Tag: saoirse ronan

DVD & Digital · EIFF24 · Interviews

The Outrun Interview: Saoirse Ronan, Nora Fingscheidt & Amy Liptrot – ‘It was important to make Rona an evolution of the three of us’.

Garry Arnot1 Comment

After a period of disruption which threatened an uncertain future, the Edinburgh International Film Festival (EIFF) finds itself on more solid footing for its 77th edition this year. At its new home of the Cameo Cinema, the relaunch was marked by an Opening Gala UK premiere of German director Nora Fingscheidt’s latest film The Outrun. Based on Amy Liptrot’s bestselling memoir of the same name, the drama follows biologist Rona (Saoirse Ronan, who also co-produced alongside her husband Jack Lowden) as she returns to her hometown in the Orkney Islands following a stint at rehab for alcoholism. I was fortunate enough to attend the screening and chat with the team on the red carpet.

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DVD & Digital

DVD review: Ammonite

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 Following on from the critical success of his groundbreaking debut God’s Own Country, writer and director Francis Lee revisits the theme of repressed homosexual romance with his semi-biographical drama Ammonite. Set on the blustery shores of Lyme Regis in the 1840s, the plot is loosely inspired by palaeontologist Mary Anning. On his European tour, a wealthy fossil enthusiast arrives in town to visit Mary (Kate Winslet) to discuss her geological findings. His young wife Charlotte (Saoirse Ronan) is suffering from severe melancholia and he decides that the sea air will aid her recovery, so he carries on without her, leaving her in Mary’s care. Despite their stark financial and cultural differences, the pair strike up an endearing friendship, leading to a forbidden love that would impact upon their lives forever.

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DVD & Digital

DVD review: Little Women

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Since Louisa May Alcott’s seminal coming-of-age novel Little Women was published in 1868, there have been countless adaptations of the material. The latest version is written for the screen and directed by Greta Gerwig, who has recently transitioned from indie actress to award-nominated filmmaker. The plot follows the struggles of the March family during the American Civil War as four sisters near the end of childhood; Jo (Saoirse Ronan) is a budding writer, Meg (Emma Watson) has traditional aspirations, Amy (Florence Pugh) longs for a taste of the finer things in life, while Beth (Eliza Scanlen) is a highly talented pianist but is reluctant to share her music. Together and apart, we see the women contend with love, death, and marriage as they fight for independence in a society dominated by men.

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DVD & Digital

DVD review: Mary Queen of Scots

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Theatre director Josie Rourke makes the transition from stage to screen with her feature film debut Mary Queen of Scots. Based on historian John Guy’s novel, the period drama chronicles the 1569 conflict between Scotland and England. When Mary Stuart (Saoirse Ronan) returns widowed to her native land at the age of eighteen, she and her Catholic nobles attempt to depose her cousin Elizabeth I (Margot Robbie) from her throne.

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DVD & Digital

DVD review: On Chesil Beach

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Based on Ian McEwan’s Booker Prize-nominated novella of the same name, romantic drama On Chesil Beach is the directorial debut of Dominic Cooke. The plot centres around newlyweds Florence Ponting (Saoirse Ronan) and Edward Mayhew (Billy Howle) as they arrive at their idyllic honeymoon suite by the sea. As simmering societal pressures come to the forefront on the wedding night, are they doomed to fail, or will they live happily ever after?

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DVD & Digital

DVD review: Lady Bird

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As an actress, Greta Gerwig is known for her quirky roles in indie movies, rising through the improvisational mumblecore movement and riding the crest of the hipster wave for the flat-white generation. Having co-written on several projects that she has appeared in, she has moved behind the camera to write and direct Lady Bird, a coming-of-age comedy drama set in Sacramento, California. The plot follows attention-seeking teenager Christine ‘Lady Bird’ McPherson (Saoirse Ronan) who is in her final year of high-school. Whilst clashing with her strong-willed mother Marion (Laurie Metcalf), she navigates her way through the trials and tribulations of bad boyfriends, prom pressure, and deciding what she wants to do with the rest of her life.

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DVD & Digital

DVD review: Lost River

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When it premiered at Cannes festival last year, Ryan Gosling’s hotly anticipated directorial debut ‘Lost River’ was panned almost unanimously, which, as a fan of him as an actor only made me more intrigued to see it. Since the negative initial reaction, it has been tweaked and tinkered for its cinema release with a little shaved off the running time. The title refers to the environment in which the film takes place, a warped wasteland where the American Dream has gone horribly sour. The intertwining plotlines follow three main characters in struggling single mother Billy (Christina Hendricks), her eldest son Bones (Iain De Caestecker) and their neighbour Rat (Saoirse Ronan) as they desperately try to better themselves and their lives, looking for a way out of a decaying habitat with no economic promise. Plucking apparent influences from his pool of experience within the industry, the first-time filmmaker forges his own vision of fractured dreams peppered with fantasy neo-noir elements and striking imagery.

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