by Maria Lianos
Looking for a meaningful, heart-warming movie to watch with your kids?
Take them to see “A Shine of Rainbows”, a beautifully filmed and inspiring story of an orphan boy whose life changes when he meets Maire, played by Connie Nielsen.
“It will make them very grateful,” says Nielsen. “It will also make them want to see this wonderful world of excitement out in nature. People do less and less of that these days. I brought my 11 and 8 year old to see the film and they were moved. I think that anyone watching will have a wonderful experience.”
Newcomer John Bell plays Tomás, a frail, shy eight-year-old boy who has been living a solitary life in a drab orphanage. Then a joyous burst of colour comes into his world: Maire O’Donnell, whose smile and spirit light up the darkest room – and Tomás’s heart. But then Tomas meets Alec, her reticent husband (played by Aidan Quinn) who cannot hide his disappointment with the boy.
When Nielsen read the script, she instantly fell in love with it. “I was crying uncontrollably by the time I had reached Page 16,” said Nielsen. “The story was talking about something I found compelling. I only do movies that I have a reaction to, either politically, emotionally or intellectually. There was something pure about the characters. This is a film that isn’t afraid to think that children are intelligent, sentient, kind beings.”
Set in a small, breath-taking village off the coast of Ireland, A Shine of Rainbows is a story about the transformational power of love, finding acceptance, discovering magic and realizing that rainbows are all around you and within you, too.
I remember watching Connie Neilsen for the first time in Ridley Scott’s Academy Award-winning Gladiator and thought, what a stunning woman. At the time, I also thought how lucky the Danish beauty was to play opposite Russell Crowe. Nielsen has also starred in Basic, One Hour Photo and The Devil’s Advocate.
She is also a mother too – a mother of four, in fact (20, 11, 8, and 3). I asked her how she is able to juggle a demanding Hollywood career with motherhood.
“I only do one film a year for a maximum of two months and my husband and children will come along. I also have the luxury of bringing my three-year-old on set with me,” says Nielsen.
Soon she’ll be shooting another family movie in Africa. Her husband and children will join and while she works, he will take the older children on a safari.
Being quite an expert in parenting four children, I asked Nielsen what advice she would give to a new mother. Her words of wisdom ring true:
“Enjoy the love that is flowing from you, enjoy giving into it.
Stop being too fearful; listen to your own instincts.
Enjoy that big fierce mother in you.
Enjoy the extraordinary.
You cannot spoil a baby. When they cry, it is their only means of communication therefore you must respect that and listen and respond to them.
When you have no more patience or feel overtired, call upon your family members for help.
Make sure you express how you feel.”
A Shine of Rainbows is a film the whole family can enjoy together and walk away from it with valuable lessons. The tone of the film, the acting, the cinematography and the symbolism touched my heart.
A Canadian-Ireland Co-Production, the film first screened at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2009 and stars Aidan Quinn and Connie Nielsen and newcomer John Bell and is directed by Vic Sarin.
A Shine of Rainbows opens across Canada on Friday April 9, 2010.
