A beautiful ghost story

Unlike American ghost stories, which are usually of the slash-and-gash variety and whose ghosts are essentially evil and horrific, this movie takes a more typically Irish slant toward ghosts – gentle and sentimental. The ghost is a gentle mother whose love and longing for her children, especially the boy she died giving birth to and therefore never saw in life, is stronger than the grave and compels her to return to earth in the form of a white horse who singles out her boys for protection, love, and direction. And in delivering her boys from poverty and degradation, she also saves her dear husband.

The horse’s white mane and tail become the mother’s hair as she reaches out to save her boy from drowning. He finally realizes it in the end. “It was Mummy, wasn’t it?” little Ossie says, as Mary’s cart burns and the white horse’s image appears in the flames. The loving mother can finally rest now that her “boys” (including her husband) have been healed and are on the road to wholeness again.




"The abuse of greatness is when it disjoins remorse from power."
- Julius Caesar, act 2 sc 1