THE QUIET GIRL

Wednesday, October 25, 2023
Ireland  2023
Location: SilverCity
Showtimes: 6:30 & 8:30 pm

Director: Colm Bairéad
Cast:  Carrie Crowley, Andrew Bennett, Catherine Clinch
Running time: 95 minutes
Language: English 

London Critics Circle Awards: Best Foreign Language Film; Berlin International Film Festival: Best Feature Film; Dublin International Film Festival: Discovery Award-Director, Audience Award; Denver International Film Festival: Best Narrative Film; 21 other wins; Academy Award Nomination: Best International Feature, 31 other nominations; 

“The first Irish language film to be nominated for a foreign language Academy Award, "The Quiet Girl" is a small, humane gem.”—James Verniere, Boston Herald

“The Quiet Girl” marks an impressive debut by director and scriptwriter Colm Bairéad.  
Based on the novel, ‘Foster’ the 2010 novel by award-winning Irish author Claire Keegan, the film is told through the eyes of a nine-year-old Cáit (extraordinary Catherine Clinch), “The Quiet Girl” is coming-of-age tale set in rural Ireland in 1981, spoken almost entirely in the Irish language. 

Cáit lives a rundown farm with her drinker/womanizing dad, harried mum and two older sisters and baby brother. Upon the expected birth of yet another sibling, Cáit is sent away to live with a distant cousin, Eibhlín (Carrie Crowley), and her husband Séan (Andrew Bennett). They are also farmers but they are far more industrious than Cáit’s ne’er-do-well Da. 

While chatting with Cáit Eibhlín, declares, “There are no secrets in this house;” Cáit will indeed stumble upon something disturbing, no thanks to a meddling neighbour.  By summer’s end, Cáit’s mom has given birth. The now changed ‘quiet girl’ has to return to her unhappy home.
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“The Quiet Girl” is a remarkable first film, comprised of small moments and gradual awakenings. Momentous occurrences do happen, minus melodramatic flourishes. Much of the film is shot from the child’s point of view so in some scenes adults are obscured by car seats etc. Cáit witnesses other scenes she doesn’t understand, so we aren’t privy to the context of the shot. This is Bairéad’s method of illustrating how a child interprets what happens around her. Aside from amazing young Clinch, Carrie Crowley and Andrew Bennett are excellent as a lovely but quietly despairing people. Despite life’s bruises, they have managed to keep faith and hope alive.

“The Quiet Girl” is a profoundly moving film. It is a rare thing: a movie that manages to impart a great deal of emotion and understanding while not saying very much at all. 
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