La Niña Callada

Quite simply, the best Irish movie, I've ever seen. Not just Irish language but Irish! Sublime cinematography, direction and acting. Based on Claire Keegan's book Foster, this tells the story of Cait a withdrawn little girl from a poor big rural family who during her mother's latest pregnancy is packed off to live with a older rural couple who are relatives. Catherine Clinch is a revelation as the title character and Carrie Crowleyis her usual reliable self and Andrew Bennett in his role as the taciturn substitute father developing a relationship with Cait who delivers a powerful emotional punch. This movie had me welling up unexpectedly a number of times and there are so many nostalgic moments in relation to late 70s early 80s Ireland in relation to tv, sport and clothes. It is a joyous film that I cannot recommend highly enough it hypnotised me . I'm not staying quiet about this!

Imagine what you'd do, a young child where there's a few, in a rural Irish setting, father likes drinking and betting, mam's another on the way, so they send you far away, to relations you don't know, you have no say, you have to go.

Occasionally you come across a piece of cinema that leaves you stunned, buckled and undone; when performances and story, within a time and a place, just flow so elegantly and refined, against the most inelegant and unrefined backdrops.

If you have a heart, and a soul, an ounce of empathy, and a pathway from a screen straight to them, then prepare to be walloped by this heartfelt offering from the Emerald Isle.

I start with the story. This movie is an eye-opening wonderfully made piece of art about the most precious things in life. The movie demonstrates the importance of kindness, love, and care which you may not be aware of unless you lose them. That is one aspect of the story. Another important aspect of the story is children's problems in integrating with the environment, even with their own family, based on their personality. To have a different personality could be hard and gets amplified in a toxic family. The aspect of a toxic family, especially toxic parents has been presented as masterfully as possible. I won't explain the details to avoid spoiling the movie.

Storytelling is straight. Minimum metaphors and vague scenes have been filmed, maybe zero. Also, the movie does not include any form of parent love cliches which is a strong point in my opinion. You hardly find any unnecessary moments in the film and the scenes are sequenced perfectly. However, there could be some extra time for the girl's biological family. Other than that, everything is great. The story will get you right to the end which is emotional and lovely.

The cinematography is perfect as well. Excellent facial close-ups and sceneries help build up the atmosphere for different parts of the story. The performance is superb. You will accept the actors as their characters without doubt and cannot expect a better performance or cast. Especially the little girl is excellent.

Well written, beautifully directed and sensitively performed, this ends up being a deeply moving film. Director Colm Bairéad keeps his nerve as far as pacing is concerned, and as a result I expect there'll be some who find this too slow-moving for their taste. But stay with it. It's worth it.

I've never been the kind of moviegoer who wonders what happens to the characters after the film has ended, but it's difficult not to speculate in that way after The Quiet Girl's extraordinary final moments.

Catherine Clinch stars here as Cait, a girl of about ten who is sent to live with an older childless couple in rural Ireland. The biological mother and father are unfit parents with a brood of children living in a filthy and unkempt house.

Mom is expecting another child to add to her flock and the foster couple grow more and more attached to the quiet girl.

Two thirds of the way in, a terrible secret is revealed and it only deepens the attachment of Cait and her guardians.

Most of the film is in Gaelic with a few portions in English. The subtitles work fine but some of those spoken in English were difficult to understand.

The scenery is beautiful and story a tear jerker. The pretty young actress is a scene stealer.

I expect an Oscar nomination for Best Foreign Picture.