The Quiet Girl

The movie "The quiet girl" is an exceptional piece of drama. Beautifully adapted from Claire Keegan's book "Foster," writer/director Colm Bairéad makes a heavy, harrowing movie about the influence of a dysfunctional and neglected family in the development of a child.

Cáit (Catherine Clinch) is a little girl who spends most of her time quietly on her parent's farm. She feels the disdain of her family who is going through financial difficulties, she doesn't get along with her sisters and she is bullied at school, which affects her ability to read and write. Her parents then decide to send her away to spend some time with her aunt's family. As soon as Cáit arrives at the new residence, she begins to discover the true feeling of a family environment. That's when director Colm Bairéad shines, through small gestures and details, he manages to convey Cáit's blossoming, the feeling of existing and being loved, and at the same time shows the healing process of her uncles' tragedy.

This is a beautiful movie about discovery, healing and miserable childhood.

Writer-Director Colm Bairead's tender, deceptively simple adaptation of Claire Keegan's short story is a beautifully told tale. Set in the early 80s in Ireland, QUIET GIRL tells of a shy young girl, Cait (Catherine Clinch), who is sent away by her financially strapped parents for the summer while her family prepares for a baby to be born. Her Da (Michael Patric) calls Cait 'the wanderer' for her tendency to withdraw and to go off by herself. Cait stays with Ma's (Kat Nic Chonaonaigh) older cousin Eibhlin (Carrie Crowley) who lives with her husband Sean (Andrew Bennett).

Cait's natural introvertedness combined with the new surroundings makes for an uneasy transition. Over time, Eibhlin and Sean slowly break down that wall and they start to bond. Eibhlin and Sean are also firmly middle-class which further softens the awkward surroundings for the young girl who they endearingly call 'pet'. The surrogate parents assure Cait that there are no 'secrets' in their home. It's to the film's credit that when that promise is broken, it's done in a most gentle yet illuminating manner.

Bairead's spare but finely observed writing and direction is ably matched with the cast, in particular Crowley and Bennett who give sublty effective performances. Clinch perfectly suits the title role with an uncommon sense of stillness when necessary, while also being able to deliver in the more emotional ones. The movie is framed in the old fashioned 1:37 aspect ratio to suit the intimacy of the story, while still giving room to show the picturesque Irish landscape during the long drives to and from the two homes.

THE QUIET GIRL may, at times, feel a bit slight, but, be careful, it shall sneak up on you if allow it to unfold at its own lovely pace. It's a story that stealthily becomes so much more deeply felt that what's appears on the surface.

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.

It is not so unusual to witness family situations in which parents treat their children as burdens, oblivious to their responsibility for bringing them into the world. Or of the reason why they did it. The discourse on parenting is precisely the film's pivotal element, and it is carried out gracefully. The Quite Girl is not an original film, or particularly entertaining, but it succeeds in offering a perfectly constructed story from beginning to end. It certainly conveys a great love for cinema and its language, this in the attention and subtle use of detail, in the beautiful cinematography and in the image construction. An outstanding piece of work indeed.

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.