Ein irischer Sommer

This film has hidden depths and each time I go back to see it again, I see something new. Perhaps I'm biased because I'm from the area where the film is based. However, there are so many little nuances that never cease to delight me.

The dreariness of the landscape is not overstated - nor indeed is the role played by water in the lives of the people an exaggeration - whether it's through the never-ending drizzle, the damp and the associated chills, the lakes and rivers, the dew on the early morning grass. There are tears as well. Images and sounds of water percolate through this film - the splashing of oars on the lake, the soft patter of the rain on a tin roof, the ineffectual flapping of eels trapped in a fish tank.

There is also brutality in the film - the cynical embittered father who would rather see his own son sent out to war than to effect a reconciliation with an old enemy. The turning point in the film is subtle and yet very powerful. >