David Lean's production of "Ryan's Daughter"is an outstanding piece of cinematic artistry. It's a romantic drama set in a small village on the Irish coastline. The mood of the villagers is as changeable as the waves that crash upon the shore. David Lean uses the sea for dramatic effect as he alternates between the village people and the sea itself. John Mills as Michael the inquisitive village idiot is superb as we watch him play with a box of explosives. Sarah Miles plays Rosy torn between the love for her Irish schoolteacher husband (Robert Mitchum) and an unbridled passion for a newly arrived British officer (Christopher Jones). Village gossip virtually destroys Rosy's life. Trevor Howard as the local much-respected priest gives a compelling performance as one who tries to keep the peace in a troubled village. The shell-shocked officer with dreadful memories of his time in the trenches in France has a distinct presence on screen. His part requires little dialogue, the emotions being portrayed through eye and body language. Some of the loveliest scenes I thought were those of the high cliffs and broad beaches where Rosy often walked alone with the incoming tide.Unfortunately footprints in the sand can reveal the most intimate secrets! The wild storm in which the locals attempt to salvage boxes of ammunition from a shipwreck in raging seas is one of the most realistic and exciting sequences I have seen. We are reminded constantly in the film that the sea is the dominant player. Photography, sound effects and music blend into a perfect whole. In one word...a winner!
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raymond-1513 April 2000
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In 1918 Ireland a school teacher's wife and an army captain have an illicit affair that has far reaching consequences.
The film that cast Robert Mitchum so against type as to be untrue (a cuckold husband!) and whose critical response drove a great director to near two decades of silence has to be viewed; if only as cinema history.
This is a small film blown up to try and be an epic, which it is not and that is the first of its faults. Nevertheless I think it is an important and enjoyable product that I have seen twice, once for the film and once to re-live the unbelievable cinematography and action scenes. The lifeboat scene is one of the greatest pieces of cinema ever, it should feature in film schools.
The problem with adultery is that directors always try and limit blame because they fear alienating the audience. Here we have no reason for it other than lust and selfishness, one person's happiness (if only brief) is only achieved by taking someone else's.
I have long held the view that Mitchum was underrated as an actor and has a wonderful speaking voice. I am glad he has this on his C.V, not that he will be need it anymore. Miles is equally good, although it is not as hard as hard a part to play. John Mills - as the village idiot - won an Oscar for his over-the-top performance that he reports upon faithfully on his autobiography. "They sat me down and gave me the worst haircut they could think of..."
It has been said so many before, but there is no real need for a film with modest intentions to be so long. I actually don't mind because I have a lot of patience with quality material and know there will be some great scenes in any David Lean film. I am just sorry that the main man had such a fragile ego; especially when the industry had rewarded him with so much silverware. -
Xstal15 July 2020There's a reason nobody makes films of almost three and a half hours anymore and why using Irish actors for Irish roles is preferred, although John Mills is outstanding but he doesn't have to say a word. Great scenery and the storm during the recovery on the rocks must have been a challenge to film and ever so slightly dangerous. You should see this once if for no other reason than to have an opinion but brew some coffee first.
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david-greene524 August 2004It is such a major tragedy that one of the greatest directors in the history of film, David Lean was so savaged by the critics after pouring vast stores of time, energy and devotion into this production. It has long been clear to me why "Ryan's Daughter" was so poorly received. After Lean's previous epics, everyone was certain that, with all the time and money that went into this film, and with its lengthy running time, it would simply have to be a similar type of show. When people bring such expectations to a movie and are confronted with something so daringly different, they often focus on what they didn't see and miss the virtue of the picture they saw. This film is too "slow", too absorbed with the subtle dynamics of the interaction between its characters for a viewer who is burning to see vast battle scenes, mighty parades and mobs of extras caught up in violent historical struggles. The "spectacle" in this film (and spectacle it is indeed) comes from the exquisite widescreen lensing of stunning Irish coastal scenery. The fabulous storm sequence with villagers battling raging surf in their efforts to retrieve floating contraband is, in my opinion, unmatched in all the thousands of movies I have seen. The drama of the central characters' lives and the depiction of the way the eternal conflicts that continue to trouble their nation work to destroy normal existence for them....this all works for me. I guess there are going to be many who just can't buy into the whole thing, but I can only feel sorry for them. To me, Lean did create an epic here, but not the traditional kind that everyone came to see. It is a "feast-for-the-eyes", intimate epic of the tumultuous emotional life of a little village caught in a swirl of hatred, suspicion, prejudice and seething conflict with an occupying army. One of my dearest hopes is that I may live to see a handsome DVD release of this splendid masterpiece before too much more time elapses. It should NEVER be viewed in some pan-and-scan edition on an ordinary TV! Seen this way with all that glorious cinematography cropped and miniaturized, "Ryan's Daughter" could indeed be seen as a failure. I always wonder how many magnificent David Lean films we will never see as a result of the unproductive years that resulted from the crushing effect on the director of the widespread rejection of this wonderful creation. What a travesty!
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JuguAbraham14 September 2003More than 30 years after the movie was made, "Ryan's Daughter" needs to be compared with his other important works--'Lawrence of Arabia', 'Dr Zhivago', 'Bridge on the River Kwai' and 'A Passage to India'.
Visually the three finest are "Ryan's Daughter," "Lawrence of Arabia" and "Dr Zhivago."
Aurally--music and sound--the finest two are "Ryan's Daughter" and "Dr Zhivago"
If performances make a movie, four of the movies were outstanding "Ryan's Daughter", "Dr Zhivago," "Lawrence of Arabia" and "Bridge on the River Kwai."
Yet why is "Ryan's Daughter" not considered the finest? There is no hero, there is no heroine--it is a film of anti-heroes. It is a film that focuses on the ugly side of human reality where everyone is a loser--husband, wife, lover, priest, soldier, revolutionary, and even the traitor. It provides a realism that we glimpsed in patches in 'Dr Zhivago' and 'A passage to India' -- a realism that almost eluded us in "Lawrence of Arabia"
The film's strengths lie in two aspects that were most criticized some thirty years ago--its music and its screenplay.
Hear Maurice Jarre's score today and you will realize the notes hark back to Lean's previous work (mostly Zhivago and little of Lawrence) with the comical allusions to the village fool's gait. Jarre's score in "Ryan's daughter" may not have the universal appeal of Lara's theme in Zhivago, but a close study of the score will unfold riches to the aural senses when compared to the simplistic Lara's theme.
Bolt's original screenplay is as rewarding to study as "Jude the Obscure" to a student of Thomas Hardy or "Titus Andronicus" to a Shakespeare student. Bolt (and Lean, of course) provides food for thought--who is good and who is bad, who is ugly and who is beautiful, who is crippled and who is whole...
It is easier to make lovely, heroic epics such as "Lawrence" or "Zhivago" than to make a film on losers and moral and physical cripples such as "Ryan's Daughter." I think this is Lean's and Bolt's finest work. It is also Robert Mitchum's finest work as it was in the case of Christopher Jones, Leo McKern and Trevor Howard. John Mills stood out among the fine performers because his character was spectacular.
I am a great admirer of most of Lean's films and having seen the film thrice, I rate it as his best and perhaps his most complex yet mature work. -
dave-234514 February 2006Despite being a great fan of science-fiction/action (indeed my 'Top 10' film list would contain 7 or 8 from this genre) it is THIS film that is my No.1 favourite all-time movie.
Ryan's Daughter isn't a Dr Zhivago, or a Bridge on the River Kwai, granted...but it's still a majestic, epic film.
Beautifully filmed in a glorious location, with magical music, and a love story that is silent & subdued yet so powerful at the same time. How can anyone not be moved by it?
I find the cinematography & score combine to make it absolutely haunting. And I WILL visit the setting ONE day... -
blanche-221 March 2015As often happens with great talent, the public's expectations often bring the artist down with a crash. We saw it with as disparate talents as Tennessee Williams, David O. Selznick, and here we see it with David Lean.
Lean was one of the great filmmakers of the 20th century, capable of doing intimate films like Brief Encounter and huge epics like Lawrence of Arabia. And therein lies the problem. How could the director of Dr. Zhivago and Lawrence of Arabia give the public anything less than a masterpiece? Well, even the greats are entitled to take on a challenge, and not everything they do has to be magnificent. Artists should be allowed to grow and expand.
In doing Ryan's Daughter, Lean faced some challenges that were difficult to overcome.
First, let's look at the positives. On the big screen, this must have been overwhelmingly beautiful to watch. The landscapes, the beach, the town, the incredible storm -- a feast for the eyes.
Then there are sublime performances by Robert Mitchum and Sarah Miles as a schoolteacher, Charles, and his wife, Rosy. He's a simple man and not very exciting; she's a young woman with no worldly experience whose life is turned upside down when she falls in love with a British soldier (Christopher Jones) with PTSD. Leo McCrary plays her father, a gruff but weak man, and he's excellent even if he did hate making this movie. He wasn't alone. Robert Mitchum had messages to Lean delivered by Sarah Miles, and Sarah Miles was furious having to act opposite Christopher Jones.
To continue with the cast, most of them are excellent, including Trevor Howard as the local priest and John Mills as the Village Idiot. The latter is the kind of role that wins Oscars, and this one followed the formula, winning one for Mills.
In making this film, Lean was faced with the difficulty of the weather, which at times hung up the filming for as long as four weeks. No matter how good you are, crossing paths with Mother Nature somehow never works. The best part of this film is the storm scene, terrifying in its scope. How Lean filmed it at all is a miracle.
His other problem was Christopher Jones, a total disaster. Lean cast him on the basis of seeing him in another film, but at the time, he didn't realize the actor had been dubbed. He soon learned that not only could Jones not act, but he refused to do the kind of love scenes that Lean had been eager to shoot since his Brief Encounter days, when the code was in place.
Jones would not participate in the love scenes with Miles, which angered her. What angered her further no doubt was the fact that Jones apparently said he wasn't attracted to her. I guess he thought he was attending a college mixer and not there to do a job. Did he think she was attracted to him, and that's why she was willing to do the scenes? They were critical to her character, showing her in a passionate love affair, her awakening as a full woman.
Lean wound up cheating the love scenes and hiring Julian Holloway to dub Jones, after taking most of his lines away from him. Jones should have been embarrassed, but he probably wasn't. I interviewed him some years ago. He was given a lot of opportunities. He blew them.
Set during the Easter Rising of 1916, Ryan's Daughter is a beautiful movie, if overlong and with too sprightly music given the plot. The ending is ambiguous, but I think we can conclude what will happen.
This is a story of betrayal, adultery, cruelty, passion, and love. It's not Lean's greatest. But any Lean film is worth seeing and a lot better than probably 80% of the films out there. -
lks082014 December 2006Several years back, when I was a 30-year-old woman, I was feeling quite sad. I was in a video shop in Seoul when I came across Ryan's Daughter. The cover looked good, so I brought it home. Wow, I did I feel catharsis after watching this movie. The only thing that would have been better would have been able to meet the young male soldier in person!
I have never seen such a deeply psychological probing of the female psyche as in this film. At that time, many women suffered under the yoke of a conservative male society. This is well displayed in this film. I am greatly impressed by the way Director David Lean sensitively explored the sexuality of the lead female character. The mix of the effects of war and love are well expressed.
This is my favourite movie, and I when my daughter turns 30, I will undoubtedly recommend it to her. Thank you, David Lean. -
ianlouisiana8 January 2006There is an almost Chaplinesque moment right at the start of "Ryan's Daughter" where O'Shaughnessy the schoolteacher is walking along the beach with his erstwhile pupil Rosie Ryan.He almost loses his footing and his hat and cane take on a life of their own as he tries to regain his balance.For a few brief seconds awe at the scenery,composition,camera - angle and sound recording is suborned by affection and sympathy for the characters before the roller coaster of technical brilliance and visual sumptuousness returns to flatten all before it. This is a film made by a master craftsman,make no mistake,but there is no warmth in it.The eponymous Miss Ryan is little more than an infatuated schoolgirl,O'Shaughnessy a shy lonely widower who feels sorry for her and surely a little guilty at taking advantage of her crush on him. Marriage to him soon brings disillusionment and Rosie starts an affair with a shell-shocked and wounded British officer fresh from the trenches who has recently arrived to take charge of the troops garrisoned near the village - a hotbed of Republicanism.Her father.the local innkeeper,has a history of involvement with The Cause,a photograph of him with a Commandant in Dublin is prominently displayed in the bar. So what we have basically is a "star-crossed lovers" movie with pretensions.There is a "chorus" of village teenagers who seem incapable of independent movement,they flock around the streets like masses of migratory birds,turning first one way then the other as if in response to some unheard command.The crusty old priest (Trevor Howard) and the village idiot(John Mills looking scarily like Wallace of Wallace & Grommit)are the conscience and the scapegoat respectively. When the rebels(or patriots depending on your point of view) come to the village to pick up guns and explosives being supplied by a German ship Rosie's father is called on to help but for some reason that's not very clear betrays them to the British.He allows Rosie to take the blame and she is badly beaten and she and O'Shaughnessy - possibly reconciled - sent into exile. Without the visual and aural bombast a competent enough 90 minutes' worth of story-telling then,but it doesn't have one believable character. Miss Sarah Miles ,presented with a role not dissimilar to her one in "Term of Trial",never convinces that she is anything other than a nice middle-class English girl cast ashore from a shipwreck in the bay and assuming an Irish accent to avoid discovery until she can be rescued. Mr Mitchum is like John Wayne in that other Oirish whims yfest "The Quiet Man" badly miscast but at least has a go at the brogue. Messrs Howard and Mills as befits senior English thesps walk through their parts with magnificent unconcern and at least Mr Mills didn't have any lines to learn,his performance consisting of a splendid array of involuntary bodily movements and grimaces,brilliantly brought off. Christopher Jones plays the British Officer with not only a stiff upper lip but also a stiff upper body and a stiff leg. The film is 36 years old and revisiting the arguments about the lack of Irish actors,the use of unhelpful stereotypes,the "Pint into a Quart pot" theory whilst tempting is ultimately pointless."Ryan's Daughter" is all style and no substance,the work of a virtuoso unable to stop himself from performing his party tricks again and again.
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sprach-12 August 2006The first time I saw "Ryan's Daughter", it did not register as strongly as Lean's other films. Though I found it visually impressive, the seemingly slight story seemed overblown and laborious. However, since then, with each successive viewing, I have come to the conclusion that not only is this the work of a superb artist at the height of his powers, but ultimately one of the great love "poems" the cinema has given us. A work of staggering beauty and sensitivity, a work of art of such extraordinary dimension and power, superlatives seem redundant and insulting. Instead it has to be felt, deep in the heart of the viewer, and as such, become part of the soul. A work of genius and a masterpiece. Thank you, David Lean and co.
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bkoganbing10 September 2008Playing the title role in Ryan's Daughter is the beautiful, lusty, and spirited Sarah Miles who craves romance and a little bit of orgasm on the side. Unfortunately who she gets it from ain't her new husband, Robert Mitchum, the village school teacher on the Dingle Peninsula in Ireland where the film is located and was shot.
Miles is a young girl with romantic notions and brought up in a strict Catholic environment where decent young ladies don't speak of such things. When the middle aged Mitchum proves to be a dud in the sack, Sarah's sure there's more out there than this in marriage. Sad to say she finds it in the person of a British major posted to Ireland after suffering shell shock in France during World War I.
As we all know while talk of sex is forbidden, talk of politics abounds, a little too much talk. Ireland is getting ready for revolution and the Germans would like to help it along. When Irish Republican commandant Barry Foster is betrayed when trying to land a shipment of German weapons for the Irish rebels, he's captured and taken along with a lot of the men from the village. They will all be hung and Sarah's looking real good for the role of informer.
Ryan's Daughter is a good film though it hardly compares with other David Lean masterpieces like Doctor Zhivago, Lawrence of Arabia, or The Bridge On the River Kwai. I'm not sure Lean knew exactly what he was trying to say in all this. Yet Lean got some noteworthy performances from this film, including an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for John Mills playing the village idiot. Quite a change for that most erudite of players.
Miles was sexy and at the same time conveyed a nice picture of romantic naiveté. The film as the title suggests is really about her and she centers the action well.
Robert Mitchum was also the recipient of offbeat casting, but I'm guessing that David Lean knew about Mitchum's uncanny ability to pick up all manner of speech. But he does show quite some depth as actor playing the middle-aged school teacher. It's not a performance you'd expect from one of Hollywood's sex symbols.
I think the most interesting part and least written about is that of Trevor Howard as the village priest. That's not a profession held in respect in many quarters these days and certainly Sarah Miles seeking advice on matters sexual from Howard does show how ludicrous that is. Yet Howard is not a fool, he is every bit the moral leader of the community. He stands up for Sarah when most of the town wants to do her harm.
His role is also historically correct in showing that during the years before the Easter Rebellion the Catholic Church had dropped its historic opposition to rebellion to one of at least benevolent neutrality. Howard's role with the rebels is quite accurate.
Though it's message is unclear, Ryan's Daughter is a beautifully photographed film with some outstanding performances and belongs in the second tier of David Lean's work. -
MissSimonetta11 August 2022I get that in 1970 everyone was enamored with the new school of filmmaking best represented by MIDNIGHT COWBOY and EASY RIDER, but that this beautiful movie was so soundly dismissed and reviled by so-called professional movie critics is just insane to me. I went in expecting at best an interesting misfire with pretty beach scenery and instead found an absolutely moving, human drama. EASY RIDER and MIDNIGHT COWBOY are interesting in what they tell you about the 1960s, but RYAN'S DAUGHTER is far more timeless in its depiction of the human condition. That it was made fifty-plus years ago and is set during World War I makes no difference.
This is that rare movie where there really aren't good guys and bad guys-- even the most vile characters feel they are justified in what they are doing and have vulnerabilities that make them impossible to totally vilify. For example, the town is justified in their anger towards the British, but their ugliness towards those who are different (like the mentally challenged Michael) and their willingness to make Rosy into a scapegoat complicate them. Rosy is flighty and selfish, but she is also compassionate enough to pity the traumatized Doryan and to feel guilt over how her affair affects her kind husband. This story could have easily devolved into melodrama, but it's so much more psychologically nuanced and humanistic. It even surpasses MADAME BOVARY, its ostensible source material, in making these people feel three-dimensional.
The ending is just about perfect too. Rosy and Charles have become outcasts and are leaving for a new life in Dublin, where they plan to separate. For most of the film, it's easy to see these two as mismatched. And yet, the moment the town turns on them, they become bonded in a strange way. They have more chemistry when they are mutually wounded, as all people inevitably are by life. Like the priest, who leaves Charles with the gift of doubt, we hope the two of them will change their minds and stick it through together. Though this is a tragic story, it is not nihilistic and the last shot leaves the viewer with the notion that maybe Charles and Rosy can now live up to their marriage vows after going through hell. Life is painful, but it need not be joyless or lonely.
Unfortunately, life is a few David Lean films less because of how nasty the critics felt the need to be when RYAN'S DAUGHTER opened. As if I needed any more reason to dislike Pauline Kael...
Still, RYAN'S DAUGHTER has slowly been vindicated over time, with more people coming around on the film. I'm sure Lean would be pleased. -
shinock12 February 2008The reputation of this film seems to ebb and flow like the waves of the Atlantic ocean which so dominates the scenery. A vast budget and a shoot lasting more than a year, combined with director David Leans reputation for delivering huge money making blockbusters, resulted in what were probably unachievable expectations for this film. Lean, previously so successful in creating incredible panoramic images on film, seemed to have taken on too great a challenge with this undertaking. The story was indeed interesting, affecting and at times very touching and human, while the cast lead by a towering Robert Mitchum was, as in all David Lean productions, second to none. However, everything, story, cast and master director,were all dwarfed and ultimately swallowed up by the shear power and grandeur of the landscape. It was difficult at times to not to be both distracted and disinterested in the intrigues of the lives of the characters, when the wild fury of the Atlantic was unleashed in all it's majesty or when, as Trevor Howard remarked as the first sign of the approaching storm appeared over the top of the mountain, "it was if the Lord himself was coming" or words to that effect. Perhaps in a film of great battles, where the clamor of the fighting could compete with the thunder of the storm and the turrets of medieval castles could distract us momentarily from the towering battlements of the mountains, the lives of the characters could become more relevant. To see the major fault in Ryan's Daughter we have to look back briefly to David Lean's two previous epic's, Laurence of Arabia and Doctor Zhivago and to the locations in which the stories are set. In Laurence of Arabia the desert is hot, still, tree less and despite it's undeniable stark beauty, it is also largely featureless. In such a setting as when the Arab appears out of the sun, every small movement is apparent, every nuance of the actor is noticed, we are drawn in close to the characters, we can see the sweat on their brow. Similarly in Doctor Zhivago, the landscape although beautiful,is almost in a state of frozen sterility and the only place we the audience can find warmth is in the faces and lives of the characters. In Ryan's Daughter however, the elements of nature are in constant motion, changing, threatening, overbearing, unassailable. Even Mitchum if he were at his most powerful and brooding could not shine in such a setting. For me personally, the one great scene in the film was when Major Dorian decided to commit suicide. It was David Lean at his best. It was evening, the sun was sinking, the tide was ebbing and the breezes of the day had died away. For the first time since the beginning of the film, the elemental forces of nature which had been vying for our attention became stilled. It was as if they like us were holding their breath and watching,quietly waiting to see what Major Dorian would do. The strange stillness even reached into the teacher's house and was only broken when the force of the explosion which killed Dorian rattled the cutlery. Soon after this at the very end of the film, with Major Dorian dead and with the teacher and Rosy possibly having a new start, the scene was one of freshness with the countryside damp, lush and clean after overnight rain. A great film? well, Freddy Young's photography was certainly great and he deserved his Oscar, but Young's expertise played no small part in this films failure to draw the viewer in and become involved with the characters.Young, at the behest of Lean, gave a virtuoso performance of his art and, as we have seen his efforts while extraordinarily beautiful to look at, left the actors trying to compete against nature at it's rawest and most volatile and, left the film as a whole fatally flawed...As a matter of interest,I live near to where Ryan's Daughter was filmed and many of my older friends and two of my uncles worked as extra's for the duration of the film. Every time I watch this film I can recognize the faces of so many old friends who have now passed on.Perhaps a short note about the actors and their relationship with the locals during filming might be of interest. Leo Mc Kern who played Ryan, was liked by the local people and the extra's on the film although he suffered from bouts of frustration and perhaps even depression, from the difficult conditions and prolonged shoot, and it was no surprise that after the film was finished he took a year off and toured Australia in a camper van with his family to recover! Trevor Howard who played the priest was a terribly bad tempered and sour man who was disliked by all who came in contact with him whether they were working on the film or not. John Mills however was a gentleman to his core, who mixed freely with the extra's and local people and is very fondly remembered by all. Robert Mitchum was... well Robert Mitchum. In truth Mitchum was a man who, from the very start was sullen and withdrawn, and this increased as the shoot went completely out of control. A true story my uncle told me about Mitchum might not be widely known so I'll repeat it here. One day David Lean was setting up the extra's for a scene and it went on for hour after hour. Suddenly Mitchum exploded. He ran in front of David Lean and turning his back, he dropped his trousers and exposed his behind to the camera. Referring to the extra's, he roared at Lean,"you've photographed every damn bum in Ireland now photograph mine".
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bregund25 April 2022Every ten years I sit down with determination and fortitude, I will finally sit through this film, and I always fail. The film is terribly boring and not much happens, and there is zero chemistry between the lovers. The music doesn't match, it sounds like music that was scored for some Disney nature film. I'm sure there are some good performances in here but everything seems forced. Tonight I made it one hour, that's a personal best. Does anyone know how this film ends? Never mind, I'm not interested.
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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. -
TheLittleSongbird20 August 2015David Lean is not quite at his best here like he was with Lawrence of Arabia, Bridge on the River Kwai, Great Expectations, Oliver Twist and Brief Encounter, but Ryan's Daughter is a very good (though flawed film). It is better than most directors' later films and did not deserve the critical roasting it got.
There were a couple of things that weren't quite right with Ryan's Daughter. Christopher Jones, despite looking the part, is dreadfully stiff and wooden in his role, showing little involvement or range, by far the (only) weak link in the cast. And while the score from Maurice Jarre has its moments like the main theme, the tavern scene and the beach hallucination and is not bad music at all on its own, it is for me the weakest of his collaborations with Lean and doesn't fit within the film, sounding too inappropriately jaunty often (especially Michael's theme) in a film that would have benefited better with a lusher, more Celtic touch.
However, Ryan's Daughter is a beautiful-looking film, with grand settings, rich use of colours and Freddie Young's sweeping Oscar-winning cinematography (especially in the storm scene). It's superbly directed as ever by Lean, taking full advantage of the epic scope of the visuals and story and while deliberate he does succeed in making the story compelling and the characters interesting enough. The script from Robert Bolt is intelligent, witty and very thoughtful and never becomes over-the-top or slack, complete with a good balance of the personal, the historical and the political.
With the story, it's deliberate in pace but never interminably so and is often very moving (even if a few parts in the first half could have done with more meat), complete with the unforgettable storm scene. It is also one of Lean's more cohesive later stories, being less sprawling than Doctor Zhivago and less drifting than A Passage to India (which are also both fine films). The historical backdrop is very effective, more so I feel than Doctor Zhivago's, and the characters are interesting and intimate.
Apart from Jones, the performances are of a very high standard. Robert Mitchum was courageous casting and is a revelation in a different and gentler role to the tough guy roles he took on, while Sarah Miles is moving as one of the characters that evolves the most throughout the course of the story. Whether John Mills deserved his Oscar is up to debate, but what matters more to me was whether his performance is good and, while it is understandably one of the film's most divisive components, the almost unrecognisable Mills is very amusing and affecting as the village idiot. Leo McKern more than excellently portrays a hypocritical, cowardly and domineering father figure and Trevor Howard does a wonderful job providing the moral compass of the story. Barry Foster shows off briefly but is suitably intense and grittily dignified, likewise Gerald Sim's appearance is very brief but is very memorable.
Overall, a flawed but very good and undervalued (back then and now) film from David Lean. It may not be quite a masterpiece, but it is not even close to a disaster. 8/10 Bethany Cox -
lionel-libson-15 February 2011When "Ryan's Daughter" first appeared, my mind was addled with leftist cant. Every entertainment had to pass a litmus test of relevance and adherence to popular political myths. Thus, when I finally saw the film on TCM last night it was a revelation.
Having retired a few years ago, to live in the craggy paradise of Maine, I was especially overwhelmed by the visuals of the gun runners facing a raging sea; incredible cinematography, music, spare, yet powerful, and the seemingly impossible scurrying of the villagers, dwarfed by thundering waves and spray. I'm not sure if the visual or audio components were more successfully realized.
We had visited Ireland 4 years ago, passing through the magnificent terrain and clustered villages near Dingle and the Cliffs of Mahre.As a photographer, I was astounded by the perfect portrayal of this startlingly beautiful region. By comparison, "The Quiet Man" looks theatrically artificial.
The story seems to have caused most of the negative criticism. For me, Lean maintained a steady balance between scenic splendor and pinched, frustrated lives. All are suitably restrained and all too human. The result is a truly timeless film, life and lives confounded by ignorance and anger, but as universal as a Greek tragedy.
"Ryan's Daughter" can be compared without embarrassment to "The Dead", my other favorite Irish cinema. -
Njs201623 January 2022I wish someone would do a little project to re score this film with an Irish soundtrack. The score by Maurice Jarre is god awful and rips away any romance or passion that's under the surface. It also completely undercuts the visuals making the piece feel off kilter and parochial. Where the bolt script isn't quite as bad as some say it is.
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Boris_G29 October 2007David Lean is not at his absolute best here - go to Lawrence of Arabia for that - but there's still plenty worth seeing here. Above all the wonderful cinematography, capturing the colours and scenery of the west coast of Ireland in the most vivid and alluring manner. There's some wonderful acting, especially by Trevor Howard as the priest. Robert Mitchum, too, is surprisingly good as the long-suffering but ultimately noble husband. There's some disappointments, though; Sarah Miles, who is meant to be playing a girl in her late teens as the story starts, clearly looks to be pushing 30, which rather spoils the credibility of her ingenuous character. And then there's poor Leo McKern's attempted Irish accent (which rather underlines the lack of Irish actors in this drama) - a pity because he gives a reasonable performance and suffers for his art in the spectacular storm scene. Minus points, too, for Jarre's score which reaches the height of ineptitude when the villagers pursue the British truck in the second part of the film: he can't think of anything better here than a jolly jape theme.
In sum, not the greatest Lean film, but even so this is far better than a lot of the 'best' films by other directors, and definitely worth seeing for the spectacular storm sequence. -
EUyeshima13 April 2006It's no surprise to me that David Lean's penultimate film, 1970's "Ryan's Daughter", is the last of his epic films to receive the deluxe DVD treatment since it is likely the most maligned and misunderstood. However, the 2006 two-disc package really shows a genuinely affecting, WWI-era romantic melodrama set against the stormy western coast of Ireland. Calling it a sweeping epic does not really do justice to the splendid visuals that Lean and his favorite cameraman Freddie Young present here (Ireland's Dingle peninsula looks stunning), yet at its core is an intimate love triangle that raises the ire of the village given the political frictions between Britain and Ireland. It seems a shame that the film was so lambasted when it was released since expectations were set so high after Lean's previous three films, all three widescreen masterworks - 1957's "The Bridge on the River Kwai", 1962's "Lawrence of Arabia" and 1965's "Doctor Zhivago".
Written by Robert Bolt (who also wrote "Lawrence" and "Zhivago") as a Celtic variation on Flaubert's "Madame Bovary", the plot is focused on Rosy, the spoiled, headstrong daughter of Thomas Ryan, the local publican. She seeks a more cultured life and sets her sights on Charles Shaughnessy, the educated schoolmaster. Rosy makes the naive presumption that Charles' worldliness represents great passion but finds out otherwise on their wedding night. Enter Major Randolph Doryan, the young, shell-shocked British soldier assigned to take command of the local army detachment. Doryan and Rosy enter into a passionate affair, but it's a matter of time before Charles and the rest of the village find out. Meanwhile, a band of Irish rebels led by Tim O'Leary are intent on retrieving a shipment of German arms in order to take umbrage against the unwelcome British occupiers. The two plot strands merge, and tragic consequences ensue.
There are certainly moments of excessive, florid abandon in the film, especially when Lean focuses on the illicit lovers. The director goes all out in making the lovemaking scenes between Rosy and Doryan combustible, first in the pub amid Doryan's traumatic flashbacks of exploding bombs and then in a lengthy and surprisingly carnal scene in a wooded enclave. Their mutual rapture is at turns moving and titillating. The other drawback is that unlike "Zhivago" or "Lawrence", Lean does not really integrate the political backdrop of the story fully into the triangle plot. Rather, he uses it more as a plot device to give the story a greater historical resonance. At the same time, some sequences highlight Lean's brilliance as a film auteur, for example, when Charles gradually discovers the reality of his wife's indiscretion on the beach or the aftermath of the town pillaging when Rosy is brutalized for her alleged role in helping the British. From a technical standpoint, Lean's pure cinematic mastery can be best seen in the storm sequence, when the town bands together to get the boxes of artillery. Maurice Jarre's music is memorable, as his haunting theme plays constantly throughout.
The performances are variable, though all the key players provide strong moments. Sarah Miles handles the difficult role of Rosy with dexterity, especially as she runs the risk of alienating the viewer with her extramarital deception. In what has to be the most atypical role of his lengthy career, Robert Mitchum is a revelation as Charles. His natural tough-guy veneer has been completely subverted to play a passive, accepting man whose love for Rosy remains unsullied by the harsh reality of her adulterous behavior. It's a masterful performance because with a minimum of fuss, Mitchum taps into the depth of despair experienced by the cuckold husband. Looking pained and obviously cast for his James Dean-like demeanor and look, Christopher Jones portrays Doryan with brooding stares and a minimum of dialogue. Lean does what he can to camouflage Jones' comparatively stoic performance, but the result still provides a sagging imbalance to the love triangle. A heavily made up John Mills plays the mute gargoyle-like Michael as a series of tics and befuddled looks. Leo McKern effectively plays Ryan for the weak-willed hypocrite that his character is, and his emotional abandonment of his daughter is quite affecting. As Father Collins, Trevor Howard has a wild-eyed look about him at times, but he passionately provides the moral compass for the story.
As the movie runs for three hours and fifteen minutes (actually shorter than "Lawrence" and the same as "Zhivago"), the film is on two discs separated by an intermission. In fact, like any epic, there is orchestral music for the overture, intermission (which ends part 1), entr'acte (which begins part 2) and ending. The print quality is superior and the sound even better. The commentary track has several participants who take turns commenting on the scenes. DVD producer Laurent Bouzereau smartly introduces each speaker in order to avoid confusion, and the differing perspectives can be quite interesting. Disc 2 has a solid, hour-long 2006 documentary, "The Making of Ryan's Daughter" divided into three chapters, as well as a couple of production shorts made at the time of filming. -
preppy-34 March 2005I was lucky enough to see a vault print of this in a revival theatre back in 1996. The picture was crystal clear and it was projected on a huge screen. The only thing missing was the stereo soundtrack. Also it was the original uncut version which hasn't being shown in the USA since the film's premiere! It's basically a love story set in Ireland. Sarah Miles is married to old but kindly Robert Mitchum. Their sex life is nonexistent. Then a young handsome officer played by Christopher Jones appears to deal with the IRA. The two of them fall in love which leads to numerous problems.
I've never liked David Leans films. They LOOK great but the stories are almost impossible to follow. Like in "Dr. Zhivago" and "Lawrence of Arabia" he throws you into the middle of these conflicts and never explains what's going on! This is an exception. I had no problem following the story and the scenery is absolutely breath-taking...but that's sort of a problem. This is basically a simple love story blown up into a HUGE production. The stunning photography overpowers the story more than once. The acting is good--Miles was excellent and Mitchum downplayed his role nicely. I even thought Jones (who I always thought was a TERRIBLE actor) was good--but I later on learned his voice was overdubbed. Still I found this a fascinating film--well worth catching...but I'm not sure how it would hold up on TV. It won a well-deserved Oscar for cinematography and John Mills also won an Oscar for his affecting portrayal or a mentally disturbed man. Also Trevor Howard is excellent as a village priest.
The version I saw had an incredibly beautiful and LONG sex scene between Miles and Jones. It's easily one of the most beautiful, erotic sexual sequence I've ever seen...but I think it's cut out or shortened on the American prints. Hopefully this will be on DVD one day with the sequence in intact.
UPDATE: it did come out on DVD completely uncut with the sex scene intact. I was right though--the beautiful scenery doesn't work as well on a TV screen. Still it's worth catching. Recommended.
I give this an 8. -
readinglips12 May 2005Over the years, a legend has taken root that RYAN'S DAUGHTER is a neglected masterpiece unappreciated and unacknowledged. This impression may have been reinforced by the savage reviews that greeted the film's opening. But, alas, this is no masterpiece. (For the record: I saw the film four or five times in a theater, including once in its roadshow presentation which was about 30 minutes longer than other engagements. I have also seen it several times in a letterbox video version. I am a big David Lean fan but one who is ready to admit that even a master can make a less-than-perfect film.) To be sure, there are things to like. The photography is astonishingly beautiful nothing short of stunning. Cinematographer Freddie Young captures Ireland in all its bleakness and majesty. (There is one shot in particular (it follows Robert Mitchum's character saying: "Go along, Kathleen, off with the others." -- about 1 hr 40 mins into the film) that is so perfectly framed and focused as to be worthy of comparison to a landscape painting.) The acting, with one exception, is solid. Robert Mitchum, as a cuckolded schoolmaster, effectively plays against type. Sarah Miles and the others are strong, and John Mills is very moving. There is evidence (anecdotal and in the way the film is edited) that Lean was frustrated by Christopher Jones. But even so, these aspects of the film photography, acting, sets, etc. work.
The content, however, leaves one gasping at the emptiness of the entire project. Soaring music, 70 mm photography and a long running time cannot turn a story into an epic. Even though the film was made on a huge scale with big sets and budget, the story is quite ordinary and not very original at that. (Lean said he and Robert Bolt adapted Madame Bovary.) One definition of "epic" is a work (novel, film) that gives us an insight into a historical period or a movement. In A PASSAGE TO India, the main character's inability to understand India parallels Great Britain's own failures as an occupying force. A MAN FOR ALL SEASONS uses a historical incident to dramatize the importance of standing on principle.
But RYAN'S DAUGHTER teaches us nothing about Ireland's struggle for independence. That would be fine if Lean were presenting this as an ordinary love story but he's not. He and Bolt have framed their film as an epic, and they have a paucity of elements to justify that choice. Instead, they substitute other ingredients to cover up the weaknesses and emptiness of the script.
Maurice Jarre's overdone music loud and a lot of it attempts to add a larger dimension to the film. (I actually like the soundtrack a great deal: there are many beautiful, haunting melodies, but it doesn't serve the film well.) The celebrated storm that leads to the film's climax is spectacular, but is part of an irrelevant subplot involving Irish rebels and a cache of arms that only serves to pad the film's running time.
When it opened, critics savaged the film for expending so much time and money on what is essentially a simple story. Lean was singled out for particular criticism and the mean-spirited nature of these attacks may have contributed to the impression that this was a film that had been treated unfairly and must be a masterpiece just waiting to be rediscovered.
But such is not the case. RYAN'S DAUGHTER is beautiful, worthy of being seen and certainly worthy of being transferred to DVD. But to call it a neglected masterpiece disguises its flaws and detracts from films that have truly earned that distinction. -
elo-equipamentos23 March 2017This movie l'd watched for first time in beginning of 90' on TV, maybe the last part, but now on DVD restoration l watched in complete way and David Lean looks like the same, true genius!!! Even three hours long the movie never boring you, all time is interesting, firstly by native Irish people who are the same in all history, good drinking, the women is jealous and the priest have to fix up everything, apart from that Mitchum in plenty form as old professor and Sarah Miles fantastic as flaming wife and the location is simply breathtaking, the Ireland's coastline provides a wonderful places to Lean tell your story, Mckern in another great performance too!! Anyway a movie to watch & revisit as well !!!
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gavin694224 June 2016Set in the wake of the 1916 Easter Rising, a married woman (Sarah Miles) in a small Irish village has an affair with a troubled British officer. (The film is a very loose adaptation of Gustave Flaubert's novel "Madame Bovary".) Alec Guinness turned down the role of Father Collins; it had been written with him in mind, but Guinness, as a devout Roman Catholic, objected to what he felt was an inaccurate portrayal of a Catholic priest. His conflicts with Lean while making "Doctor Zhivago" also contributed. A shame, as Guinness would have added a little more to the production.
Two things I feel are worth noting. One is Robert Mitchum's accent. I may be wrong, but I don't think Mitchum ever naturally had an Irish accent. He pulls it off alright, at least to my American ears. It is nice to see him here in a less gruff role than usual.
Also, this somehow got a PG rating. I know the story about this happened, but really? A nude sex scene was given a PG? Granted, this is not the sort of movie kids are going to run out and rent or buy... but wow. I can understand why jack Valenti thought this was a huge mistake on the part of the MPAA. -
Almost everything is wrong with this film. It is two hours too long, the production was frankly insane and involved Robert Mitchum OD-ing Christopher Jones because he did not like Sarah Miles, and seriously, why did John Mills get an Oscar for giving one of the most painful mutes performances ever? The two stars are for the camera work, the film's only merit, although even it is over done at times. In 1970 the film was rightly panned by the critics but it was a huge financial success, the sole reason for this being obviously that it is set in Ireland so every American of Irish descent ran out like a lemming to see it.
The film consists of a series of underdeveloped or overdeveloped scenes, with a lot of Irish crowd violence and Anglophobia (unfunny while attempting to be humorous) and a beta-situation about arms smuggling involving the main character's father to complicate what is otherwise a simple tale of adultery that defies any description other than disturbing. Whether it is a drama or a comedy I do not think anyone truly knows.