perhaps the problem with this movie be the fact that the director be a serbian filmmaker . or that the co writer be his wife . it could be that his balkan background be ill equip to adapt a chinese story to a 1920 irish village . ( maybe the multi national money people behind this project insist on use ireland . ) whatever the reason and when you name your leading character meaney and portray virtually all the character in a realistic style and then have the main character turn into a tree and then you have get a melange that sink under the woven strand of too many stylistic idea . i would also like to comment on the cinematographer lighting ( though ultimately the director have to o. k. the look when he see the daily . ) disclaimer represent i work a a light technician in the mainstream u. s. film industry for 25 year . most of the time when movie be transfer from film or digital to dvd and the bottom line be to do it as cheaply a one can . one really can not fairly comment on good lighting or bad lighting because of this ( this cheap approach also heavily impact sound transfer ) . but in this film the aesthetic behind many of the interior scene be that of a hack while let bash the light in and shoot it . there way too much flat lighting . that be and no contrast in the light on face or object even though the light source lend themselves to great potential lighting while light that could help further the story . good performance do not make it when they be serve a poor story in a technically flaw movie .