Simply A Masterpiece

Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

It's an amazing and heartbreaking story.

The first must-see film of the year.

As one would expect, David Lean made great use of the vast, stark expanses of Ireland by the sea in this story about a troubled love set against the politics of Irish independence. The result is a moody, languid film that focuses on the relationship between the passion-starved wife of a small school and an English major temporarily assigned to the region.The trivia notes on this site detail the many problems during the production of "Ryan's Daughter". Still, the final product is a fairly successful story that revolves around the forces of religion and conformity in the small town, where the church--through the parish priest (Trevor Howard)--is the supreme authority on all matters. The film also has something to say about mob rule.The wife (Sara Miles), though discontent in her marriage to the teacher (Robert Mitchum), still manages to love her husband. But she feels a compulsion that sets her in opposition to the priest, the town, and propriety. John Mills won the Oscar for his poignant portrayal of the town idiot, a performance that echoes Charles Laughton's Quasimodo.My only complaint is the soundtrack, which is often jarring and intrusive. This film is uncompromising in its depiction of human nature, which is understandably exaggerated within the confines of the small, insular community perched along the raw, windswept coastline. It engages the viewer and transports him to another time and place, where (and when) ethics were etched in black and white.

I have trouble with Ryan's Daughter . It is astoundingly beautiful (esp. in 70mm in the cinema). At its heart it is a story of a woman trapped in a violent time and suffocating society symbolised by her marriage. I don't really quite know how to express this: I have never liked films where there is mob violence. But is it a sign that Lean succeeded when I say I find these elements of this film disturbing? The sequence when the mob attacks Rosy are truly horrible.As for those who accuse Lean of racism I ask how would Rosy have fared in Derry in 1971?This is a dark story really,despite the beauty of the scenery, a story of deep seated hatred, of sexual repression and of treason. With those themes in play how is this a small story as some critics state.Whether Lean and his cast bring it all off I do not know. Sarah Miles has never been a favourite actress of mine but in this she glows on screen. Mills is really fine as is Howard and McKern but Mitchum never quite convinced me.Christopher Jones seems to have had problems with the part and Lean was unhappy but in many ways he is perfect. He is a cypher. A symbol of an outside world. Little more.It is ironic that he and Sarah Miles reportedly did not get along at all.But in the end this is an exquisitely made film. Lean was always a great craftsman. So in the end I still do not know what I think about Ryan's Daughter. I do know it makes me think about the themes at its heart. Is that a sign of the success of Lean? Perhaps.I am sure critics will keep arguing about it for another 40 years.

Epic, but only due to its running time. A seemingly interminable, mostly pointless movie. Meanders for three hours and goes nowhere.Started off reasonably well, though the fact that Act 1, the background, took about an hour was sign of things to come. Then, just when it seemed there'd be a point, it just drifts.Something more profound, or much shorter, was surely in order.On the plus side, the scenery and cinematography are fantastic. The Best Cinematography Oscar was well-deserved.Performances vary. Robert Mitchum, Sarah Miles and Leo McKern are good in their roles. Christopher Jones overdoes the silent treatment as the British Major, to the point that his character is irritating. Most irritating performance and character, however, goes to John Mills as Michael, the mentally- and dentally-challenged guy. Too much screen time, for no purpose. His antics go from amusing to incredibly annoying very quickly. Even more annoying: Mills won a Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his performance! The other nominees could rightfully feel cheated. So much for never going full retard...

Lean's Ryan's Daughter is sadly undervalued by many as they thought him past his best, when, five years after Doctor Zhivago, he constructed a whole new village on the Dingle Peninsular on the west coast of Ireland and spent over a year on his indulgence.This beautifully filmed epic, on 70mm negative, might not have the cold harshness of Zhivago, or the scorching majesty of Lawrence of Arabia, but still remains my very favourite film set in and filmed in Ireland.John Mills, as the village idiot steals every scene he's in and leaves us his legacy as a very adaptable actor and Trevor Howard, as a priest. In a brave casting, Robert Mitchum is the teacher who is married to the beautiful and beguiling Sarah Miles, whom she finds his lack of husbandly attention responsible to her becoming attracted to others. The film, a first for Lean, is rated as '15' for a very tasteful outdoor sex scene that involves Miss Miles....The political agenda is always bubbling away, set in both World War 1 and the Uprising, with the locals even siding with the Germans, so anti- British was the feeling. Leo McKern, as the village's Publican, who poses as a Republican and such was Lean's quest for reality that there's actual bloody injury detail incurred during a real storm that the director insisted they filmed in. That it wasn't edited out afterward is also testament to Lean's personal stamp on his cherished creation.Perhaps the star of Ryan's Daughter will always be Freddie Francis' Oscar winning cinematography - the backdrops really are akin to giant, living canvasses. However, unlike the majority of Lean's epics, only two Academy Awards were scooped, the other going to the deserving John Mills.