These days the only fairy tales being told come occasionally from Ireland, so it’s refreshing to see something out of Scotland for a change. Shot entirely in Mull, Argyll, and Bute, Scotland, “Island” stands up to Irish tales like “Out of The West” and even the Finnish movie, “Selkie”.
Based upon the novel by Jane Rogers, “Island” is the tale of a child who spent her life trying to find her real mother. On an adventure that reminds her of a fairytale, she sets out to either comfort or kill the woman who abandoned her. Natalie Press plays the girl, now grown and full of heartache and revenge. She’s not the best actress for the part, unfortunately. There is something bland and wooden about her acting that only changes when she’s angry. In quiet moments she portrays almost no emotion but a blank stare. Her moments of profound revelation are met with the same sullen frown.
Colin Morgan and Janet McTeer were perfectly cast, seeming like selkies (seal people) who have sprung up from the ocean, living life so remotely that they hardly notice the real world. McTeer is impressive in her black hair and shawl, playing the mother who constantly worries after her fantasizing son played by Morgan. Her experience with classical novels seems to drip over the walls of this new-world novel, dragging it back into the Victorian era.
Morgan plays the fairy-obsessed son, Calum, with a brogue that we’re not used to hearing. His portrayal of Merlin in the television series never allowed him to fully show off his linguistic talents. In “Island”, however, his brogue is thick and flavorful, and his capacity for seeming otherworldly once again appeared in full-force.
The Scottish highlands give much to this mysterious fairytale, lending their sorrowful sounds of wind and rain, fog, and dappled sunlight on the water to “Island”. The shores are as impressive as the forest, and lend an air of age as well as atmosphere that sometimes overwhelms the acting going on in its midst.
For those who don’t mind a somber fairytale, Island can fulfill those moments of otherworldly mystery that myth-seekers often look for.