The critics were right in 1970 -- this is a poor film, not improved by the passage of 30 years.
But in terms of plot, I was pleasantly surprised by the way the movie ended. Although his character was boring through most of the movie, in the end Robert Mitchum transforms into the most appealing cuckold in the history of drama. While in concrete terms all the characters seem to have ended up with predictable outcomes, the movie suggests at the end some real soul was gained: the cowardly father gained real respect for his daughter's true bravery, the priest lost his self-satisfied confidence in the status quo, Rosie ended up with a true marriage in spite of herself, and the village idiot provided real leadership, not just the accidental influence of "being there." It was an interesting plot twist not to have the rabble transformed by a hero, or the hero beaten by a quixotic struggle with the worst of mankind, but the rabble end up in the same state of ignorance in which the movie began, while the central characters were transformed. The last scene with Rosie, her husband, the priest, and the fool waiting for the bus to make it down the Dingle Peninsula road and the future for all of them very uncertain was remarkably touching.
Lean could have gotten us there in half the time for twice the impact, but after feeling lulled by a predictable plot it was interesting to find myself pleasantly surprised at the end by a movie that dragged so predictably through its first 90% . . . .
But in terms of plot, I was pleasantly surprised by the way the movie ended. Although his character was boring through most of the movie, in the end Robert Mitchum transforms into the most appealing cuckold in the history of drama. While in concrete terms all the characters seem to have ended up with predictable outcomes, the movie suggests at the end some real soul was gained: the cowardly father gained real respect for his daughter's true bravery, the priest lost his self-satisfied confidence in the status quo, Rosie ended up with a true marriage in spite of herself, and the village idiot provided real leadership, not just the accidental influence of "being there." It was an interesting plot twist not to have the rabble transformed by a hero, or the hero beaten by a quixotic struggle with the worst of mankind, but the rabble end up in the same state of ignorance in which the movie began, while the central characters were transformed. The last scene with Rosie, her husband, the priest, and the fool waiting for the bus to make it down the Dingle Peninsula road and the future for all of them very uncertain was remarkably touching.
Lean could have gotten us there in half the time for twice the impact, but after feeling lulled by a predictable plot it was interesting to find myself pleasantly surprised at the end by a movie that dragged so predictably through its first 90% . . . .