(Das Geheimnis des Seehund-Babys [de])
USA / Ireland 1994
d: John Sayles
Columbia Tristar Home Video (Region 1 us)
sc: John Sayles (based on the book "The Secret of Ron Mor Skerry" by Rosalie K. Fry)
c: Haskell Wexler (Color)
e: John Sayles
pd: Adrian Smith
m: Mason Daring
p: Sarah Green, Maggie Renzi (Jones Entertainment Group / Skerry Productions)
w: Jeni Courtney, Pat Slowey, Dave Duffy, Declan Hannigan, Mairéad Ní Ghallchóir, Eugene McHugh, Tony Rubini, Mick Lally, Eileen Colgan, Richard Sheridan, Micheal MacCarthaigh, Fergal McElherron, Brendan Conroy, John Lynch, Frankie McCafferty
pr: 12 Sep 1994
aw: Camerimage 1995 Nominated Golden Frog • Gérardmer Film Festival 1996 International Critics Award
rt: 101:37 min
dvd-rl: 25 Jul 2000
ar: 1.85:1 (16:9 Anamorphic Widescreen)
sd: English Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround
st: English, Spanish; CC
supp: French subtitles listed on packaging but not present on the disc
SIDE A
• The Film
• Audio Commentary by director John Sayles
• Theatrical trailer (2:17 min)
• John Sayles biography/filmography
• Bonus trailers for "The Adventures of Milo and Otis" (1:30 min); "Fly Away Home" (2:44 min); "Matilda" (2:26 min) and "Muppets from Space" (2:20 min)
SIDE B
• Pan&Scan version of the film
This Irish fable, from a novel by Rosalie K Fry, may be pretty atypical of John Sayles' work, but it's still a lovely movie. Set in a remote Irish fishing community in the '40s, it charts the experiences of a young girl who comes to stay with her grandparents and is intrigued by the mysterious, seemingly fantastic stories of an infant relative's death. Tales within tales, a subtle sense of economic and social realities, fine landscape photography and strong performances make for an engrossing, unusual fantasy.
— GA, Time Out Film Guide
•••••
To my ears at least, writer-director John Sayles does an impressive job of impersonating traditional Irish storytellers in this sweet-tempered if slightly dull piece of magical realism, which he adapted from Rosalie K. Fry's 1957 novella "Secret of the Ron Mor Skerry" and filmed on Ireland's west coast. A little girl is sent to live with her grandparents; her grandfather tells her a story about the disappearance of her baby brother when a wave carried away his cradle, and after her 13-year-old cousin suggests that the boy is still sailing in it around the remote island Roan Inish, the girl gets an opportunity to explore the island, finding a few traces of human habitation. This is all rather low-key and uninsistent, but the settings are gorgeous, and Haskell Wexler's cinematography makes the most of them.
— Jonathan Rosenbaum, Chicago Reader
