The Quiet Girl

Colm Bairéad’s story of an Irish childhood is wonderfully realised and told largely in Irish Gaelic.

Catherine Clinch

This first full feature film by the Irish writer/director Colm Bairéad is notable for its quality, but it has additional significance too. This adaptation of Claire Keegan's short story Foster is not the first film by Bairéad to feature Irish Gaelic as its language, but it is rare indeed to see that stand taken in a fully-fledged feature film with actors and only a small part of The Quiet Girl is in English, the rest being subtitled.

Nine-year-old Cáit played by Catherine Clinch is the quiet girl of the title and the focus is on her throughout. It is 1981 and we meet her at home on an Irish farm but life there is far from easy. This is largely due to her having a father (Michael Patric) who is irresponsible and unreliable, a man too keen on drink and unfaithful to his wife (Kate Nic Chonaonaigh). The latter is understandably run down having other children as well as Cáit to look after and now being pregnant again. To ease the strain, she sends Cáit away to live for a time with her cousin Eibhlín (Carrie Crawley) and her husband Seán (Andrew Bennett). When she arrives Seán seems very distant but she gets a warm welcome from Eibhlín and soon benefits from being in a household in which she comes to feel loved.

From the start The Quiet Girl displays great sensitivity in its approach. It's a gentle study of a young girl who has felt cut off due to the lack of any truly deep affection, but Bairéad is careful to avoid any sentimentality here and the rural location (Cáit’s new abode is again a farm) allows for some beautiful photography. Like the music which is not overused, natural sounds are well judged. The main plot development concerns an event in the past which has remained all too relevant but this is similarly handled with restraint. By the time that the film chooses to reveal it, many viewers will have anticipated its nature but that is no real drawback.

The Quiet Girl is probably a film that will appeal most of all to older audiences and it's good to find a work in that category which has real artistic worth rather than offering mere escapism. However, I must admit that I do feel that the final stages of the tale would probably work better in its original form as a succinct short story. In addition, there are a few moments, but only a few, when the directorial style becomes at odds with the film’s basic realism. Thus a couple of scenes briefly feature slow motion, there’s a sudden use of an unaccompanied song to set a mood and near the close a flurry of brief flashback shots feels ill-judged. Nevertheless, any failings are minor indeed compared to the film’s successes. Quite apart from the highly appealing character of the piece, there is the acting to admire. Catherine Clinch is an extremely able child actress and in her portrayal of Cáit she never puts a foot wrong. Furthermore, she is absolutely matched by Carrie Crowley who makes Eibhlín a fully realised character, a woman possessed of a natural caring quality when it comes to looking after a young child. These are great performances.

Original title: An Cailín Ciúin.

MANSEL STIMPSON

Cast: Catherine Clinch, Carrie Crowley, Andrew Bennett, Michael Patric, Kate Nic Chonaonaigh, Joan Sheehy, Carolyn Bracken, Tara Faughnan, Neans Nic Dhonncha, Éabra Ní Chonaola.

Dir Colm Bairéad, Pro Cleona Ní Chrualaoí, Screenplay Colm Bairéad, from the short story Foster by Claire Keegan, Ph Kate McCullough, Pro Des Emma Lowney, Ed John Murphy, Music Stephen Rennicks, Costumes Louise Stanton.

Inscéal/TG4/Broadcasting Authority of Ireland/Fís Éireann/Screen Ireland-Curzon.
94 mins. Ireland. 2021. UK Rel: 13 May 2022. Cert. 12A.