Actually, I’m not treading on unfamiliar turf. I received a similar sentence earlier in my life. If I remember correctly, that one lasted about 14 or 15 years give or take a half dozen years or so. These things tend to get blurry after a while.
My first sentence began when my oldest child was about 13 years old. It continued uninterrupted until somewhere around the time my youngest offspring began to develop a sincere appreciation for early morning physical conditioning and hurried breakfasts in the presence of cranky, uniformed seniors. My current sentence as Village Idiot comes compliments of a teenage granddaughter who is living with us.
For those of you who have lived in a “teenager house", this really doesn’t require much in the way of explanation, does it? It’s pretty much of an automatic transition for us parents – or grandparents in many cases. Here we are, cruising through life as wonderful, caring, nurturing, wise adults. Then suddenly one morning we wake up with ninety percent of our brains having been mysteriously removed while we slept soundly in our little beds.
We are the result of a negative parental metamorphosis. We have become the slugs of the earth. Pond scum. We are uncaring ogres – trolls guarding the bridge to a teenage life of fun and excitement.
“You don’t care about me anymore!"
“You never listen to me!"
“You hate me!"
“Stop treating me like a baby!"
“But everybody’s doing it!"
“You just don’t understand!"
“You just don’t care!"
The plaque reads “Certified Village Idiot". Mine has four oak leaf clusters. Not bad - and I must say it does look rather nice on my office wall. I look at it and think about the day when I presented my parents with the exact same document. I remember how difficult – and frustrating - it was to try to make the transition from child to adult. To want the independence so badly without understanding what the word really meant. To desperately believe at the ripe old age of sixteen that I was all “grown up" and ready make my way into the big wide world – or at least to the edge of town.
I remember – and understand at least to some extent, the turmoil, frustration and confusion faced by teenagers. Turmoil that today is made worse by a myriad of temptations and attitudes that just didn’t exist when I was that age. Frustrations that are exacerbated by a brain still in the formative stages. And confusions that are compounded by a bombardment of conflicting messages and lifestyles.
“Certified Village Idiot." What an awesome responsibility! What a tremendously challenging, potentially rewarding task! What a pain in the butt! (Honesty is good, remember?) All parents are bound to receive this designation sometime in their lives. And all we can do when this happens is dig deep into our patience drawer and continue to do the best we can to provide the guidance, understanding and love that will prepare our blossoming adults to someday accept the very same certificate from their children. Well worth doing, I’d say…
Ryan's Daughter ' 4 Stars (Excellent)
"Ryan's Daughter" is a love story that evolves into a love triangle set in the epic splendor of an isolated village on Ireland's scenic Dingle Peninsula. Like all love triangles, it ends in a disaster that becomes a tragedy.
Rosy Ryan (Sarah Miles) seeks to find that certain something that is missing in her life and thinks she finds it when she announces her love for her former schoolteacher, Charles Shaughnessy (Robert Mitchum), who is old enough to be her father.
Unfortunately for Rosy, her marriage brings her love but not passion. It is passion she finds when she meets and instantly falls into the arms of Major Randolph Doryan (Christopher Jones), a young British officer assigned to the village.
Major Doryan is a World War I hero who ends up in the village as part of the British occupation while the war continues on in Europe. The villagers resent the British presence and will jump at a chance to fight for their freedom.
Tim O'Leary (Barry Foster) leads a resistance force that awaits the arrival of German weapons so they can finally arm and defend themselves against the British takeover.
The villagers become aware of Rosy's infidelity through the village idiot Michael (John Mills) who is mute and considered a half-wit, but Michael is clever enough to steal away the major's uniform and medal while he is busy making love to Rosy in a secluded island cave.
Michael adores Rosy but instinctively knows he has no chance. He feels a kinship with Major Doryan as they both suffer from profound limps. Both the limp and shell shock are from Doryan's war injuries.
Tom Ryan (Leo McKern) is Rosy's father and owner of the local pub. He is a big freedom talker who is taken at his word to be a freedom fighter by the rebel leader O'Leary, who leans on him for support in gathering up the German weapons that are dropped off at sea and floating to shore.
You just have to see the storm scene, huge waves are crashing against the rocky shore while villagers are scrambling to recover broken boxes of rifles, bullets and dynamite.
When the rebels seek to haul off the weapons stash, they are met by British soldiers who have been tipped off by Tom Ryan. O'Leary is shot by Major Doryan and captured while trying to escape. It is assumed he will be hung for leading the rebellion.
Once exposed, the villagers consider the unfaithful Rosy to be the "British officer's whore" as well as a disloyal and dishonorable informant when in fact it is her father. Ryan, whose wife has died, has spoiled his daughter growing up, and it is he who is the silent informer for the British that is never exposed, even when he has an opportunity to save his daughter from harm.
The villagers become a mob and eventually beat up Rosy's husband Charles, strip Rosy naked and cut off her lovely long hair. This is apparently the ultimate disgrace in an Irish village, being ostracized and then humiliated.
Major Doryan ends up on the beach with Michael who has recovered some dynamite. When Doryan realizes his affair with Rosy is over, he uses the dynamite to commit suicide.
Rosy's husband is aware of her adultery but hopes it will run its course, and he will be there when it is over. When he finds he is unable to handle it, he decides to leave Rosy. They both know that they must leave the village and are led out of town by Father Collins (Trevor Howard), the Catholic priest.
Director David Lean had to wait a year before a storm dramatic enough appeared on the Atlantic Ocean to film the weapons recovery scene. This turned into a masterpiece of filming by Freddie Young who won an Oscar for his effort.
Cinematographer Freddie Young captures the raw beauty of Ireland with its ocean cliffs, green countryside, lazy pastures and hidden forest love nest. Young shot the film entirely in a 65mm widescreen format and in Super Panavision. It was the last such film shot until 22 years later when Ron Howard filmed "Far and Away" in 1992.
The storm scene is nothing short of spectacular as well as real. Leo McKern (as Rosy's father Tom) was injured and badly shaken up while filming the storm sequence and nearly drowned. McKern was so upset he vowed never to act again and did not for several years.
The film includes a passionate love scene between Major Doryan and Rosy who was partially exposed (pretty hot for a film released in 1970). In addition to Young's Oscar, John Mills won an Oscar as Best Supporting Actor for his role as the mute half-wit. Mills bowed at the Academy Awards ceremony when receiving his Oscar and said nothing in the shortest acceptance speech in Oscar history.
Sarah Miles received an Oscar nomination for Best Actress and the film earned another nomination for Best Sound.
Mills also won the Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actor. Sarah Miles (Best Actress) and Trevor Howard (Best Supporting Actor) won Golden Globe nominations.
A lot of critics at the time were not kind to David Lean as director of Ryan's Daughter. Lean was no slouch. He earned two Best Director Oscars for "The Bridge on the River Kwai" and "Lawrence of Arabia".
Lean was also nominated for a Best Director Oscar for "Doctor Zhivago" which won 5 Oscars and had 4 other nominations. Robert Bolt wrote Doctor Zhivago as well as Ryan's Daughter and "A Man for All Seasons". Bolt was twice married to Sarah Miles.
Lean would outperform his critics. He was voted the 9th greatest film director of all time in the BFI (British Film Institute) "Directors Top Directors" poll in 2002.
Ryan's Daughter is a slow developing romance. The film runs for 3 hours and 16 minutes. Like almost all of Lean's films, Ryan's Daughter was hugely popular with moviegoers and movie lovers alike.
Ryan's Daughter is a story about relationships and an epic film worth watching.
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