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The Quiet Girl
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Wikipedia article
'The Quiet Girl' (Irish: 'An Cailn Ciin' ) is a 2022 coming-of-age film directed and written by Colm Bairad and spoken mostly in the Irish language. Set in 1981, the film follows a withdrawn nine-year-old girl who experiences a loving home for the first time when she spends the summer on a farm with distant relatives in Rinn Gaeltacht, County Waterford.
Plot
In the summer of 1981, nine-year-old Cit is one of many siblings, living with her impoverished and neglectful parents in rural Ireland. With Cit's mother having fallen pregnant once again, Cit's parents decide to send their quiet daughter away to live with a middle-aged couple, Eibhln and Sen Cinnsealach, the former being a distant cousin.
Eibhln immediately welcomes Cit into the Cinnsealach home, showing her love and teaching her how to do chores around the house and farm. She also shows Cit a well on the property, claiming that the water has healing powers, while warning that the well is deep and to exercise caution when retrieving water from it. As Cit arrived at the Cinnsealach home with no luggage, Eibhln places her in a spare bedroom and initially dresses her with boys' clothes left in the wardrobe. She later buys Cit new girls' clothes.
Sen, on the other hand, is withdrawn and initially acts coldly towards his foster daughter. One day when Eibhln is away, Cit accompanies Sen to the far side of the farm, the latter cleaning the stables. While he is occupied, Cit wanders off. Once Sen notices her absence, he panics and searches for her on the property. After finding her, he scolds her and orders her to never wander off again. Frightened by his sudden bout of anger, Cit runs back to the house.
Sen expresses remorse and begins to make an effort to bond with Cit. Slowly, the girl opens up to her foster father, and the two become close.
One day, the Cinnsealach family attend a wake. Seeing Cit getting restless at the event while Eibhln and Sen socialise with and comfort their friends, a gossipy neighbour offers to look after her for a couple of hours. Eibhln hesitates, but agrees. While the woman and Cit walk together, the former reveals that the Cinnsealachs had a young son who drowned in the family slurry pit some years before Cit's arrival. When the Cinnsealachs later pick Cit up from the neighbour's house, they notice the girl's withdrawn demeanour and ask what the neighbour said to her. Cit tells them the truth, which quietly upsets the older couple, but they do not deny the neighbour's story.
Over a month into her stay, Cit's mother has given birth and has requested for the Cinnsealachs to return Cit in time for the start of the school year. Cit, Eibhln and Sen each express their subdued sadness at having to part, but the couple agree to drive Cit back to her biological family. Not wishing to return to her abusive parents, Cit sneaks off to the well to fetch water but becomes overwhelmed by her rapidly filling bucket and dragged into the well. A distressed Eibhln, searching for Cit, finds her soaked and upset returning from the well and comforts her.
The next morning, Eibhln and Sen drive Cit back to her home. Her mother barely acknowledges her daughter's return, and her father immediately chastises Cit for sneezing. After a tension-filled conversation between the adults, with Eibhln telling Cit's parents that the girl is welcome to stay with them at any time, they reluctantly bid farewell to Cit and begin to drive off. While watching the car disappear down the driveway, Cit suddenly sprints towards it, managing to catch up to the couple as Sen closes the gate to her family's property. The foster father and daughter run to each other and embrace, while Eibhln sobs quietly in the car. As Cit looks over Sen's shoulder, she sees her father angrily marching towards them and says 'Daddy' to alert Sen to his presence. After a brief pause, she says 'Daddy' again to acknowledge Sen as her true father figure.
Production
'The Quiet Girl' is based on 'Foster', a 2010 novella in English by Claire Keegan. The film was originally titled 'Fanacht' ("Waiting"). It was filmed in Dublin and County Meath, with Meath locations including Summerhill, Moynalvey (including Fagan's Pub), Curraghtown, Garlow Cross, Trim and Clonymeath.
Release
'The Quiet Girl' premiered at the Berlinale on 11 February 2022. It won a Crystal Bear from the Generation Kplus International Jury for Best Film and received a special mention from the children's jury. The jury stated that "It is a film with a delicate story full of details about childhood, grief, parenthood and rebuilding a family. The very strong narrative is combined with a stunning cinematography. The sound and the images create a unique atmosphere."
It was also shown at the 2022 Dublin International Film Festival on 23 February, and at the Glasgow Film Festival in March 2022. It went on general release in Ireland on 12 May 2022. It was also selected for the 'World Cinema' section of 27th Busan International Film Festival to be screened in October 2022.
Reception
'The Quiet Girl' received 11 nominations at the 18th Irish Film & Television Awards (IFTAs) in March 2022, and won in seven categories. The film was the first Irish-language film to showcase at the Berlin Film Festival and win the Best Film award at IFTAs. It broke box office records for the opening weekend of an Irish-language film and became the highest-grossing Irish-language film of all time.
The film has a 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, with 30 positive reviews.
Accolades
See also
* List of submissions to the 95th Academy Awards for Best International Feature Film
* List of Irish submissions for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film
References
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