Rural Ireland. 1981. Nine-year-old Cait is sent away from her overcrowded, dysfunctional family to live with foster parents for the summer. Quietly struggling at school and at home, she has learned to hide in plain sight from those around her. She blossoms in their care, but in this house where there are meant to be no secrets, she discovers one painful truth.
For in-depth thoughts on The Quiet Girl, please see my colleague Tristian Evans’ review from its original theatrical debut here.
Video Quality
The Quiet Girl comes to MOD DVD with a 480p transfer that is fairly solid for the format. The cinematography of the film skews a bit on the darker side in the beginning before blooming to life near the end to fit the narrative arc. This is when the bright colors are at their peak, especially in the foliage of the Irish countryside. Skin tones look healthy enough, and there are some agreeable facial details present in close ups. This DVD offers up a semblance of detail within the production design and clothing. Compression artifacts are a part of this transfer without being detrimental. Black levels could be a bit stronger as they exhibit a bit of blocking. This presentation is in line with what you expect from a DVD. We would love to have a Blu-Ray release, but this movie is worth checking out on any format.
Audio Quality
The DVD comes with a Dolby Digital 5.1 Audio track in the original Irish Gaelic and English which suits the film within its limitations. Dialogue is a bit fleeting at first since Cait is such an interior character, but she opens up to meet the level of conversation of those around her as the movie develops. All exchanges are mixed well and come through clearly. The gorgeous score brings a great amount of character to the feature as it radiates out with a gentle fidelity.
Environmental sounds are a substantial part of the soundscape such as the sounds of animals and nature thriving in the countryside. There is pretty consistent activity in the film, and this track presents the movie exactly as it was intended with its calm energy. Directionality is rendered accurately so that sounds originate from all the natural spots. There is a slight loss of power without a lossless track, but it holds up well overall. The disc includes optional English subtitles.
Special Features
There are no special features provided.
Final Thoughts
The Quiet Girl is one of the finest films of the year. It is very quiet and unassuming, but, like the character at its center, this feature contains a rich and emotional world inside. The theme of chosen family and the value of being nurtured for who you are rather than who people want you to be resonates in a profound way. All of the adult performers strike the perfect note, but it is the extremely talented young lead actress who sells this heartbreaking journey. Decal Releasing has released a DVD featuring a pretty good A/V presentation for the format but nothing in the way of special features. The film tells the universal story of the need to be loved, and it is a narrative that should be experienced by all. Highly Recommended
The Quiet Girl can be purchased on DVD directly through MovieZyng or various other online retailers.
Note: Images presented in this review are not reflective of the image quality of the DVD.
Disclaimer: Decal Releasing has supplied a copy of this disc free of charge for review purposes. All opinions in this review are the honest reactions of the author.
Dillon is most comfortable sitting around in a theatre all day watching both big budget and independent movies.
