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| Poster artwork for the supernatural romantic drama film The Eclipse. |
Apparition
Admonition by Linh
For fans of the Twilight
saga films and books, this is not the third book in the series about teenage
vampires and werewolves. The Eclipse
takes its name from the fictional book in the film, written by
supernatural-fantasy author Lena Morelle who is a special guest at the annual
Cobh Literary Festival. Lena meets Michael Farr who has signed up as a
volunteer at the festival and soon they become drawn to each other through
sharing supernatural experiences. Another author attending the event to promote
his latest book is Nicholas Holden, who is escaping from his wife, Susan, and
vying for Lena’s affections, but has ghosts of his own to battle. The three
come together in one night to deal with the built-up tension fuelled by
jealousy, confusion and fear.
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SIGHTING
SPIRITS: Michael (Ciarán Hinds) shares a supernatural experience
with Lena (Iben Hjejle) in the film The Eclipse. Image: Magnolia Pictures.
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The
Eclipse is beautifully filmed amidst the luscious greenery of
Cobh in Ireland and its heritage stone abbeys provide a scenic backdrop in the
film. The sense of gloominess in darkened alleyways and streets reflect the
mood of the main character, Michael Farr, whose wife passed away, leaving him
with two young children to raise and a bitter father-in-law stuck in a nursing
home.
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SMOOTH
STORYTELLERS: Nicholas (Aidan Quinn) is desperately keen
on Lena (Iben Hjejle) in the film The
Eclipse. Image: Magnolia Pictures.
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Director Conor McPherson collaborates with Irish
playwright Billy Roche in adapting Roche’s stories from his book and stage plays,
Tales From Rainwater Pond, to create
a brilliantly intimate, funny and atmospheric screenplay. The cast give
beautiful performances to breathe life into an Irish story of present human pain
haunted by ghosts of the past.
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SPOOKY
SPOT: Michael (Ciarán Hinds) and Lena (Iben Hjejle) head towards
the cemetery in the film The Eclipse.
Image: Magnolia Pictures.
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Ciarán Hinds provides a strong yet vulnerable performance
as single father and former writer, Michael Farr, whose nightmares become
reality as apparitions of the dead appear at random times during his waking
hours. Hinds is believable as the terrified Michael, who struggles to
understand his situation and seeks advice from supernatural-fantasy author
Lena.
Iben Hjejle is fabulous as the beautiful author Lena
Morelle whose popular books on supernatural encounters leads to an invitation
as a special guest at the Cobh Literary Festival. Aidan Quinn’s obsessive and
fierce portrayal of author Nicholas Holden is wonderfully charming and he is
awfully convincing as a drunkard.
Cinematographer Ivan McCullough makes use of Cobh’s
understated beauty in contrasting the daylight scenes with the foreboding night
time shots, capturing the shadows and light in a synchronised style. One
notable scene features a close up headshot of Lena and Michael in the
foreground as silhouettes, while the background is intensely bright.
The
Eclipse is a touching but sometimes scary film with some
heart-stopping frights appearing in between the quiet scenes when least
expected. The manifestations of ghosts that grab, scratch and embrace Michael
provide the necessary shocks to entice the audience to stay and share Michael’s
spooky experience through to the end.
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AGITATED
AUTHOR: Lena (Iben Hjejle) fobs off Nicholas on her mobile phone
while she enjoys the seaside views with Michael (Ciarán Hinds) in the film The Eclipse. Image: Magnolia Pictures.
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Director:
Conor McPherson
Writers: Conor
McPherson (screenplay), Billy Roche (author of book)
Cast:
Ciarán Hinds, Iben Hjejle, Aidan Quinn, Jim Norton, Hannah Lynch, Hilary
O'Shaughnessy, Eanna Hardwicke, Dorothy Cotter, Billy Roche
Producers:
Rebecca O’Flanagan , Cathleen Dore, Robert Walpole, Donal Gerathy, Paddy
McDonald
Cinematographer:
Ivan McCullough
Original
Music Composer: Fionnuala Ni Chiosan
Film
Editor: Emer Reynolds
Production
Designer: Mark Geraghty
Costume
Designer: Consolata Boyle
Running
Time: 1 hour and 35 minutes.
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