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The Secret of Roan Inish

The Secret of Roan Inish

List Price: $24.95
Your Price: $18.71
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Fansifull
Review: Irish fairy tale meets the modern world

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: I dream about this movie now
Review: My daughter plays "Hunting for Jamie" and pretends to be a selkie maiden, and I want to live in their house - what an awesome place - out on an island with seals and all that... maybe it would be a bit rustic for me at first, but I could adapt. Okay, yes - I want to live in that movie. I see it in my head at night, I hear the waves. Although it could be that my daughter has begged to watch it 90 gazillion times, and I've given in like, 37 gazillion times.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Enchanting
Review: This movie is an excellent one for all ages, and for people who are interested in children's imaginations, in Irish myth, or in the gorgeous landscapes of Ireland itself. This story is faithful to legends of the Selkie folk -- who appear as seals, but who can shed their sealskin to appear human -- and modernizes these legends to make them relevant today.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: I love this movie!
Review: The landscapes of the Emerald Isle are beautiful, as is the music and the story. It tells how a young girl goes to live with her grandparents, and while there, she hears many stories about her family's history, and finds out much about them. She visits the island, Roan Inish, where she used to live, and she discovers many secrets about it. From the moment it started, all through the rolling green hills, the stormy waters, and the sleek seals to the very end, I loved this movie. It is one of my all-time favourites!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: A truly magical experience
Review: This is one of the most enchanting films that I have ever seen. The story is based on a children's book and director Sayles suceeds in making this film feel like one by projecting a surreal and dream like quality. It was filmed on the west coast of Ireland and the actors (and seals!) are Irish. The accents are sometimes heavy and I found it helpful to switch on the subtitles. Like many of Sayles films, there are many quiet moments of sheer beauty. I would recommend this film to anyone, children and adults. The dvd commentary by Sayles is very insightful as to the complexities and joys of filmmaking.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Wonderful!
Review: This movie is one of my all time favorites! I love it ! It's a sweet story of a little Irish girl who had a brother, Jamie, who's cradle drifted to sea as a baby. When she goes to live with her grandparents, she goes to an island where they all used to live- where Jamie was lost and then...well you just have to see it! It's hart warming and very well done I think: it doesn't seem as if the actors are acting. It seems real. I loved "The Secret of Roan Inish" from the moment I watched it.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Good With A Little Irish Whiskey
Review: At first I thought this movie moved a little slow. It was basically some chick wandering all over Ireland and doing stuff. I have scrubbed more interesting stuff off the inside of my microwave. But then a thought occurred to me. I was watching a film about Ireland, so why not drink like I was in Ireland. And laddie, that did the trick. Suddenly the movie became a lot funnier. If I shut one eye and stuck a penny up my nose I could make silly faces like the girl in the movie. Then my brother came in the room and asked me what was wrong with me so I gave him a bloody nose. It's not good to antagonize a man full of whiskey. After the movie I threw up for three hours but I think that was mostly the booze.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: A master peace about Irish legends
Review: A beautifull story about Irish mythology, very well directed and acted. There are an intelligent play in the interconection of reality and fantasy: all is the same, and all the characters admits the "fantasy" like something normal. Wonderfull celtic music and a superb cinematography. An absolut masterpiece.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Mystical magical......
Review: I love this film and I am so pleased to see it finally released as a DVD. In frustration, I bought the soundtrack so I could at least listen to the beautiful music.

This is a mystical tale from the British Isles. The tale could be Irish, Welsh, Scottish, or British--it's certainly Celtic.

A man discovers a seal is a "silkie" and one day when the silkie slips out of her skin, he captures her. Silkies are seals with human women inside. They shed their skin to lie in the sun. When they do, if you grab them before they can slip back into their skin they become your prisioner. All you have to do is keep the skin safely hidden and they can not escape.

After the man captures the silkie, he marries her and they have children. One day, the silkie figures out how to escape and return to the sea. Once in the sea she is lonely for her children. She wants to have her life in the sea and her children. This puts the children "at risk" from the land people's perspective.

The movie works on the premise that a little girl is visiting her relaives and the older man tells her the tale. The little girl being told the tale is descended from the Silkie. The lure of the sea is explained as the longing of former sea creatures for their mother.

Nothing happens to the little girl who is told the tale, but something does happen to one of her child relatives (Jamie?). This might frighten little children. It's a typical European fairy tale, and not everyone has the same fate. Even in Red Riding Hood someone is eaten by the Wolf. No one is eaten in this film, but the event that takes place might still be disturbing to an impressionable mind. I debated whether or not my grand children could watch the film, and I think if they are at least 8 or 9 it would be okay, though even the 9 year old said it bothered her.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: One of my favorite movies.
Review: Regardless of some people's criticisms of this movie I still watch it with regularity. Fiona's Grandfather Hugh was a lovely character and my husband thought Grandmother Tess was much like his Nan (grandmother). Eamon was a trusting and noble older cousin whom Fiona could rely on. In the end, with yarns woven, I only wished the movie were longer... Sigh...I have to be honest: I saw this movie in the local arthouse seven times, bought the soundtrack, have a movie poster, purchased the movie on VHS and will eventually get the book just to see what inspired the writers of the movie. Not everyone "gets" this movie. It was lost on my brother, for example, but me (and my husband) found it to be a lovely film. It appealed to the child in me, who still believes in magic. Perhaps, I'm a bit daft, like Tadgh Coneely, but not blind and know a good tale when I see one.


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