MOVIE REVIEWS : ‘Inish’: Tale of Wonder, Mystery, Magic

The problem with most children’s films is that they make older folk glad they’re all grown up. Yes, we say, this sort of thing is fine for the kids, sweet and decent and good, but fortunately we can count on something a bit more substantial when it’s our turn to watch.

“The Secret of Roan Inish” is not that kind of children’s film. Though its protagonist is a 10-year-old girl, it is a crackling good tale with a sense of wonder and mystery strong enough to captivate any age group. A movie that believes in magic but knows enough not to be insistent about it, “Roan Inish” is just the kind of impressive independent work that has become habitual with writer-director John Sayles.

“Roan Inish’s” story of young Fiona Coneelly’s determination to penetrate to the secrets of her family’s mysterious past, to understand the truth behind the legends she hears of curious appearances and disappearances, of animals with strange and disturbing powers, may not sound like ideal Sayles material, but in many ways it is.

For one thing, Sayles has always been interested in the human qualities of situations that cross the line into mythic: Both the “Black Sox” World Series scandal depicted in “Eight Men Out” and the West Virginia coal mine labor violence that was “Matewan’s” backdrop fit that description as nicely as does “Roan Inish.”

And Sayles’ habitual straight-ahead filmmaking style turns out to be well-suited to transferring this kind of fable (based on a novella by Rosalie K. Fry) to the screen. Understanding that fantasy needs to be treated with respect but not fawned over, Sayles’ matter-of-factness makes the magic seem all the more plausible and real.

Like many a young heroine, Fiona Coneelly (Jeni Courtney) is introduced with troubles to overcome. The time is just after World War II, her mother has died, and her father, a weary slave to his job in the city, has sent her to live with her grandparents Hugh (Mick Lally) and Tess (Eileen Colgan) on the isolated west coast of Ireland.

Though they now live on the mainland, the grandparents, in fact Fiona’s entire family, used to have houses on the nearby small, mysterious island of Roan Inish, sharing the space with herds of seals. Economics and loneliness drove everyone from it, but life does not seem as sweet to the Coneellys away from their traditional home.

To make the loss less painful, the family lingers over tales of the island and the past, shown in vivid voice-over flashbacks. Grandfather Hugh tells Fiona of the troubling disappearance of her brother, Jamie, an infant who floated out to sea in his cradle and was never seen again. And her cousin Tadhg (John Lynch) recounts the legend of ancestor Liam Coneelly who fell in love with a beautiful selkie, a creature half animal, half seal, who can be controlled only if her seal skin is stolen.

As Fiona hears these stories in bits and pieces, she comes to realize, in the best young heroine tradition, that she has a definite role to play. She believes that these are not just silly old rumors but indications of a critical contemporary situation that the adults are too dense to grasp, a situation that has been waiting for her help to resolve.

Though she gets some assistance from her older cousin Eamon (Richard Sheridan), Fiona is a splendidly self-reliant heroine. With the long golden hair of a fairy-tale princess and the feisty spirit of Nancy Drew, Fiona (perfectly played by non-professional Courtney) is a fearless creature, determined to do what needs to be done.

Helping to make Fiona’s quest believable is the care that has been taken to make the film’s setting authentic. Mason Daring’s Celtic-themed original music creates an exquisite backdrop and Sayles’ artful script has the feel of the land to it. Also, having actors of the caliber of Lally and Lynch, able to bring life to lines like “What the sea will take, the sea must have,” is a considerable advantage.

If Sayles has a secret weapon, however, it is master cinematographer Haskell Wexler, who also shot “Matewan.” A wizard with light, Wexler has captured the brooding, fog-bound romantic ambience that “Roan Inish” has to have to succeed, and he has done it in a casual way that refuses to call unnecessary attention to itself.

With its emphasis on what people owe to their physical surroundings, on the ancient kinship between man and the animal world that sometimes gets frayed around the edges, “The Secret of Roan Inish” manages to be both contemporary and timeless. Its enchantments are many, and they fall with happy equality on any age you can name.

* MPAA rating: PG, for “some moments that may be disquieting to small children.” Times guidelines: more intense and complex than most children’s films, and the better for it.

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‘The Secret of Roan Inish’ Jeni Courtney: Fiona Eileen Colgan: Tess Mick Lally: Hugh Richard Sheridan: Eamon John Lynch: Tadhg Released by First Look Pictures. Director John Sayles. Producers Sarah Green, Maggi Renzi. Executive producers John Sloss, Glenn R. Jones, Peter Newman. Screenplay John Sayles, based on “Secret of the Ron Mor Skerry” by Rosalie K. Fry. Cinematographer Haskell Wexler. Editor John Sayles. Costumes Consolata Boyle. Music Mason Daring. Production design Adrian Smith. Supervising art director Henry Harris. Art directors Dennis Bosher, Lucy Richardson. Set decorator Tom Conroy. Running time: 1 hour, 43 minutes.

* In limited release in Southern California.