An innocent crackling with emotion
OCCASIONALLY, a first-time film comes along that feels perfectly formed — as though its creation were an act of nature.
The Quiet Girl (★★★★★, 12A, 94 mins) is one of them. It’s the first feature for its director, Colm Bairéad, and also for its star, Catherine Clinch, a 12-year-old who delivers a performance that is stunningly mature yet still full of the innocence of childhood.
Its story, told in a mix of the Irish language (subtitled) and English, is straightforward. Clinch’s character, Cáit, is sent to live with relatives in a rural corner of Ireland for the summer, away from her careworn mother and coarse father.
But the emotions that The Quiet Girl mines are complex and deep. Through its careful camerawork and sparing script, we come to know the everyday cruelties that people can impose on each other — and the immeasurable kindnesses, too. Our Father (★★★★I, 18, 96 mins) is a documentary that, in its way, is also about family.
Or perhaps it would better be described as a horror film. It’s produced by Blumhouse, the studio best known for spooky series such as Paranormal Activity, and is full of ominous music and creeping shots down hallways. The style certainly matches the substance: this is the case of an American fertility doctor who secretly inseminated his patients for decades.
The bravery of the sons and daughters who have exposed both him and their sprawling family tree is stunning. At the latest count, there are 94 of them. Spitfire Over Berlin (★★III, 15, 120 mins) ought to come with a disclaimer: it was made for tens of thousands of pounds by a handful of DIY filmmakers.
Without that disclaimer, it’s a clunky attempt at an airborne Second World War movie, with dodgy CGI and an even dodgier script. With it, there’s something delightful about the fact that this film even exists. Chocks away! n The Quiet Girl is showing in cinemas (and streaming on Curzon home Cinema) from today. Our Father is on Netflix now. And Spitfire Over Berlin is in selected cinemas from today.
BRIAN VINER IS AWAY