Some might judge this film as plodding, frustrating and an example of the worst type of art cinema with pretensions beyond its skill. For others it is slow and thoughtful as the central character, Eoghan, descends within himself whilst travelling throughout the remote area of Donegal in Ireland recording sounds and silence for his latest job.
Eoghan is recording natural sounds which are not man-made. He tells a woman at the beginning that he does not want to travel to Donegal but that this is what is required for his latest project. As the film proceeds we learn that Eoghan is from Donegal. As he connects more and more with his surroundings via sound he returns home literally, and figuratively, to the decaying family house on Tory Island.
The film features moments of conversations between Eoghan and those he encounters on his quest. These punctuate the meditative shots of the bleak and rugged beauty of Donegal. Some of the conversations are in English and others in Gaellic as Eoghan nears his familial home.
There is a philosophical thread that runs throughout the film regarding silence and its relationship to sound, people and places. Near the beginning Eoghan meets a man who says that the first musical note was born from silence. He says further that we are born from silence uttering our first sound at birth and as we make our final dying sounds silence follows. The theme of mortality is present along with that of silence and when Eoghan makes the journey to Tory Island he remarks upon the number of graves of the people he once knew. The closing song from Sandy Denny underlines the connection the director is drawing between sound, silence and mortality.
This is a rich film that does not readily yield its treasures. It demands of the viewer a concentrated engagement along the journey. Consequently I think for many, including me, it will need multiple viewings to appreciate the story it tells of humans and how the few characters with their man-made sounds signpost the film's and Eoghan's progression into silence.
Eoghan is recording natural sounds which are not man-made. He tells a woman at the beginning that he does not want to travel to Donegal but that this is what is required for his latest project. As the film proceeds we learn that Eoghan is from Donegal. As he connects more and more with his surroundings via sound he returns home literally, and figuratively, to the decaying family house on Tory Island.
The film features moments of conversations between Eoghan and those he encounters on his quest. These punctuate the meditative shots of the bleak and rugged beauty of Donegal. Some of the conversations are in English and others in Gaellic as Eoghan nears his familial home.
There is a philosophical thread that runs throughout the film regarding silence and its relationship to sound, people and places. Near the beginning Eoghan meets a man who says that the first musical note was born from silence. He says further that we are born from silence uttering our first sound at birth and as we make our final dying sounds silence follows. The theme of mortality is present along with that of silence and when Eoghan makes the journey to Tory Island he remarks upon the number of graves of the people he once knew. The closing song from Sandy Denny underlines the connection the director is drawing between sound, silence and mortality.
This is a rich film that does not readily yield its treasures. It demands of the viewer a concentrated engagement along the journey. Consequently I think for many, including me, it will need multiple viewings to appreciate the story it tells of humans and how the few characters with their man-made sounds signpost the film's and Eoghan's progression into silence.
