This was a very difficult film to get into little loan judge for its pluses and minuses. You can't even judge it as a character piece because everybody in this Northern Ireland community of sheep herders and potato farmers seems consumed with judging. Poor Sarah (Saskia Reeves) wants little to do with the church going community where the local preacher makes mental notes every Sunday of who is there and who isn't. Reeves is constantly reprimanded by the minister and her mother, housekeeper to the local potato farmer, feeling all eyes on her when she goes into town. Imagine the shock when she ends up in the family way and won't identify the father, let alone get married. Tragedy results and as the years go by for the single mother, the judgments of the sins fall on the daughter.
You have to be in the mood for this summer piece of Irish drama that may take place in a very beautiful, God gifted settong, but hopeless for a woman in Reeves' position. Even had she not been in the family way out of wedlock and married a local farmer or sheepherder, life would have been somber for her because happiness doesn't seem to exist for these people. The characters in this film don't seem to have the actors in the roles, but it's like the camera has gone back in time and filmed a real situation as it occurred. The only real passion of life occurs when Reeves ends up being seduced by the two brothers, and once again when everything comes out in the open. It's disturbing to watch the judgments flow like mist on the waters, so it's refreshing when on the rare occasion, one of the characters manages to get out a laugh which creates judgments from those looking on. If the viewer is not in the right space when they put this on, it's easy to fall asleep or just give up on it. It's like one of those epic novels where the emotions grow slowly, and fortunately, this isn't lengthy.
You have to be in the mood for this summer piece of Irish drama that may take place in a very beautiful, God gifted settong, but hopeless for a woman in Reeves' position. Even had she not been in the family way out of wedlock and married a local farmer or sheepherder, life would have been somber for her because happiness doesn't seem to exist for these people. The characters in this film don't seem to have the actors in the roles, but it's like the camera has gone back in time and filmed a real situation as it occurred. The only real passion of life occurs when Reeves ends up being seduced by the two brothers, and once again when everything comes out in the open. It's disturbing to watch the judgments flow like mist on the waters, so it's refreshing when on the rare occasion, one of the characters manages to get out a laugh which creates judgments from those looking on. If the viewer is not in the right space when they put this on, it's easy to fall asleep or just give up on it. It's like one of those epic novels where the emotions grow slowly, and fortunately, this isn't lengthy.