Lena Morelle (Iben Hjejle) and Michael Farr (Ciarán Hinds) battle their pasts in THE ECLIPSE
THE ECLIPSE (Conor McPherson, 2009)
Angelika New York
18 West Houston St. at Mercer St.
Opens Friday, March 26
212-995-2000
www.angelikafilmcenter.com
www.magpictures.com
Adapted from Billy Roche’s short-story collection TALES FROM RAINWATER POND, Conor McPherson’s THE ECLIPSE is a gracefully told love story / ghost story, a romantic melodrama with surprising, horrific jump-out-of-your-seat elements. Ciarán Hinds, who was named Best Actor at the 2009 Tribeca Film Festival for his complex performance, stars as Michael Farr, a recent widower with two small children living in the seaside town of Cobh in County Cork. Michael, a high school shop teacher, volunteers for the annual Cobh Literary Festival, serving as a driver for such special guests as bestselling authors Nicholas Holden (Aidan Quinn) and Lena Morelle (Iben Hjejle). While Nick, a nasty, bombastic blowhard, tries to rekindle a previous brief fling with Lena, Michael thinks she might be able to help him explain the nightmare visions he’s been experiencing involving his aging father-in-law (Jim Norton). Dublin-born McPherson, who has written such Broadway plays as SHINING CITY and THE SEAFARER and written and directed such films as SALTWATER and THE ACTORS, has crafted a nearly perfect movie, a slice of life that is captivating from start to finish, with beautiful cinematography by Ivan McCollough and a moving score by Fionnuala Ní Chiosáin (with McPherson contributing guitar, bass, and drums). Hinds and Hjejle are both gentle and electrifying together as two lonely people desperately trying to get on with their lives. THE ECLIPSE is a special, magical movie that should not be missed.