arthur white

I have to warn people against watching this horrible movie! Yes, the scenery is gorgeous and the acting is absolutely superb, but these cannot save a grotesque and unbelievable plot. Sadism seems to be the motivating factor in the plot. Let's take some simple, likeable people and destroy them! (spoiler alert) Padriac, the nicest man on the island, winds up utterly friendless and alone -- even his pet donkey id dead -- and isn't even nice anymore. The other chief character, who lives to play the violin and compose music can no longer play because he's cut off half of his own fingers just to keep Padriac from distracting him from his music. Sure! Oh, and his hous burns down. Dominic, the slightly retarded boy whose father, the local policeman, beats and abuses him, commits suicide (which in no way advances the story -- except that the goal is to make everyone miserable.) The horrible policeman goes unpunished. The only character not utterly destroyed. is Padriac's sister who leaves the island -- a departure that adds to her brother's wretchedness. I won't go into the fact that cutting off your own fingers is difficult, probably fatal if the wound is left to bleed, and certainly precludes walking about as though nothing has happened immediately afterwards. The whole premise, that a man suddenly, without warning, finds his best friend "dull" -- so dull that it's worth chopping off fingers to prove your point is simply incredible! I left this movie full of anger that good reviews had betrayed me into watching it, that the wonderful acting and cinematography had been wasted, and that the spirit of our times has become so dark that people find this abyss of cruelty acceptable.