Dreaming The Quiet Man Documentary
Loopline Film was established in 1992 by Sé Merry Doyle to produce high-quality documentaries. In 2010/2011 Loopline Film made Dreaming the Quiet Man, a documentary with a Mayo connection. This documentary includes interviews with aficionados of Ford like, Martin, Scorsese, Peter Bogdanovicz, Jim Sheridan, William Dowling, and Joe McBride. There is mesmeric archive and rare photographs of the making of the film. In the documentary Ford’s cousins, the Feeney’s tell the story of Ford’s parent’s departure from Ireland after the Great Famine and the young Ford’s return to Ireland in 1922. Loopline travel to Portland Maine where Ford grew up and went on to become a director in the first bloom of Hollywood.
‘The Quiet Man’ is one of those rare cinematic milestones that have left a marked impression on the landscapes they were filmed in. Ford’s homage to his idealized vision of his parent’s homeland is still as popular as ever. On its release in 1952 ‘The Quiet Man’ met with worldwide success and struck a particular chord with the millions of Irish who were forced to emigrate. It’s appeal was brought about by Ford’s use of universal themes like, emigration, displacement, loss of land, and male patriarchy, all woven into one of the great love stories of all time. ‘The Quiet Man’ documentary is an exploration of identity viewed through the misty lens of a triple winning Oscar Hollywood film Director.
Image: The late great Maureen O'Hara and Director Sé Merry Doyle.