Within the fantasy of fairytales and folklore, there’s a hint of something true and human wrapped inside, passed down from generation to generation, translated for the imagination of children. The Secret of Roan Inish is inspired by selkie folklore– the seals that shed their skin to become human, though they still yearn for the sea– but writer-director John Sayles brilliantly compares this to the Coneelly’s yearning for their home, the home torn away from them due to the war, and the home that’s denied to them due to the impending eviction. It’s a lovely story, one partly told by stories handed down from grandparents, but it’s made much more beautiful by the way the grandchildren actively participate in getting their home back. The Secret of Roan Inish beautifully depicts the way kids can change a family’s fate when they get to learn more of their heritage.
Synopsis
Ten-year-old Fiona is sent to live with her grandparents in a small fishing village in Donegal, Ireland. She soon learns the local legend that an ancestor of hers married a Selkie – a seal who can turn into a human. Years earlier, her baby brother was washed out to sea and never seen again, so when Fiona spies a naked little boy on the abandoned Isle of Roan Inish, she is compelled to investigate.
Storyline
Ireland, 1946. With the death of her mother, and the sickness of her father, Frion moves to her grandparents’ place in a small fishing village on the west coast of the island. Her grandfather tells her stories about their old ancestral home on the island of Roan Inish, of the island of the seals.
TLDR
I just love films relating to folklore– it reminds me of the ways and truths all people share, regardless of culture or time, and it’s magical the way they depict it here.
What stands out
It’s kinda funny to see two children renovate three cottages from scratch, but it’s part and parcel of the magic realism of these tales, acknowledging the self-agency kids can have.
