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4/12/95 02:12 


THE SECRET OF ROAN INISH, A film by John Sayles.

John Sayles has always fascinated me. His lyrical approach to film, 
letting the viewer come to the film on his or her own terms, requires 
balls. Films like MATEWAN, EIGHT MEN OUT, LIANNA, PASSION FISH and THE 
BROTHER FROM ANOTHER PLANET ... all take chances, and (in varying 
degrees, depending on who you ask) deliver.

THE SECRET OF ROAN INISH is no different. It's actually a child's film, 
the kind we can all identify with. It's 1946, and young Fiona, whose 
mother has died some time ago, has been sent to spend the summer with her 
grandparents on the Donegal coast. Her father isn't doing too well in the 
city; the mother's death seems to have set several many things in motion.

Back home on the coast, the young girl immediately shows an interest in 
Roan Inish, the island where her people once lived. Myth and folklore 
surround the abandoned lifestyle that the simple fishing folks gave up 
when they came to the coast, came to Catholicism, came to the Twentieth 
Century. She accepts the myths wholeheartedly (as children do), and 
believes the tales that her infant brother Jamie (swept to sea years 
earlier) still rides the waves in his seagoing cradle.

As she settles in, she goes fishing with her grandfather, befriends a 
young boy who dreams of moving back to the island, and hears more tales 
of her family's heritage from others around town. Her dreams and all her 
waking moments figure on Roan Inish.

Part of the great mystery of the island is the loss of Fiona's little 
baby brother on the day that her people left for the mainland. "The sea 
took him," she's told. Unattended in his cradle/ship, the tide swiped him 
and drew him out to the open water. It's this view of his loss that 
colours the film: the people of Roan Inish lived so closely with nature, 
that tales of the men coupling with mythological creatures (selkies) were 
common. Nature itself was a member of their extended family (and the 
seals around the harbor lack only dialogue to be members of the cast). In 
1946, though, such beliefs are tut- tuted into silence, just as the 
native Gaelic was outlawed, and the native culture strangulated.

For Fiona, though, as with any child, the past is a thing of wonder, 
one's ancestry a precious resource. Fiona delves deeper into her mythical 
heritage, for only an innocent can see through the veil of disbelief, and 
accept that which the spirit feels must be true. As she delves deeper, 
she finds evidence that is inexplicable any other way....

All of this is handled by Sayles like a delicate flower. Neither overtly 
paraded or slyly disguised, the fantastical elements are simply 
portrayed, without condescension to the viewer's imagination. There's 
much in the film that shouldn't be spoiled for you. Don't read reviews; 
ignore synopses. Just go see THE SECRET OF ROAN INISH ... and be 
enraptured by John Sayles storytelling gift.



                                              -- D.B. Spalding

A self-described multicareerist, D.B. Spalding is a writer, musician, 
independent radio producer, computer consultant and online sysop; he 
writes frequently about music, film, computing and the mass- and 
multimedia.

(C) Copyright 1995 D.B. Spalding. All rights reserved.