Something to watch tonight: Thursday 24 April
The Quiet Girl (Bairéad, 2022)
Apologies for the lateness of this delivery. Readers DD and SD of Onehunga stopped by and spirited me away to a screening The Accountant 2 so I would have something to talk about on the radio tonight (at about 9.30 if you’re free).
On the subject of radio, you can now listen to my RNZ At the Movies episode from yesterday where I reviewed Sinners, Warfare and Small Things Like These.
The excellent Small Things Like These is based on a novella by Claire Keegan who also wrote the novel that The Quiet Girl is based on and coincidentally I was also on At the Movies duty when that one came out in July 2022:
The Quiet Girl is the slowest of slow burners and by golly it is worth it.
The year is 1981. The place is rural Ireland. Nine-year-old Cáit (played by Catherine Clinch) lives with her parents and several rowdy siblings in a farmhouse that doesn’t boast too much in terms of home comforts (although her father always seems to be able to find funds for pint, a bet or a smoke).
She’s a sensitive child, called the Wanderer by her father who doesn’t appear to speak Irish which means the rest of the family can separate him from their conversations easily enough. This does not appear to make him any easier to be around.
The mother is heavily pregnant, and a decision is made to send Cáit away to stay with relatives for the summer holidays. One less mouth to feed. The couple she’s going to stay with are distant relatives in more ways than one.
Dad is in such a hurry to leave he drives off with Cáit’s suitcase still in the back of the car and Cáit has to wear hand-me-down boys clothes.
After that start, it’s a while before the wife in the house, Eibhlín (played by Carrie Crowley) can win her trust. Even then, her promise that “there are no secrets in this house” doesn’t prove to be totally true.
You can read the rest (or listen if you prefer) here. Also reviewed in that show were the not nearly as good The Gray Man (starring Ryan Gosling) and Where the Crawdads Sing.
Tomorrow is a public holiday in New Zealand so there’ll be no 3.15pm update. Normal service will resume on Monday.
Where to watch The Quiet Girl
Aotearoa: Streaming on Māori+ (free with ads)
Australia: Digital rental
Canada: Digital rental
Ireland: Digital rental
India: Not currently available
USA: Streaming on Hulu
UK: Digital rental
Does this movie go someway in explaining the Irish diaspora? It conveys an oppressiveness that you would want to escape.
The Quiet Girl is powerful as you describe.