“The Quiet Girl”: Summer 1981

Little by little and steadily, ‘The Quiet Girl’ is establishing itself, in its own right, as one of the key titles of the 2022-2023 award race. Since it won the Crystal Bear for Best Film in the Generation of ’72 category at the Berlin Film Festival, its recognition has been growing. Before its two BAFTA nominations and an Oscar nomination for Best International Film, Irish director Colm Bairéad’s feature debut She was one of the main winners of the 67 Seminci in Valladolid, where she managed to get the Silver Spike; as well as obtaining the FIPRESCI Award and the Audience Award.

Set in the summer of 1981 in a small Irish town, it tells how Cáit, a private girl of just nine years old and the daughter of an excessively large family, is sent to spend the summer season with a distant cousin, now retired, by her mother, Eibhlín, who lives alone with her husband, Seán, after losing their son years ago. The reason is that her mother is pregnant with her again. Bairéad thus adapts the story ‘Foster’, by Claire Keegan. He does it in Irish, which not only allows him to represent Ireland at the Oscars in the category of best international film, but also adds that sense of rustic atmosphere that delves into the social spirit of the film.

Indeed, initially, the way Bairéad, who also signs the screenplay, begins his proposal is similar to a fairy tale, as if it were a kind of realistic version of “The secret garden”, starring a girl, who hardly speaks and who has a terrible sense of loneliness. Bairéad underlines this lack of affection, which gives the film a social dimension, which looks at childhood melancholy with respect and dignity. The director knows how to paint a portrait of that youth abandoned to its fatewhich stands out in a reality in which the protagonist is one more daughter in a family where her parents bring children into the world like those who grow potatoes, forgetting that having children is a responsibility.

A masterful debut, made with delicacy and intimacy

Added to this is that Bairéad shows that family that one chooses, where the retired couple who lost their son years ago enter the scene. If Cáit’s story was already heartwarming, con the fabulous interpretation of Catherine Clinch, who gives a sober and austere performance reminiscent of Laia Artigas in ‘Summer 1993’ (thanks to a series of silences that do honor to the international title, since he says more for what he doesn’t say than for what he pronounces); the pain of that midlife marriage gets bigger a delicate, intimate story, with protagonists who fully conquer the hearts of the public.

Mention also to the technical care of the tape, with an exquisite photograph, the work of Kate McCullough, which combines the bucolic nature of the countryside with the relaxed pace that corresponds to the reserved character of its protagonist, who when speaking, his dialogues are direct and concise. Also for that scenography and artistic direction, signed by Emma Lowney and Neill Treacy, which they bring a more social spirit of the 80s, reminiscent of the works of that decade and those following by Ken Loach or Mike Leighfrom a more rural perspective. Applause for a very accurate editing, the work of John Murphy, with which he shows his mastery of the timing of a tape that never decays.

‘The Quiet Girl’ is a beautiful debut, which offers a careful portrait of rural Ireland of the 80s, far from nostalgia and artifice. A feature film with which Bairéad shows a sublime drive when it comes to conveying feelings or sensations. Catherine Clinch joins a group of children who have recently given masterful performances on the big screen.like Frankie Corio in ‘Aftersun’, Eden Dambrine and Gustav De Waele in ‘Close’, Carla Quílez in ‘La maternal’ or Maya Vanderbeque in ‘A small world’. A story that leaves that feeling of having seen something intimate, which reminds us of the importance of taking care of children. and take care, above all, of his loneliness. One of the best feature films of this 2023 that hasn’t even reached its first quarter yet.

Note: 9

The best: The moments of silence, the interpretation of Catherine Clinch, her careful photography.

Worse: That his career in awards has been overshadowed by “All quiet on the front” or “Argentina, 1985”, two correct but tremendously academic feature films.