Viewing this $12 Million David Lean directed motion picture in its original 1969/70 release in Super Panavision 70 would have been a glorious event for any true cinema lover. The fact that there is a good quality 70mm print still in existence not only shows how badly this film did in it's initial 70mm roadshow release but gives us hope that we may again get chance to see this work as it was originally intended.
Lean and Robert Bolt (married at the time to female lead, Sarah Miles) loosely based their doomed love story on Gustave Flaubert "Madame Bovary". In bringing it to the screen, Lean uses a beautifully evocative score by Maurice Jarre (superior to their earlier collaborations), then adds rare photographic grandeur with the exquisite 70mm cinematography of `the master" Freddie Young (picking up another Oscar for his remarkable work) making this movie a haunting and startlingly breathtaking experience.
It's a story that encompasses many facets, war, isolation, community, betrayal, religion, sex and infidelity however it is mostly about love, in every sense. The setting is a small isolated coastal village on the west coast of Ireland during the First World War with focus on the British military occupation of the region. Rosie Ryan (Sarah Miles in her Oscar nominated performance), daughter of local publican Tom Ryan (Leo McKern) is a young beautiful girl who sets her cap for the older local unassuming, & quite school teacher (her teacher), the widowed Charles Shaughnessy (played perfectly by Hollywood legend, Robert Mitchum) seeing him as a "worldly and fascinating" man.
Charles and Rose marry but married turns out to be disappointing for Rose, not what she expected at all. Charles turns out to be an ordinary man; dull and uninteresting (even in bed). "There must be more!" Rose tells the village priest (played with gusto & heart by Trevor Howard), "Be careful what you ask for Rose." he tells her, "Because as sure as hell you'll get it " the film then kicks into high gear with the arrival of a young handsome and troubled British officer Randolph Doryan (distantly played Christopher Jones, think Colin Farrell). The scene in Tom Ryan's pub when the young lovers first meet is one of the most tender and erotic love scenes ever filmed and starts an affair that is destined to bring heartache.
The villagers in this small Irish town are insular, bigoted and jealous and above all harboring a hatred for the British. They take pleasure exacting humiliation on the local village idiot, Michael (brilliantly played by John Mills who won the Best Supporting Actor Oscar) and later taking revenge on the innocent leaving the cowardly traitor in their midst. A sad ending but with a little hope and of all the intense relationships in this story, the farewell between Rose and Michael is most heartfelt and touching.
A simple and ordinary story, criticizes for its scope and length. So why play put it on such a large canvas (70mm)? Some argue the story is too delicate and simple and should have been a "smaller" movie which is wrong, this would have deleted the impact of the story, anyone seeing this movie in 70mm will most definitely agree, the large scope and length of this work only enhances it's intimacy and reality, seen as it was intended, "Ryan's Daughter" will transfix from start to finish, you can notice this dilution if you see the film in 35mm. One of the last movies shot in the 70mm process it is truly one of the best, taking full advantage of the rugged West Irish (and South African) coastlines, the Super Panavision camera pick up everything down to the grains in the sand on those wonderful beaches and all the emotions and feeling, to assist it is acted superbly by a stellar cast who bring you right into the lives and fate of their isolated and "ordinary" Irish characters.
"Ryan's Daughter" is so misunderstood and ignore as a masterpiece perhaps somewhat long especially for today's audiences, it is never dull how it remains underrated and ignored is a mystery, yet to a lot of discerning movie goers it is superior piece of cinema and surly no one can deny the beauty of this work. The storm sequence alone (without today's CGI enhancements) is awesome, perhaps the best storm scene ever put on celluloid, and how no one died during filming is a miracle.
Savagely panned by the critics, especially the venomous Pauline Kael on it's initial release, so badly it sent David Lean into a self imposed exile (he didn't make another film for fourteen years, the less extravagant, minimally mounted "A Passage to India", which of the two films touches you the most??), perhaps Ms Kael, the critics and the public at large in 1960/70 lacked the sensitivity needed to make this movie a hit, tending to flock to films like "Mash", "The Godfather" and "Easy Rider", unfortunately they missed a fine and beautiful work of art. Believe me as I stated earlier, if you get change to see this work on the big screen now (a rare event), even with a 35mm print, Lean's fine hand and sensitivity is evident in every frame of "Ryan's Daughter", more so than in his other works or those of his contemporaries, faithfully accurate to the period (and lacking the 1960's inspired hair do's and fashion of "Doctor Zhivago") it remains as fresh today as it did in 1970.
It is disappointing to know that it is again being ignored, with no DVD release in sight (are you listening Warner Bros?), how many other Lean movies are waiting for transfer to DVD??? Surely the cinematography and acting alone makes it a worthy candidate for a high quality transfer. If they do plan a DVD release let's hope Warner's uses the Super Panavision 70mm components and the full Roadshow length to create a DVD masterpiece from this ignored cinema masterwork, there should be some great extras out their given the epic nature of the movie, it's director and stars.
Lean and Robert Bolt (married at the time to female lead, Sarah Miles) loosely based their doomed love story on Gustave Flaubert "Madame Bovary". In bringing it to the screen, Lean uses a beautifully evocative score by Maurice Jarre (superior to their earlier collaborations), then adds rare photographic grandeur with the exquisite 70mm cinematography of `the master" Freddie Young (picking up another Oscar for his remarkable work) making this movie a haunting and startlingly breathtaking experience.
It's a story that encompasses many facets, war, isolation, community, betrayal, religion, sex and infidelity however it is mostly about love, in every sense. The setting is a small isolated coastal village on the west coast of Ireland during the First World War with focus on the British military occupation of the region. Rosie Ryan (Sarah Miles in her Oscar nominated performance), daughter of local publican Tom Ryan (Leo McKern) is a young beautiful girl who sets her cap for the older local unassuming, & quite school teacher (her teacher), the widowed Charles Shaughnessy (played perfectly by Hollywood legend, Robert Mitchum) seeing him as a "worldly and fascinating" man.
Charles and Rose marry but married turns out to be disappointing for Rose, not what she expected at all. Charles turns out to be an ordinary man; dull and uninteresting (even in bed). "There must be more!" Rose tells the village priest (played with gusto & heart by Trevor Howard), "Be careful what you ask for Rose." he tells her, "Because as sure as hell you'll get it " the film then kicks into high gear with the arrival of a young handsome and troubled British officer Randolph Doryan (distantly played Christopher Jones, think Colin Farrell). The scene in Tom Ryan's pub when the young lovers first meet is one of the most tender and erotic love scenes ever filmed and starts an affair that is destined to bring heartache.
The villagers in this small Irish town are insular, bigoted and jealous and above all harboring a hatred for the British. They take pleasure exacting humiliation on the local village idiot, Michael (brilliantly played by John Mills who won the Best Supporting Actor Oscar) and later taking revenge on the innocent leaving the cowardly traitor in their midst. A sad ending but with a little hope and of all the intense relationships in this story, the farewell between Rose and Michael is most heartfelt and touching.
A simple and ordinary story, criticizes for its scope and length. So why play put it on such a large canvas (70mm)? Some argue the story is too delicate and simple and should have been a "smaller" movie which is wrong, this would have deleted the impact of the story, anyone seeing this movie in 70mm will most definitely agree, the large scope and length of this work only enhances it's intimacy and reality, seen as it was intended, "Ryan's Daughter" will transfix from start to finish, you can notice this dilution if you see the film in 35mm. One of the last movies shot in the 70mm process it is truly one of the best, taking full advantage of the rugged West Irish (and South African) coastlines, the Super Panavision camera pick up everything down to the grains in the sand on those wonderful beaches and all the emotions and feeling, to assist it is acted superbly by a stellar cast who bring you right into the lives and fate of their isolated and "ordinary" Irish characters.
"Ryan's Daughter" is so misunderstood and ignore as a masterpiece perhaps somewhat long especially for today's audiences, it is never dull how it remains underrated and ignored is a mystery, yet to a lot of discerning movie goers it is superior piece of cinema and surly no one can deny the beauty of this work. The storm sequence alone (without today's CGI enhancements) is awesome, perhaps the best storm scene ever put on celluloid, and how no one died during filming is a miracle.
Savagely panned by the critics, especially the venomous Pauline Kael on it's initial release, so badly it sent David Lean into a self imposed exile (he didn't make another film for fourteen years, the less extravagant, minimally mounted "A Passage to India", which of the two films touches you the most??), perhaps Ms Kael, the critics and the public at large in 1960/70 lacked the sensitivity needed to make this movie a hit, tending to flock to films like "Mash", "The Godfather" and "Easy Rider", unfortunately they missed a fine and beautiful work of art. Believe me as I stated earlier, if you get change to see this work on the big screen now (a rare event), even with a 35mm print, Lean's fine hand and sensitivity is evident in every frame of "Ryan's Daughter", more so than in his other works or those of his contemporaries, faithfully accurate to the period (and lacking the 1960's inspired hair do's and fashion of "Doctor Zhivago") it remains as fresh today as it did in 1970.
It is disappointing to know that it is again being ignored, with no DVD release in sight (are you listening Warner Bros?), how many other Lean movies are waiting for transfer to DVD??? Surely the cinematography and acting alone makes it a worthy candidate for a high quality transfer. If they do plan a DVD release let's hope Warner's uses the Super Panavision 70mm components and the full Roadshow length to create a DVD masterpiece from this ignored cinema masterwork, there should be some great extras out their given the epic nature of the movie, it's director and stars.