The reputation of this film seems to ebb and flow like the waves of the Atlantic ocean which so dominates the scenery. A vast budget and a shoot lasting more than a year, combined with director David Leans reputation for delivering huge money making blockbusters, resulted in what were probably unachievable expectations for this film. Lean, previously so successful in creating incredible panoramic images on film, seemed to have taken on too great a challenge with this undertaking. The story was indeed interesting, affecting and at times very touching and human, while the cast lead by a towering Robert Mitchum was, as in all David Lean productions, second to none. However, everything, story, cast and master director,were all dwarfed and ultimately swallowed up by the shear power and grandeur of the landscape. It was difficult at times to not to be both distracted and disinterested in the intrigues of the lives of the characters, when the wild fury of the Atlantic was unleashed in all it's majesty or when, as Trevor Howard remarked as the first sign of the approaching storm appeared over the top of the mountain, "it was if the Lord himself was coming" or words to that effect. Perhaps in a film of great battles, where the clamor of the fighting could compete with the thunder of the storm and the turrets of medieval castles could distract us momentarily from the towering battlements of the mountains, the lives of the characters could become more relevant. To see the major fault in Ryan's Daughter we have to look back briefly to David Lean's two previous epic's, Laurence of Arabia and Doctor Zhivago and to the locations in which the stories are set. In Laurence of Arabia the desert is hot, still, tree less and despite it's undeniable stark beauty, it is also largely featureless. In such a setting as when the Arab appears out of the sun, every small movement is apparent, every nuance of the actor is noticed, we are drawn in close to the characters, we can see the sweat on their brow. Similarly in Doctor Zhivago, the landscape although beautiful,is almost in a state of frozen sterility and the only place we the audience can find warmth is in the faces and lives of the characters. In Ryan's Daughter however, the elements of nature are in constant motion, changing, threatening, overbearing, unassailable. Even Mitchum if he were at his most powerful and brooding could not shine in such a setting. For me personally, the one great scene in the film was when Major Dorian decided to commit suicide. It was David Lean at his best. It was evening, the sun was sinking, the tide was ebbing and the breezes of the day had died away. For the first time since the beginning of the film, the elemental forces of nature which had been vying for our attention became stilled. It was as if they like us were holding their breath and watching,quietly waiting to see what Major Dorian would do. The strange stillness even reached into the teacher's house and was only broken when the force of the explosion which killed Dorian rattled the cutlery. Soon after this at the very end of the film, with Major Dorian dead and with the teacher and Rosy possibly having a new start, the scene was one of freshness with the countryside damp, lush and clean after overnight rain. A great film? well, Freddy Young's photography was certainly great and he deserved his Oscar, but Young's expertise played no small part in this films failure to draw the viewer in and become involved with the characters.Young, at the behest of Lean, gave a virtuoso performance of his art and, as we have seen his efforts while extraordinarily beautiful to look at, left the actors trying to compete against nature at it's rawest and most volatile and, left the film as a whole fatally flawed...As a matter of interest,I live near to where Ryan's Daughter was filmed and many of my older friends and two of my uncles worked as extra's for the duration of the film. Every time I watch this film I can recognize the faces of so many old friends who have now passed on.Perhaps a short note about the actors and their relationship with the locals during filming might be of interest. Leo Mc Kern who played Ryan, was liked by the local people and the extra's on the film although he suffered from bouts of frustration and perhaps even depression, from the difficult conditions and prolonged shoot, and it was no surprise that after the film was finished he took a year off and toured Australia in a camper van with his family to recover! Trevor Howard who played the priest was a terribly bad tempered and sour man who was disliked by all who came in contact with him whether they were working on the film or not. John Mills however was a gentleman to his core, who mixed freely with the extra's and local people and is very fondly remembered by all. Robert Mitchum was... well Robert Mitchum. In truth Mitchum was a man who, from the very start was sullen and withdrawn, and this increased as the shoot went completely out of control. A true story my uncle told me about Mitchum might not be widely known so I'll repeat it here. One day David Lean was setting up the extra's for a scene and it went on for hour after hour. Suddenly Mitchum exploded. He ran in front of David Lean and turning his back, he dropped his trousers and exposed his behind to the camera. Referring to the extra's, he roared at Lean,"you've photographed every damn bum in Ireland now photograph mine".
Review of Ryan's Daughter
