No. 71 (2022) THE QUIET GIRL August 27th.

 

Film No. 71 (2022)  August  27th.  11.00 AM   Cinema 1.  LUNA,  Leederville.

 

"She says as much as she needs to say" (Sean defends Cait's quiet demeanour during a conversation with Eibhlin).

Winner Best Director (Colm Bairead) & Winner Audience Award at the Dublin International Film Festival 2022.

This small story by first feature director (and writer) Colm Bairead, THE QUIET GIRL, moved me greatly. So while the story is small, capturing the entire world of Cait, (brilliantly played by Catherine Clinch) in 92 minutes, with minimal dialogue, it's the quiet moments that work best. Bairead will be noticed from here on!

It's 1981 in rural Ireland. Western farmland, perhaps, but where we meet 9 year old Cait is not important. What is important is that she is a quiet, independent thinker who finds it difficult to connect with family and peers. This disconnectedness, added to family economics, leads parents Athair (Michael Patric) and Mathair (Kate Nic Chonaonaigh) to send Cate to a Waterford dairy farm for the summer. Family cousin Eibhlin (Carrie Crowley) and husband Sean (Andrew Bennett) are affected by tragedy and are welcoming of a distraction, in the form of Cait. 

With every scene, trust, warmth, and a revelation leading to genuine love, melds these perfectly cast characters into a warm family. In the same way, TO SIR WITH LOVE, teaches lessons pertaining to nourishment of the mind via care and respect, THE QUIET GIRL does it with an empathic quality only the likes of Ken Loach (SORRY, WE MISSED YOU) have mastered. 

In the same way an effective road-movie emphasises life lessons, AN CAILIN CIUIN excels. Catherine Clinch is remarkable, and while her Cait is a believable 9, this 13 year old actor elevates Bairead's Gaelic language film onto international screens in a manner not seen since THE WIND THAT SHAKES THE BARLEY. Don't miss THE QUIET GIRL. 11GUMS.