Aidan Quinn’s turn to shine again - SEE VIDEO

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CAHIR O'DOHERTY,

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Director Vic Sarin, originally from India, has an immigrant’s understanding of the tensions and opportunities that exist when you arrive in a new home, and he expertly guides his cast through a drama that cannot fail to move you.

For Nielsen, who previously starred with Quinn in the death row drama Convicted, it was the quality of the script and the opportunity to work with Quinn again that encouraged her to participate. Even if it meant filming in a location that was about as remote as any she has ever visited.

“It was a small and very intimate crew in Donegal and we had a five week stretch of sunshine. The locals couldn’t remember a time when that had happened before,” Nielsen told the press.

“We also brought a whole new economy to Inishowen (the most northerly peninsula in Ireland) and we were such a multicultural crew. So for me the experience of making the film was as enjoyable as the work itself.”

Nielsen plays an Irish woman who has been trying for years to have her own child. She’s full of love for everyone she meets, and so when she chooses to adopt the most miserable child on the planet, you can easily believe she’s up to the challenge.

“My character teaches this shy, stuttering child to trust love and to trust life. That, just even talking about it, makes we tear up already,” Nielsen says.

“By the time I got to page 30 of the script I was calling my agent and saying I’ll do it, I don’t care how it ends! My reaction to the piece was that strong.”

Bonding with Tomas on remote Corrie Island, Maire shares the joys of her home and introduces him to its whimsical local folklore, including the secret of the seals, and she teaches him that everything you need is inside of you, if you really look.

It’s a lesson that’s initially lost on Maire’s stern husband, who disapproves of everything about Tomas and makes no secret of the fact. He refuses to hide his disappointment that Tomas isn’t the kind of boy he was hoping for, and his reluctance to get to know him makes Tomas unsure of whether he really belongs.

“Aidan’s character is not at all in touch with his own feelings,” says Nielsen. “He’s all man and he can’t cope with a challenge to his view of the world. This child makes him uneasy. When his wife brings this kid into the house he finds it very hard to accept him.”

For Nielsen, part of the joy of the experience was the location in which the film was shot.

“I love the Irish and I loved sounding like one too. I threw myself into that accent with complete abandon,” she says.

“My family couldn’t wait until I wrapped the movie because they had to listen to it for months. But it was a very lovely example of cultures getting together to make this film.”

For the most part "A Shine of Rainbows" progresses at a slow and thoughtful pace, like the life on the island itself. And director Sarin fills the islander’s days with the kind of period detail that makes the film much more than a typical Irish yarn. There’s an art house feel to the whole enterprise that makes it much more than the saccharine fest you might anticipate.

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