Product: Ryan's Daughter (Two-Disc Special Edition) (2006)
Rating: 5.0
David Lean's Beautiful "Daughter"
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.