Ryan's Daughter - Sarah Miles

(aka' Michael's Day')

Directed by David Lean
UK 1970

World War I seems far away from Ireland's Dingle peninsula when Rosy Ryan Shaughnessy goes horseback riding on the beach with the young English officer. There was a magnetic attraction between them the day he was the only customer in her father's pub and Rosy was tending bar for the first time since her marriage to the village schoolmaster. Then one stormy night some Irish revolutionaries expecting a shipment of guns arrive at Ryan's pub. Is it Rosy who betrays them to the British? Will Shaugnessy take Father Collin's advice? Is the pivotal role that of the village idiot who is mute?

****

Lean's depiction of provincial Ireland during the unrest of 1916 may suffer a little from its rather worthy romanticism, but this does not dilute its powerful, epic vision.

Rosy Ryan is a young woman with dreams beyond spending her time with the village wastrels. She marries the learned, widowed schoolmaster but is soon distracted by a handsome, war- scarred officer from the loathed British Army.

The beautiful coastline is used to create memorable scenes, notably the community working together to rescue Republican weapons from the sea, and the experienced cast are uniformly excellent. Daddy Mills won an Oscar for his portrayal of the backward, patronized village idiot.

Excerpt from Channel 4 located HERE

Posters

Theatrical Release: November 9th, 1970

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DVD Review: Warner (2-disc Special Edition) - Region 1,2,3,4 - NTSC

DVD Box Cover		CLICK to order from:
Distribution	Warner Home Video - Region 1,2,3,4 - NTSC
Runtime	1:47:44 (disc 1) + 1:38:27 (disc 2) = 3:26:11
Video	2.2:1 Aspect Ratio Average Bitrate: 6.41 mb/s NTSC 720x480 29.97 f/s
	NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes.
Bitrate: Disc 1
Bitrate: Disc 2
Audio	English (Dolby Digital 5.1), DUB: French (Dolby Digital 5.1)
Subtitles	English, Spanish, French and None
Features	Release Information: Studio: Warner Home Video Aspect Ratio: Aspect Ratio 2.2:1 Edition Details: • Commentary by: Lady Sandra Lean, Sarah Miles, Petrine Day Mitchum (Robert Mitchum's daughter), assistant director Michael Stevenson, second unit director Roy Stevens, art director Roy Walker, assistant editor Tony Lawson, location manager Eddie Fowlie, stuntman Vic Armstrong, biographer Stephen M. Silverman, and directors John Boorman, Hugh Hudson and Richard Schickel Unknown Format • Vintage documentaries: Ryan's Daughter: A Story of Love; We're the Last of the Traveling Circuses • The Making of Ryan's Daughter (a three-part 35th-anniversary documentary) • Two theatrical trailers DVD Release Date: February 7th, 2006 Double Slim Keep Case Chapters: 24 + 26 = 50

Comments:

It's early in the year but I definitely think this is the best transfer I have seen so far in 2006. It is advertised as from a 'New digital transfer of restored 65mm picture and audio elements' which may be accurate but hardly seems to give it full justice. Sharpness and detail are crystal clear, the image has wonderful depth and colors seem to jump off the screen. I suspect that it is one of the best DVD image transfer I have ever seen. The largely untested 5.1 soundtrack is likewise excellent. To further expand this theatrical presentation the overture, intermission, entre'acte and exit music are thankfully included. The commentary and extras offer some wonderfully illuminating moments in the creation of the film and director Lean himself.

The film is far from Lean's best work, in my opinion, but it has his 'epic' production fingerprints molding the powerful visuals and romantic vision. This is a David Lean film and Warner have risen to the occasion and given us a miraculous digital keepsake.

Gary W. Tooze

Musical interludes