The Secret of Roan Inish

The Secret of Roan Inish
by John Sayles

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DVD details

Actor: Dave Duffy, Eileen Colgan, Jeni Courtney, Mick Lally, Pat Slowey
Director: John Sayles
Brand: SONY PICTURES HOME ENT
Writer: John Sayles
Producer: Glenn R. Jones
Producer: John Sloss
Producer: Maggie Renzi
Producer: Peter Newman
Producer: R. Paul Miller
Writer: Rosalie K. Fry
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround; English (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled)
Format: Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, Full Screen, NTSC, Widescreen
Picture Format: Anamorphic Widescreen, 1.85:1
Running Time: 103 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2000-07-25
Audience Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Studio: Sony Pictures

DVD Reviews of The Secret of Roan Inish

DVD Review: Loved The DVD
Summary: 5 Stars

Combines a simple but heartfelt story of a dieing fishing villege with old Irish traditions and superstions. Weaves them together into a magical story line.

DVD Review: Still great
Summary: 4 Stars

Just watched it again with #2. Some of the brogue is a bit thick, but it is just magical. I find most of Sayles grown-up movies to be too preachy to be completely enjoyable, but Roan Inish is just great storytelling.

Nothing's funnier than watching a naked toddler jump and clap while watching another naked toddler scampering across a peat bough. And the soundtrack is beautiful.

DVD Review: Beautiful Modern Faery Tale
Summary: 5 Stars

I really enjoy Celtic Folk tales / Mythology, and have loved books by Morgan LLewellen, and also original works of my favorite author, CJ Cherryh. Tales about magical creatures like Pookas and Selkies, are both interesting and a lot of fun.

The Secret of Roan Inish is such a modern (20th Century) tale of a Selkie who in her beautiful human form, becomes a gentetic matriarch of a family and her gifts are passed down once per generation. After the the tiny island of Roan Inish is evacuated due to WWII and the tragic loss at see of a family menber, the family is never the same and no one ever returns until magic and fate step in.

This is a family friendly movie but not especially a kid movie.

4 1/2*

DVD Review: Secret of Roan Irish
Summary: 4 Stars

I bought this for my dtr's birthday as she has the soundtrack. She loves the music and the story. I have not seen this DVD but I have listened to the music and I like it a lot. I think it is eerie sounding but not in a bad way, it fits the story perfectly. But alas! I was looking in her DVD cabinet when I was up to her house a couple days ago and she already has the DVD!! So I either will give it to her anyway or I will keep it myself and get her something else for her birthday in Nov.

DVD Review: The Secret of Roan Inish
Summary: 5 Stars

A powerful movie with a great fantasy story behind it. I could watch this movie over and over again. The acting is superb.

Description of The Secret of Roan Inish

A GENTLE, CHARMING TALE OF A GIRL WHO IS SENT TO LIVE WITH HERGRANDPARENTS AND DISCOVERS THE MYTHS AND MAGIC THAT HAVEAFFECTED HER FAMILY.

As one of the most respected American independent filmmakers, John Sayles has created a body of work as distinguished in its diversity as for its consistent quality and inspiring originality. He's never been one to march to the commercial beat, but chooses instead to follow his creative impulse wherever it leads him. The Secret of Roan Inish led Sayles to the beautiful and moody West Coast of Ireland; it is a tale of a girl who discovers that her family has been touched by myth and magic throughout the years. Following the death of her mother, young Fiona (Jeni Courtney) is sent to live with her grandparents on the Irish coast across from Roan Inish, the island where her family once lived. She's told stories about the selkies--seals that can turn into humans--who have been connected with Fiona's family over the ages. At first she's not sure if the selkies are real or mythological, but she later realizes that they hold the key to reclaiming her family heritage.

What's remarkable about this film (which Sayles adapted from Rosalie Fry's novel Secret of the Ron Mor Skerry) is that it's not told as a cute fantasy for children, but as a straightforward, unsentimental story of a young girl's family history. That gives the film--which was beautifully photographed by master cinematographer Haskell Wexler--an understated charm that is completely absorbing in its atmosphere and subtle tone. There's magic as well, to be sure--you could almost swear that the seals and seagulls in the film took direction from Sayles as well as any human actor! --Jeff Shannon

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