THE ECLIPSE
Any film with writers as their subject will be intriguing, especially if it’s set in a very Gothic, coastal Irish town. Writers make great subjects for psychological thrillers or, in this case, ghost stories, because we’re so used to making things up that we have to spend too much time inside of our own heads. Many of us veer between our less than satisfying realities (low pay, lack of respect and recognition) and outrageous fantasy worlds, sometimes glorious, sometimes horrifying.
In this film the central writer is Michael Farr (Ciaran Hinds), except he doesn’t fancy himself a writer at all. Rather he teaches and then ferries real writers around during the annual writer’s conference in his seaside town. Michael’s wife has recently died, leaving him to care for their two children, as well as, his aged father-in-law who lives in a nursing home. Michael is particularly eager to talk to one of the visiting writers, Lena Morelle (Iben Hjejle) because she in an expert on ghost stories, and lately he has been seeing his wife, as well as other strange things. Unfortunately, a famous and famously egocentric American novelist Nicholas Holden (Aidan Quinn) insists on getting in the way, having decided he is in love with Lena after one encounter during a previous conference.
Hinds with his oddly craggy face and graceful demeanor is a study in contrasts. Here he is gentle and seemingly confused by all of his terrifying visions. He’s a man on the edge of something, but so internal, that we don’t know what. He’s also the kind who manages others’ egos, the kind of person who doesn’t generally get noticed, who hides himself on purpose. It’s a complex characterization and thankfully one that’s in the hands of someone who is as skilled as Hinds. Aidan Quinn, on the other hand, gets to play a jerk, which given, his very very sweet face he hasn’t had the opportunity to do very often. His character is a bit of a straw man stereotype but he serves his purpose well.
Ultimately the film is a love story with a touch of the ghostly. The ghosts don’t speak to their hauntees they hover and observe. Intriguing is what best describes this small tale of nightmares, nightmare writers and the possibilities that wait for us beyond grief.
The Eclipse is now in theaters.
Directed by Conor McPherson; written by Conor McPherson and Billy Roche, based on “Tales from Rainwater Pond” by Billy Roche; produced by Robert Walpole; Director of Photography, Ivan McCollough; edited by Emer Reynolds; music by Fionnula Ni Chiosáin.
With: Ciarán Hinds (Michael Farr); Aidan Quinn (Nicholas Holden); Iben Hjejle (Lena Morelle); Jim Norton (Malachy McNeill); Eanna Hardwick (Thomas Farr); and Hannah Lynch (Sarah Farr).
