The Eclipse

"The Eclipse" is a surreal walk in the shoes of a few Irish villagers. Some have criticized this piece for being somewhat disjointed and confusing. I must heartily disagree! It is simply a limited time in life of a few very interesting people in Ireland at a Literary Conference and how those lives rode a little rougher when disturbed by the supernatural.

For those who have forfeited pieces of your heart a bloody chunk at a time after losing someone dear, this movie will inspire. Our psyche, often in partnership with our dreams, can work through some regret, pain, loss, guilt and loneliness by gifting us very real visions in which we touch or hug that loved one, possibly even sharing meaningful words with them. In 2006 my sister died in a fire. On and off, for a few years, I experienced the sound of her calling my name in the night shortly after I fell asleep. This happened several times, waking me, bringing me to actually look for her. In fact, many years before that, I had the opportunity to be with and hold my infant daughter, who died of SIDS when she was 5 months. I held her preciousness in my arms and played with her several times over a matter of years. This always seemed to occur in the twilight of my sleep. At first, I experienced the loss of her, magnified when I awoke, knowing it was a dream; after a couple of years, I unexpectedly became grateful for the privilege to spend that time with her. Since my loss, I have talked with so many people who have experienced similar incidents. I can almost imagine these phenomena taking themselves just a step further. Can't you?

The enigmatic Ciaran Hinds has held my attention since I first noticed him in Jane Austen's "Persuasion". He seemed an unlikely, oafish sort for the part. I was wrong. The man, as I have witnessed since, is a great character actor and quite a strong, yet vulnerable, lead.

The music was beautiful and apropos, the subject matter intriguing, the acting well done and as a note of interest, the writer, Billy Roche, was the host of the literary event. While he was just short of invisible, he managed to create some comic relief. This was an eccentrically mysterious movie you will either love or not. It IS definitely worth the time to give it a try.

I saw a sneak preview of The Eclipse in Boston and loved it, as did the enthusiastic audience judging by their laughter, gasps of surprise and final, sustained, applause.

The cast were excellent and the ensemble playing was uniformly real. Ciaran Hinds (There Will be Blood, Munich and Miami Vice) was at his best and I understood why he deserved the Best Actor award he won at the last Tribeca Film Festival.

Aidan Quinn (Bury my Heart at Wounded Knee, Songcatcher and Empire Falls) was brilliantly playing against type and succeeded in being funny, vain and creepy at the same time. Aidan won the Best supporting Actor at the IFTAs this year.

Iben Hjejle, who was in Defiance,is beautiful and very striking; a welcome fresh face to English Cinema. She more than holds her own among seasoned professionals. I look forward to seeing her films.

The excellent script, by Conor and Billy Roche, took the best screenplay award at the IFTAs.

The Film opens very soon and I urge everyone to see it.

The acting in this movie is top notch and for that reason alone I stayed with this movie to the end. However, there are two main problems with this movie that made it a problem. One is that there isn't much plot. The other thing is the musical score. First, the plot (or lack thereof): The movie is described as a "supernatural thriller." This is not accurate. It is a drama about grief. There are several jump scares thrown in, but it's so tenuously tied to the plot that the movie would have been better without them. Now, the infernal musical score. Good heavens, the score is so irritating. It's so irritating that I'm commenting on it. I never comment on the musical scores of movies. The movie is littered with boy's choir music. Oh yes, of course, because there are cathedrals in the town. Good grief. I kept expecting for there to be a scene taking place IN one of the cathedrals b/c the score would lead one to believe that. But there aren't any scenes in any of the cathedrals. The other irritating thing about the score is the piano music that is employed during dramatic buildup. The same note is played over and over and over again. So annoying. The actors really are superb though. I would love to see them in some better material.

I recently saw this at the 2010 Palm Springs International Film Festival. The story is loosely based on a short story by Billy Roche from his short story collection 'Tales from Rainwater Pond' and adapted for the screen by playwright/writer/director Conor McPherson. Set in Cobh County, Ireland, they are holding an annual literary festival and widowed father of two, Michael Far (Ciarán Hines) as a volunteer, has been assigned to drive several prominent novelists coming to the festival including reluctant attendee, supernatural novelist Lena Morelle (Iben Hjejle) and an even more reluctant attendee in Nicholas Holden (Aiden Quinn). The married Holden and the single Morelle have had a romantic affair in the past. Holden and Far start off on the wrong foot while Morelle has an attraction to Far. Far's father-in-law is dying and Far has been seeing ghosts of those who are dead and those who are not yet dead. Nicely photographed by Ivan Reynolds there are a lot of interesting elements going on here but the story never seems to find itself on film. There are dramatic moments and some light subtle comedy but also some classic horror movie devices that seem out of place with the mood of the film. It almost ventures into being a psychological thriller and then pulls back. Quinn is a great actor but he's too over the top in this role. Hinds and Hjejle are in turn great but there is little on screen chemistry between them. There are many lose ends here that leave the audience scratching their heads and I don't think this film ever really finds its audience. I would give this a 6.0 out of 10.

I never post movie reviews or blog about movies, but since I've been seeing so much hate on this website towards a really good film...I figure I'll give it a shot.

I saw this film at last year's Tribeca Film Festival, and it was, by far, the best movie at the whole festival. Before going in, all I knew was that The Eclipse was written and directed by playwright Conor McPherson. Not only does this film showcase McPherson's film-making talent, but it is also character actor Ciaran Hinds' first leading role--who ended up winning the Best Actor Award at the end of the TFF.

The film is a love story, a tragedy, and a little bit of a thriller. It blends all of these elements not only flawlessly, but effectively! You never know what to expect as each new scene unfolds, and as a result, every time you try to trust your sensibility towards cinema, the film does a 180º and we are suddenly in the middle of a horror film. If that's not engaging cinema, i don't know what is!

While I admit the "widowed father" set up is a bit tired, the film is so much better than that, and you sort of forget about that element once the film begins to move (unlike, The Boys Are Back).

Finally, with all of the elements considered, the film is a mere 88 minutes long. McPherson is able to mess with our sensibilities, throw in story elements from left and right, create fleshed out characters, and do it all within a small running time--the work of a true craftsman.

Ultimately, The Eclipse is a film that is not to be missed. Magnolia took their sweet time releasing this little gem, and I'm so happy to finally see it in limited release and OnDemand. I wish it would get the bigger treatment that it deserves, but if you can find it, by all means see it.