Ryan's Daughter: David Lean's Curious Epic Misfire Gets a 4K Upgrade (4K)

The Film:

The great Sir David Lean is quite well-known for having delivered a number of great films throughout his illustrious career, films such as "Brief Encounter," "Great Expectations," "Oliver Twist," and, of course, magnificent epics like "The Bridge on the River Kwai," "Lawrence of Arabia," and "Doctor Zhivago." The man was no stranger to glowing reviews and accolades, including an impressive 11 Oscar nominations (and two wins for Best Director), which makes one particular entry in his filmography stand out as a rather peculiar oddity.

After having one of the greatest runs in cinema history with the aforementioned trilogy of epics, he once again attempted to give audiences another with "Ryan's Daughter" in 1970, on which he once again collaborated with Oscar-winning screenwriter Robert Bolt. The critical reaction to Lean's 3+ hour romance was pretty disheartening, with many wondering why he thought this story was worthy of its massive length. It even caused the great filmmaker to take a 14-year hiatus before getting back behind the camera. However, despite the negative reception, the film was a rather successful box office hit, earning about $31 million on its $13 million budget, even going on to receive four Oscar nominations (winning two for Supporting Actor and Cinematography).

In an effort to shine a light on this somewhat forgotten project in Lean's filmography, Warner Bros. has opted to make it a recipient of a tremendous 4K upgrade, while also throwing in a selection of vintage bonus material, so now it's time to delve into this gorgeous epic to see who was closer to the mark. Were the critics right to dismiss it as they did back in 1970, or were audiences perhaps able to see something worth experiencing in it that the critics didn't?

Taking place in 1917 in the small Irish village of Kirrary, we primarily follow Rosy Ryan (Sarah Miles), the daughter of local publican Thomas Ryan (Leo McKern). Rosy has become rather bored with life in the village, which leads her to fall in love with and marry schoolmaster Charles Shaughnessy (Robert Mitchum), hoping that it will add a little excitement to it. However, with Charles being a rather simple, quiet man, she finds that not much changes after getting married. When Major Randolph Doryan (Christopher Jones) arrives to take command of the nearby camp of the occupying British army, he immediately catches her eye, and soon the two become involved in a secret, passionate affair. However, Kirrary being the small village that it is, you can be sure that sooner or later someone is going to find out, regardless of how discreet they try to be.

Strangely enough, "Ryan's Daughter" is the one major film from David Lean that I'd never seen before. This was perhaps because of its somewhat negative reputation, or maybe due to the fact that it's a romance running over three hours, but even so, it still seemed impossible that the incredible director behind some of the greatest films ever made could have such a misfire in their stunning filmography. However, after finally seeing it, one can begin to see how its harsh reception came to be rather easily.

For starters, the overly-simplistic story simply can't withstand the epic runtime that Lean finally settled on. Granted, he chopped out about 17 minutes after its premiere, but even taking out the overture, intermission/entr'acte, and exit music, it still runs a little over three hours, giving this tale of an affair quite a lot of padding to go along with it. Bolt tries to give it a boost by throwing in a historical setting that has it taking place in the wake of the Easter Rising, but it's simply not nearly enough to give the main story the support it needs, and certainly not enough to justify the rather absurd length.

As for the cast, Sarah Miles, Robert Mitchum, Trevor Howard (as the local priest), and Leo McKern do a lot of the heavy lifting, doing their best to make its basic narrative emotionally compelling, but even with their talents, there just isn't a whole lot they can do with such an insubstantial screenplay. This would also be a good place to bring up the rather curious case of Sir John Mills, who basically plays the village simpleton. As a mute, he never speaks a word of dialogue, and is pretty much left to make goofy faces throughout, with his entire role basically boiling down to being a plot device that has him exposing the affair to the village. It's a silly, pointless part that was well-beneath an actor of Mills' stature, and yet the Academy decided to give him an Oscar for it, which has remained a highly-controversial choice ever since.

With all of that said, at the very least one can say that the film is absolutely gorgeous. The scenery of Ireland is stunning to behold, while the production design and costumes only add to the film's beautiful setting. It may run for much, much longer than it needs to, but you can at least admire the view while you're waiting it out. In fact, you could even go so far as to say that Freddie Young's Oscar-winning cinematography is the true star of the film, capturing the elegance of the country in a skillful manner that goes a long way towards helping the sagging story feel not quite as long as it is.

Indeed, by the time the credits finally start to roll at the end of this epic, it's really not difficult to see where things went wrong. The kind of tale that Lean & Bolt wanted to tell here might have barely filled two hours at best, but even that's a bit of a stretch, so taking a simple narrative like this and expanding it to over three hours was always going to be a fool's errand. However, even if they had suited the story to a more appropriate length, it seems doubtful that much would've changed due to its rather basic nature. These two did indeed give us some marvelous motion pictures, but for whatever reason, be it hubris or otherwise, they let this one get away from them completely, ultimately leaving it as quite the strange curio in both of their filmographies.

Video/Audio:

"Ryan's Daughter" comes to 4K in a 2.20:1, 2160p Ultra High Definition transfer of stunning quality. The picture has been beautifully restored, giving you a sharp & clear image throughout the entire 206-minute duration, perfectly highlighting the film's gorgeous scenery & Oscar-winning cinematography. Likewise, the remixed 5.1 DTS-HD MA & 5.0 DTS-HD MA soundtracks are fantastic, giving you all of the dialogue & Maurice Jarre's score in excellent quality. Overall, Warner Bros. has done a marvelous job in both areas for the film's new upgrade.

Special Features:

Audio Commentary Moderated by Larent Bouzereau

Ryan's Daughter: Rising Storm (28 Minutes), Ryan's Daughter: Storm Chaser (21 Minutes), Ryan's Daughter: Eye of the Storm (14 Minutes): A vintage three-part making-of documentary.

We're the Last of the Traveling Circuses (20 Minutes): A vintage behind-the-scenes TV special.

A Story of Love (6 Minutes): A vintage featurette that takes a brief look at the film.

Conclusion:

Sir David Lean's "Ryan's Daughter" boasts gorgeous, Oscar-winning cinematography from Freddie Young, who captures the beautiful Irish landscape with tremendous skill, and a remarkable cast that includes Sarah Miles, Robert Mitchum, Trevor Howard, and Leo McKern, but sadly even their great talent isn't enough to save this simplistic romance that's inexplicably stretched out to over three hours, ultimately leaving us with a curiously flat epic that merely smothers the already-insubstantial material within it.

Score: 2.5/5

Now available on 4K.

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