Thursday 31 March 2016

Iona - film review


I love Iona. I have spent many happy weeks there, enjoying the ambience of the ancient abbey, the beautiful sandy beaches and the amazing turquoise sea. It is a special place. I was excited to see the new Scottish film that was named after the island, had a woman called Iona as the central character and was filmed on location on the island.
What a great disappointment. The landscapes were as stunning as ever and I recognised the rocks and bays however....
The plot was poor, the acting wooden in parts and the arty photography dwelt overbearingly long over each scene. The story supposedly portrayed Christian people on the Christian island but it was a superficial parody of faith. And as for reality - I've never seen a poly tunnel strawberry farm on Iona and why didn't they call the air ambulance when one of the main characters collapsed! I can't imaging a situation where folks just stand around the moaning body and wait passively for death!
There was hardly any dialogue - long silent meals with the sound of scraping of forks and why did they eat so many eggs!  Ninety minutes of melancholic, taciturn brooding. Perhaps I should have noticed the strapline of 'Home is where the hurt is' and taken note.  This is a film I definitely don't want to see again.

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