Customer Reviews

Ryan's Daughter (Widescreen Edition) [VHS]

5 star:		(63)
4 star:		(22)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I first saw this film when it came out, it haunted me for days. The score9 by Maurice Jarre) and the photography(Freddie Young won a most desevred Oscar for) is breathtaking and Sarah Miles is so beautiful she takes your breath away. Set in Ireland during World War I and the British occupation of Ireland. Rosy Ryan( Sarah Miles) sets her cap for the local school master played by the great Robert Mitchum. They marry and her life is not what she expects until a British Officer enters it while she is tending bar. The chap is played by Christopher Jones who was the Colin Farrell of his day. The scene in the pub when they meet is one of the most tender loving scenes ever filmed. The affair that follows brings heartache to all. The villagers in this small Irish town gives lynch mobs a bad name. The pleasure they exact from teasing the village idiot(played by John Mills and may I add with beauty and heart) and later taking their revenge on an innocent person they believed to be the traitor. I don't want to give away the ending ot the story but I just purchased it and watched it for the first time in thirty years and was reminded what a storyteller David Lean was. Candace Serviss

Ryan's Daughter is a wonderful, sensual love story set on the rugged, west sea coast of Ireland. It is about community, religion, tradition, youth, discovery, want, war and infidelity. And Sarah Miles is very sexy in her roll as the disillusioned Rose.

Rose is a young woman who is trying to come to terms with adulthood and sexuality in the small world of an Irish village. There arn't many good young men around so she has her sights set on an older, single, male schoolteacher, played by Robert Mitchum. Well, after a fanciful marriage and still a virgin, Rose discovers that the teacher isn't such a hot lover, which leaves Rose a bit disappointed.

"There must be more." She tells her priest, played by Trevor Howard.
"Be careful what you ask for Rose." he tells her, "Because as sure as hell you'll get it."
And then the movie starts.

When this film first came out, I was so spellbound by it that I went to the cinema to see it repeatedly, unlike any other movie. I became totally absorbed in the sheer epic of such a simple love story: the photography, the sensitivity, the location and the characters. Why couldn't other film-makers tell a story with such grace, style and sensuality? Well, I found out that other film-makers didn't have the big budgets that Director David Lean had. So I wonder, could David Lean have made a film on a small budget? Thank God he didn't. We have been left such a rich legacy of fine films from this master craftsman.

Critique Pauline Kael panned Ryan's Daughter so badly when it first came out and David Lean took it so hard and personally, that he didn't make another film for fourteen years. Perhaps Ms Kael wasn't sensitive but Mr. Lean's sensitivity shows through more in this film than with most others he's made. Thank you for your artistry Mr. Lean.

Recently, while on a trip to Western Ireland I made a pilgrimage to the end of the Dingle Peninsula where they filmed Ryan's Daughter. Unbelievably, the schoolhouse is still standing where they built it for the movie in 1969, in a farmer's field, on the hillside overlooking the sea. And it's still in good shape, as if the film crew had left it standing yesterday.

If you're like me, you already own everything else by David Lean (KWAI, LAWRENCE, ZHIVAGO, PASSAGE, and all those Criterion gems), and you'll want to add this "lost" epic to your collection. I have 4 all-time fave directors, and the other 3 are Hitchcock, Kubrick, and Kurosawa. If you share my taste in films, grab this one.

Warner Home Video has done yet another amazing job here. Oh, my God, how beautiful is this movie?!! The anamorphic transfer and Dolby Surround make it look and sound like it was filmed last week. The stark tragedy (cribbed from MADAME BOVARY) is set in gorgeous coastal Ireland during the 1916-21 Rebellion, with a truly impressive cast. Mitchum, Howard, Mills (who won an Oscar), McKern, and lovely Sarah Miles--all of them never better than they are here. Christopher Jones, though not in their league, is used to good effect. Freddie Young's Oscar-winning cinematography and Maurice Jarre's wistful score round out the package. The result is a work of great power and intelligence.

The critics in 1970 trashed RYAN'S DAUGHTER for its old-fashioned technique and romanticism, and they dismissed it as "Lean's Folly." Well, they were wrong. You've heard the expression, "His biggest flop is better than everyone else's best effort." This film proves it. Nobody makes movies like this man. Nobody. This is a voluptuous example of the lost art of cinematic storytelling.

Each month I scan the "new" issues to see if the studio has issued this first rate movie onto DVD but to no avail! when one sees the amount of rubbishy films now being re-issued, it really makes me angry, I guess the reason being the fact that Ryans Daughter was panned in the States, but hay Yanks, how about we Brits? the film was well received over here and is still regulary screened on TV. Freddy Jone's photography should be reason enough but add Sarah Miles, Bob Mitchum, John Mills, where is the problem?

Ryan's Daughter is one of the all time great movies. Just for the scenery alone, it should be put on DVD. Come to think of it, I don't know why Turner Classic Movies has shown it.
Sarah Miles, a long overlooked actress, is delightful as Rosy. I would buy a VHS copy but at $70 I'll wait until it is on DVD.
Barbara Callow Rajnovich

This SOOOOO needs to be on DVD!!!!! This beautiful little gem is one of those great movies that just keeps haunting my memory even after all these years....and considering all the crap hollywood churns and what they deem worthy to go on DVD this would be a welcome bit of fresh air to see this again and add to my library.

No one was a more masterful film maker than was David Lean, the British director who brought us such unforgettable classics as "Lawrence of Arabia", "Bridge Over the River Kwai", "Doctor Zhivago" and, of course, "Ryan's Daughter"(see my reviews of all these films). The cinematography in all of Lean's films is always spectacular and breathtaking, for Lean had a special appreciation for how the nature of one's natural surroundings set the stage and influenced the dramatic proceedings. Lean characteristically focused his films on the ways in which individuals and their personal characteristics clash and meld with the larger social, cultural, and historical surround in which they are located, and so each film is a uniquely captivating study of the specific dynamics of each particular individual situation. Each of these films is also a well-choreographed and photographed excursion into the topography, climate, and landscape of the geographic location in which the drama unfolds. The eyes and ears are always delighted by what Lean displays.

Here both the Irish seascape as well as the bucolic countryside underpin this classic tale of how different life circumstances trap and constrain individuals, and how much each of us are affected by the greater social surround in which we interact. Robert Mitchum is cast against type, and does a marvelous job as an aging bachelor who has caught the fancy of a young and extraordinarily beautiful student who wants him to fulfill her youthful fantasies about all those adult characters he taught so ably about in class. Of course, the young woman, played ably by a young and gorgeous Sarah Miles, is bound for disappointment and a rude awakening. Things are not always as much like these literary descriptions as she had hoped.

Into the picture comes an attractive, dashing, and daring young English soldier, played by Christopher Jones, who is immediately fatefully attracted to the young and foolish woman, and eventually an affair begins. All of this is set in the climate of both the Irish `troubles' and the threats associated with the ongoing First World War in Europe, in which Ireland is anxiously uninvolved. As in all of the Lean movies, the ways in which each character's nature, individual characteristics, and personal foibles project themselves into the larger social circumstances provides the focus of the unfolding story. While the plot is nowhere near as memorable as in some of Lean's other movies, the story is well told and is an interesting and compelling look at small town life in an isolated and provincial Irish village in the early years of the 20th century. I always enjoy watching it; any David Lean film is a lovely experience that is an enchanting way to while away a rainy Sunday afternoon. Enjoy!

David Lean's earthy film takes place in a small village on the wild Irish seacoast. World War I is raging in Europe, but the villagers have their own war - against the British soldiers who are camped nearby. Teenage lovely, Rose Ryan (Sarah Miles), has a schoolgirl crush on her middle-aged teacher (Robert Mitchum) and dreams of becoming his wife. When they do marry, she is immediately dissatisfied and seeks passion in the arms of the enemy, English Major Doryan (Christopher Jones).

Sarah Miles is perfect as the willful and conflicted young girl, and Mitchum, though an odd casting choice, is convincing as her kindly husband. Trevor Howard gives a wonderful performance as the town priest who knows everybody's business, and John Mills certainly deserved his Best Supporting Actor Oscar, playing a pitiful mute. Christopher Jones has the right look as the tortured, shell-shocked soldier, but his acting is wooden and even though he utters only a handful of words, his voice had to be dubbed by another actor.

The rough and wild coast is beautifully photographed in the director's sweeping style, and Maurice Jarre's soundtrack is haunting. I was enchanted by this movie when it first came out, and still find it a lovely, sensual, and impressive film.

Kona

Beginning with "Bridge on the River Kwai" in 1957, the only David Lean film I would rate less than 5 stars is "A Passage to India" and I would give it 4.8. "Ryan's Daughter" is simply one of those films that any serious creator of a DVD library should have on his/her top 25 list. It is so spectacular that, for the life of me, I can't imagine what has taken so long for it to arrive in DVD format. As with all his films, Lean's cinematography is truly unequalled, but there isn't a single ingredient with which one can find reasonable fault. "Ryan's Daughter" is what filmmaking should always be and so rarely is.

...including the Amazon.com critic. I daresay that Ryan's Daughter is David Lean's greatest movie - yes, even better than Dr. Zhivago and Lawrence of Arabia. Unlike the critics who lambasted the "miscasting" of the actors, I say that Sarah Miles (the younger adulteress) and John Mills (the village idiot) - both of whom earned Oscar nominations, with Mills winning his outright - were perfect for their roles, as were performances by Trevor Howard (the in-your-face yet wise priest), Leon McKern (the blustery yet traitorous father/publican), and Christopher Jones (the war-torn and lonely British Major). Even American Robert Mitchum played a believable duped, middle-aged husband - Irish accent and all. But no, the critics were quick to dump on Mitchum for taking a part outside his typical tough-guy role. It was like the critics expected him to beat the tar out of the British Major in the end (I guess then they would have been satisfied.) But Mitchum did something that the critics failed to see before - the man acted his role perfectly.

Overall, the plot is tight for a three-hour-plus long movie and each scene adds to the overall plot. The amazing thing about this script is that you can't help to root (and feel sorry) for the adulteress, her soldier lover, her husband, the priest, the Irish rebels, the British soldiers, even the village idiot. The only people you hate outright are the narrow-minded, hateful, lazy villagers. You even feel sorry for the publican who finds himself in an impossible position as he betrays first the rebels and then his own daughter.

Outstanding acting aside, the cinematography of Ryan's Daughter is incredible. You cannot help but be amazed at the beauty and grandeur of the coastline of Western Ireland. The storm scene where Irish rebels and the villages pluck German weapons and explosives off the sea-ravished rocks is unparalleled in movie history. (And this is before digital creation). I wonder how long Lean waited for such a storm to appear and then direct the actors/stuntmen in accordance with the dictates of the storm?

Like all Lean directed movies, he uses sweeping vistas to show the immensity of space. He illustrates the pull of adultery with natural scenic symbolism as the lust-struck couple seeks privacy for their coupling. How many directors even bother nowadays with photographic symbolism? Not many considering the audiences of today who go to movies to react rather than to think.

Ryan's Daughter is a perfect tale of betrayal, lust, love, and beauty - elements all found in other Lean movies, but perfected to artform in this epic.

David Lean created his masterpiece in Ryan's Daughter...too bad only a few really see his genius here. The critics are fools.