The Quiet Girl (An Cailín Ciúin) is a truly interesting piece of film. Its squared aspect ratio (13:7) and often rather shallow depth of field contribute to a sense of deep focus on the subject at hand and an often child like point of view. The film is also highly detail oriented , there's not much big or dramatic that happens, but small hints of something here or there, a hint of a smile, a cookie left on a table, convey most of the film's action. And as any film so reliant on subtle detail must be, the acting is superb. Catherine Clinch (Cáit) who won the IFTA award for Best Actress for her role in The Quiet Girl was particularly good. Cáit's relationship with Seán (Andrew Bennett) and their mutual quietness was probably the film's highlight for me. It was also really cool to see a film almost exclusively in the Irish language. The Quiet Girl is ultimately a heartwarming and breaking meditation on love and grief, and a slow film that lives up to its name, look away and you may miss a key subtlety, but its all the better for it.
Review of The Quiet Girl
