún na nGall) is a county of Ireland in the province of Ulster and in the Northern and Western Region. It is named after the town of Donegal in the south of the county. It has also been known as County Tyrconne ...
in the west of
Ulster Ulster (; ga, Ulaidh or ''Cúige Uladh'' ; sco, label= Ulster Scots, Ulstèr or ''Ulster'') is one of the four traditional Irish provinces. It is made up of nine counties: six of these constitute Northern Ireland (a part of the United King ...
. They live in the Ireland of tiny fishing villages, places where everyone knows one another. People live close to nature, and animals are respected and live alongside the villagers. Seals are especially respected for their special human-like spirit. It is said to be terribly wrong to harm a seal. As she meets other villagers, Fiona hears from a distant cousin about an ancestor who married a beautiful Selkie (seal-woman). The story goes that although theirs was a marriage full of happiness, success and many children, there was always the mysterious seal-bond to the ocean. Fiona's cousin tells her that the selkie's blood runs through some of the descendants, he himself is called a "dark", down through the generations, like himself, and Fiona's baby brother Jamie. Fiona hears details about how the sea seemed to steal her infant brother, Jamie, during the departure from Roan Inish, bobbing out of sight in his little cradle boat, some years earlier, never to be seen again. Her cousin, Eamon, who also lives near the grandparents for his health, often accompanies the Grandfather in his
curragh The Curragh ( ; ga, An Currach ) is a flat open plain of almost of common land in County Kildare. This area is well known for Irish horse breeding and training. The Irish National Stud is located on the edge of Kildare town, beside the ...
- fishing boat - on daily errands to the islands including Roan Inish. Quickly the bright and older Eamon becomes a partner in Fiona's plans, as the day's adventures on the sea and shore become more interesting. Soon, on one of the visits to Roan Inish, Fiona believes that she has found Jamie romping on the strand and again, in the grass. She confides in Eamon, who warns her to not tell the grandparents for now. She observes that the seals seem to care for him, helping to feed him and play with him. They get the idea that her grandparents should move back to Roan Inish and, when they do, the seals will return Jamie to them. The grandparents' current landlord is selling their home and they will need to move soon, but won't move to Roan Inish due to the sadness they feel at losing Jamie. Without telling them, Fiona and Eamon reason: if they must move again, why not back to the cottages they loved best? Saying nothing to anyone about their plan, Fiona and Eamon set to the hard work of reclaiming the long-abandoned cottages on Roan Inish. They clean and restore the cottages, give them new
thatch Thatching is the craft of building a roof with dry vegetation such as straw, water reed, sedge (''Cladium mariscus''), rushes, heather, or palm branches, layering the vegetation so as to shed water away from the inner roof. Since the bulk of ...
, paint, gardens, and furnishings. After returning to her grandparents, a terrible storm rises and Fiona fears for Jamie's safety in the strong winds. She wonders aloud: "I hope he thinks to go inside the cottage." Her grandparents hear her and are in utter disbelief at her explanation. Her grandmother is wise and unhesitant - rising to her feet and to the moment, her body and actions say: If there is any chance the child lives, when thought dead these years, rescue must be immediate. She gathers her husband, Eamon and Fiona, they pack what they need, and climb into the curragh and make their way to Roan Inish. Racing inside, they see that Jamie is not there and the wind is rising in power and the rain has begun. The grandparents are, however, astonished and grateful to Fiona and Eamon for their secret restoration of the cottages these past few weeks. Jamie's tiny cradle bobs to shore and he jumps out, heading for the cottages to escape the storm, shepherded to safety lovingly by the seals, as they'd probably been doing all along. But then he stops and runs back - he sees his grandparents and Eamon and Fiona, his big sister, and has no memory of them. In front of the group, grandmother calls to him to not be afraid and to come to them for love and safety - come to his family at last. Jamie remains motionless and afraid, still, then runs for his cradle, but at this point several of the seals herd him towards his family, and prevent him from returning to the cradle boat and the sea. He reluctantly makes his way into his grandmother's open arms and they make their way inside. Seeing that Jamie is safe, the seals depart. Indoors, the victorious family are elated at the return of the child they thought dead. They wrap Jamie in a blanket and sit in front of a warm dry fire. Fiona rocks him to sleep in her arms.


Cast

*
Jeni Courtney Jeni may refer to * Jeni Barnett * Jeni Bojilova-Pateva * Jeni Couzyn * Jeni Klugman * Jeni Le Gon * Jeni Mawter * Jeni Mundy * Jeni Tennison See also * Jennifer (given name) Jennifer or Jenifer may refer to: People * Jennifer (given name) ...
as Fiona Coneelly *
Eileen Colgan Eileen Colgan Simpson (2 January 1934 – 10 March 2014) was an Irish theatre, television and film actress. She was best known for her recurring role as Esther Roche on the RTÉ One soap opera, ''Fair City''. She also appeared in the RTÉ televis ...
as Tess Coneelly * Richard Sheridan as Eamon Coneelly *
Dave Duffy Dave may refer to: Film, television, and theater * ''Dave'' (film), a 1993 film starring Kevin Kline and Sigourney Weaver * ''Dave'' (musical), a 2018 stage musical adaptation of the film * Dave (TV channel), a digital television channel in the ...
as Jim * Pat Slowey as Priest *
Declan Hannigan Declan may refer to: * Declán of Ardmore (fl. 5th century), Irish religious leader * Declan (given name) Declan is an Irish given name, an anglicised form of the Irish saint name Declán, also Deaglán or Déaglán. St. Declán founded a monaster ...
as Oldest brother * Mairéad Ní Ghallchóir as Barmaid * Eugene McHugh as Bar Patron 1 * Tony Rubini as Bar Patron 2 *
Mick Lally Mick is a masculine given name, usually a short form (hypocorism) of Michael. Because of its popularity in Ireland, it is often used in England as a derogatory term for an Irish person or a person of Irish descent. In Australia the meaning broad ...
as Hugh Coneelly * Michael MacCarthaigh as Schoolmaster *
Fergal McElherron Fergal or Feargal are Irish, male given names. They are anglicized forms of the name Fearghal.Mairéad Byrne, Irish Baby Names – 25 Apr 2005 The arts *Fergal Keane, OBE (born 1961), Irish writer and broadcaster *Feargal Sharkey (born 1958), for ...
as Sean Michael * Brendan Conroy as Flynn Conneelly * John Lynch as Tadhg Coneelly *
Susan Lynch Susan Lynch (born 5 June 1971) is a Northern Irish actress. three-times an IFTA Award winner, she also won the British Independent Film Award for Best Supporting Actress for the 2003 film '' 16 Years of Alcohol''. Her other film appearances in ...
as Nuala the Selkie * Frankie McCafferty as Tim * Cillian Byrne as Jamie Connelly


Production

In creating the film, John Sayles drew on original research of Celtic island lore and language, including the Blasket memoirs, a series of vernacular memoirs collected in the 1920s and '30s from residents of the
Great Blasket The Great Blasket () is the principal island of the Blaskets, County Kerry, Ireland. It was home to a small fishing community of Irish speakers until the island was abandoned in 1954 when living there became unsustainable. Geography The is ...
, an island off the
Kerry Kerry or Kerri may refer to: * Kerry (name), a given name and surname of Gaelic origin (including a list of people with the name) Places * Kerry, Queensland, Australia * County Kerry, Ireland ** Kerry Airport, an international airport in Count ...
coast evacuated by the Irish government in 1953 and made a national park in 1989. "Veteran cinematographer
Haskell Wexler Haskell Wexler, ASC (February 6, 1922 – December 27, 2015) was an American cinematographer, film producer, and director. Wexler was judged to be one of film history's ten most influential cinematographers in a survey of the members of the Int ...
gives ''The Secret of Roan Inish'' an effortlessly elemental look. Without ostentation or self-consciousness, the film immerses you in the spume, fog and glare of the seaside life, with its temporal mysteries and its organic metamorphoses.
Mason Daring Mason K. Daring (born September 21, 1949 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) is an American musician and composer of scores for film and television. He has worked on nearly all the films directed by John Sayles, adapting his style to fit whatever peri ...
's spare, traditional Irish score adds one more layer of melancholy atmosphere," noted
Scott Rosenberg Scott Rosenberg (born April 24, 1963) is an American screenwriter, film producer, and actor. Life and career Rosenberg was born in Needham, Massachusetts, to a Jewish family. After high school graduation in 1981, he attended Boston Universit ...
of
SFGate The ''San Francisco Chronicle'' is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California. It was founded in 1865 as ''The Daily Dramatic Chronicle'' by teenage brothers Charles de Young and Michael H. de Young. The p ...
. Although in the original novel the story takes place in
Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...
, the filmmakers decided to have the film take place in Ireland for practical reasons. According to John Sayles in the director's commentary, most of the film was shot in
County Donegal County Donegal ( ; ga, Contae Dhún na nGall) is a county of Ireland in the province of Ulster and in the Northern and Western Region. It is named after the town of Donegal in the south of the county. It has also been known as County Tyrconne ...
in
Ulster Ulster (; ga, Ulaidh or ''Cúige Uladh'' ; sco, label= Ulster Scots, Ulstèr or ''Ulster'') is one of the four traditional Irish provinces. It is made up of nine counties: six of these constitute Northern Ireland (a part of the United King ...
in the north of Ireland, with some scenes being filmed on the
Isle of Mull The Isle of Mull ( gd, An t-Eilean Muileach ) or just Mull (; gd, Muile, links=no ) is the second-largest island of the Inner Hebrides (after Skye) and lies off the west coast of Scotland in the Council areas of Scotland, council area of Arg ...
in
Argyll Argyll (; archaically Argyle, in modern Gaelic, ), sometimes called Argyllshire, is a historic county and registration county of western Scotland. Argyll is of ancient origin, and corresponds to most of the part of the ancient kingdom of ...
,
Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...
. Over 1,000 girls were tested for the role of Fiona, which required the actress to be "Thin,
underweight An underweight person is a person whose body weight is considered too low to be healthy. A person who is underweight is malnourished. Assessment The body mass index, a ratio of a person's weight to their height, has traditionally been used t ...
, pale
complexion Complexion in humans is the natural color, texture, and appearance of the skin, especially on the face. History The word "complexion" is derived from the Late Latin ''complexi'', which initially referred in general terms to a combination of thi ...
, but perky and not afraid of water."


Restoration

In 2020, the
UCLA Film and Television Archive The UCLA Film & Television Archive is a visual arts organization focused on the preservation, study, and appreciation of film and television, based at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). Also a nonprofit exhibition venue, the archiv ...
made a digitally restored print of the film.


Reception


Critical response

It holds a 96% "Certified Fresh" and average rating of 7.8/10 on review site
Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...
, based on 45 reviews.
Scott Rosenberg Scott Rosenberg (born April 24, 1963) is an American screenwriter, film producer, and actor. Life and career Rosenberg was born in Needham, Massachusetts, to a Jewish family. After high school graduation in 1981, he attended Boston Universit ...
of
SFGate The ''San Francisco Chronicle'' is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California. It was founded in 1865 as ''The Daily Dramatic Chronicle'' by teenage brothers Charles de Young and Michael H. de Young. The p ...
describes it as being "a lot like the island it's named after: It seems to occupy a time of its own, cut off from the speed and overload of contemporary life and drifting to its own ancient rhythms." Critic Stephen Holden, film critic for ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'', liked the film's direction. He wrote, "''The Secret of Roan Inish'' is the first film directed by Mr. Sayles that could be described as visually rhapsodic. Photographed by
Haskell Wexler Haskell Wexler, ASC (February 6, 1922 – December 27, 2015) was an American cinematographer, film producer, and director. Wexler was judged to be one of film history's ten most influential cinematographers in a survey of the members of the Int ...
on Ireland's rugged northwestern seacoast, it is a cinematic tone poem in which man and nature, myth and reality flow together in a way that makes them ultimately indivisible."Holden, Stephen
''The New York Times'', film review, "John Sayles in the Land of Enchantment", February 3, 1995.


References


External links

* * * *
''The Secret of Roan Inish''
film trailer at
YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Secret Of Roan Inish, The 1994 films 1990s adventure films 1990s children's fantasy films 1994 fantasy films 1994 independent films American fantasy films American independent films County Donegal in fiction English-language Irish films Films about animals Films about mermaids Films based on Canadian novels Films based on Celtic mythology Films based on British novels Films directed by John Sayles Films scored by Mason Daring Films set in 1946 Films set in Ireland Films shot in the Republic of Ireland Films with screenplays by John Sayles Irish fantasy films Irish-language films Irish independent films 1990s English-language films 1990s American films