As an Eilean

I caught this on BBC iPlayer and spent a reflective 1 hour 35 in its spell. The Gaelic is poetic to the untrained ear, the location haunting, and the storylines engaging. It echoes something of Gregory's Girl and foreshadows the dilemmas of Brooklyn. Look carefully at 47 minutes and you'll catch the masterpiece The Battle of Algiers with a clever comment on colonialism and cultural imperialism. To paraphrase one of the characters, "Concentrate on the film, it's good". Rich and rewarding.

This film won't be for everyone, it is very slow and exactly what you might expect the going-ons in a remote Scottish village to be. Nevertheless, there is something unique and incredibly thoughtful in this film, and the dynamics between characters are demonstrated elegantly in practically every shot, which is what held my attention above the plot lines themselves. Within the plot, there are several character threads which provide an interesting premise. Overall, I have been moved by this quiet film that I stumbled upon by chance, and believe it deserves more praise than the meagre recognition it seems to have received - at least online. The acting is solid, and this was the first Gaelic film I have watched, though I don't think it will be the last.

As an Eilean is a creative blend of two stories, one a novel about an island loner and the other a short story about a young man's coming of age. It is a quiet, thoughtful Scottish film worthy of a look. For the first-ever feature-length film in Scottish Gaelic one must not be too harsh. My greatest problem with it was the quality of the sound production; the actors' voices were occasionally muffled and difficult to hear. Someone said that we all have a story to tell and that it is essential for us all to tell these our own stories and not cling to another culture's. As an Eilean was written by a Gael and is set in the Highlands among Gaelic-speaking people. So many of our stories are told for us through the medium of "American" or world pop culture, which really belongs to no one. This is an exception.

I think this could be the best british film ever made.I have a rag bag copy of it on vhs and periodically watch it.The accentuation and acting in general are superb, even ian mcleod's english accent cannot be heard! The story in some respects has its yarns [fort apache-the weirdo] but they are slotted into the whole film in a non patronising fashion. My only criticism really is the obvious non-gaels in the movie, whose pronunciation slips at times. A truly great british film - right up there with whiskey galore.

slan agut!