Product: Ryan's Daughter (Two-Disc Special Edition) (2006)
Rating: 1.0
Disappointing
I am quite surprised at all the glowing reviews for this film. With the exception of Trevor Howard, the acting was pretty bad. Rose's love scenes with the English soldier did nothing to make the viewer believe this was a passionate love that could not be denied. In fact, they didn't appear much different than her love scene with Robert Mitchum. There was nothing about either Rose or the English soldier that would indicate irresistability. Perhaps each was particulary attracted to woodenness.While it was a good looking film in terms of scenery and mood, the story was rather ridiculous with many, many holes. We are expected to believe that Rose and the English soldier had an incredibly close relationship, yet he hardly speaks to her. I suppose the viewer must assume that the relationship was more developed than it appeared in the scenes they had together. Why did the soldier commit suicide? Because of the mess he had made of Rose's life? Because of his apparent post-traumatic stress disorder? Because he couldn't have Rose (for reasons, by the way, never made clear. She expected to part with her husband, so why not?)Basically, I found the love story unconvincing and the acting bad. From a technical point of view, the DVD was disappointing in that the sound is terrible - very muffled which, together with the by and large fake Irish brogues, made the dialogue difficult to understand. A disappointment all around.