Thanks for a very enlightening and helpful response. I watched the film again tonight, keeping in mind the points and observations you brought up. I did pick up on a few things I missed the first time through. I think, in general, my disappointment was mainly because an interesting story about a troubled girl turned into a love story, which is of less interest to me. That disappointment remains somewhat, but I'm becoming more forgiving of it.
I think I understand Roibin a bit more. I must have missed most of what he said to Brydie during their conversation in the field (just before the group of children discovered them). I listened more closely this time (as much as their confounded accents and dialect would allow me!), and I don't think he's quite as self-centered and devious as he appears. Fairly immature, distrustful, and not overly-bright, yes, but a decent chap at heart.
A line the Vicar said to his wife, about it being inescapable that Brydie would now be committed to a home or institution, goes far to explain his impulsive decision to help the girl find Roibin. His turning point came, I think, at the breakfast table, when he quoted from the Book of Ruth.
My final realisation was that Brydie was no longer thinking like a child by the end of the film. She was, in fact, thinking and acting like a teenager. She was finally growing into her own age. I suddenly remembered that my own parents married when they were 17 and 20, the same ages as Brydie and Roibin. And they were happily married for over 40 years, through some pretty tough times.
So, I withdraw some of my reservations and I wish the Gypsy Girl well. I hope she is still happy and free, skipping and singing through the fields. As the Vicar's wife said, "Good luck and Godspeed to her."
As you can see, I think about good films too much as well. But that's what makes them good films. We end up caring a great deal about the people in them. I don't think "Sky West And Crooked" will replace "Whistle Down The Wind" as my most beloved film, but I'm very glad I discovered it at last.
~~"Lucas, you and I were just friends."~~
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Noirdame79
12 years ago
Wonderful and insightful post, guitarnoise65. A similar thing could be said about another '60s film in which a mentally challenged young woman falls in love with a man who doesn't care at all about whatever disability she may have and loves her completely. "Light In The Piazza" (1962) in which Yvette Mimieux (who, like Hayley, did an excellent job in the role she was portraying), having been rendered somewhat mentally disabled after a childhood accident, finds love with a young Italian man (George Hamilton, who also gives a very good performance). Her mother struggles as to whether she should try to put a stop to the romance (her husband wants to place their daughter in a home), but she realizes that her daughter will be well taken care of and loved if she marries the young man, and that Mimieux has also become more like a woman of her age (early twenties) rather than a child.
Both are excellent movies, along with "Whistle Down The Wind" (1962).
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