Puffball (2007)

User Rating:

4.4/10   

Director:

Nicolas Roeg

Writers:

Dan Weldon (written by)
Fay Weldon (novel)

Release Date:

28 October 2007 (Canada)

Genre:

Drama | Fantasy | Mystery | Thriller

Plot:

Powerful supernatural forces are unleashed when a young architect (Kelly Reilly) becomes pregnant after...

Plot Keywords:

Female Nudity | Male Rear Nudity | Daughter | Male Nudity | Witchcraft

Cast

Kelly Reilly	...	Liffey
Miranda Richardson	...	Mabs Tucker
Rita Tushingham	...	Molly
Oscar Pearce	...	Richard
William Houston	...	Tucker
Donald Sutherland	...	Lars
Leona Igoe	...	Audrey
Tina Kellegher	...	Carol
Pat Deery	...	Dr.Holmes
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Caoimhe Gilsenan	...	Becky
Laoise Gilsenan	...	Juliet
Elaine Gormley	...	Nurse
Julie Kinsella	...	Radiologist
Suzanne McAuley	...	Radiologist
Caoimhe McErlean	...	Nurse
Diane Montgomery	...	Young Molly
Brendan Quigley	...	Cottage Buying Couple
Declan Reynolds	...	Estate Agent
Cheryl Rock	...	Cottage Buying Couple
Dan Weldon	...	Molly's Husband (as Ron Daniels)

Also Known As:

Puffball: The Devil's Eyeball (USA)

MPAA:

Rated R for strong sexual content, language and some violent/bloody images.

Runtime:

120 min

Country:

UK | Ireland | Canada

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Canada:16+ (Quebec) | UK:18 | Canada:18A (Ontario) | Ireland:18 | USA:R | Germany:16

Filming Locations:

County Armagh, Northern Ireland, UK

Company:

Amérique Film

Trivia:

Samantha Morton was originally cast as Liffey.

A passable cover of an excellent book

I watched Puffball last night, as a huge Fay Weldon fan who read the book quite a few years ago. I was surprised to discover it was a 2007 film, as the subject matter, and the atmosphere of the pic, would have suggested something many years older.

Still, I thought it was quite faithful to the intent of the book, and is, despite some comments, very much a women's film. It deals with elemental forces, and the complexity of women's nature and women's power. The men are little more than sperm donors, penile life support systems to be acted on by women's emotions and a separate women's nature, almost echoing, (or prefiguring, more likely) some of Jane Campion's observations in The Piano, among others.

This has always been the heart of Fay Weldon's work, a poke in the eye of naivité, of the "Eyes Wide Shut" variety, about the nature of women. The film doesn't really add to this narrative, but it doesn't diminish it either, which is saying something for a film adaptation of a novel, made by an auteur to boot.