Released to coincide with the 60th anniversary of John Ford’s deeply cherished The Quiet Man, Sé Merry Doyle’s engaging and humorous documentary offers timely perspective on the film’s idealised vision of Ireland, the famed director’s personal and political motivations for making it, and the peculiar tourist industry still thriving around Cong, County Mayo, where shooting took place in 1952.

With contributions from a well-chosen mix of film professionals (including Maureen O’Hara and Martin Scorsese), distant Ford relatives and local Quiet Man merchandising enthusiasts, Doyle conveys the immeasurable impact the film has had artistically, commercially and psychologically both on the large and small scale.

Not unlike Les Blank’s 1982 classic Burden of Dreams, John Ford: Dreaming The Quiet Man provokes sober reflection on the nature of filmmaking, particularly on location in foreign and under-developed environments, but also on the figure of the director, especially one as formidable as Ford, who can so effectively evoke a fantasy as to leave an indelible mark on reality.  (Notes by Alice Butler.)