The Eclipse (2009)

In a seaside Irish town, a widower sparks with a visiting horror novelist while he also begins to believe he is seeing ghosts.

Director:

Conor McPherson

Writers:

Conor McPherson (screenplay), Billy Roche (story)

Stars:

Billy Roche, Ciarán Hinds, Aidan Quinn

5 wins & 9 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Billy Roche	...	Jim Belton
Eanna Hardwicke	...	Thomas Farr
Hannah Lynch	...	Sarah Farr
Ciarán Hinds	...	Michael Farr
Mac	...	Ringo the Dog
Avian Egan	...	Eleanor Farr
Aidan Quinn	...	Nicholas Holden
Hilary O'Shaughnessy	...	TV Interviewer
Jim Norton	...	Malachy
Nuala Casey De Backer	...	Festival Organiser
Sarah Murphy	...	Festival Volunteer
Iben Hjejle	...	Lena Morrell
Mia Quinn	...	Ghost Girl
Declan Nash	...	Man in Hotel Bar
Valerie Spelman	...	Jenny Sewell

Storyline

In a seaside Irish town, a widower sparks with a visiting horror novelist while he also begins to believe he is seeing ghosts.

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Plot Keywords:

irish | widower | ghost | novelist | fistfight | 

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Taglines:

If there is life after death - love lives on

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Genres:

Drama | Horror | Romance

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for language and some disturbing images

Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

Ireland

Language:

English

Release Date:

15 April 2010 (Australia)

Also Known As:

Oliki ekleipsi

Filming Locations:

Cobh, County Cork, Ireland

Box Office

Opening Weekend:

$13,207 (USA) (26 March 2010)

Gross:

$128,937 (USA) (11 June 2010)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Treasure Entertainment, Radio Telefís Éireann (RTÉ), Broadcasting Commission of Ireland

Technical Specs

Runtime:

88 min 86 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

User Reviews

Big subject, slight treatment

The Eclipse has lots of good things about it, but in the end, the pieces don't hold together. Part of the problem is the editing and writing. There are many long shots - beautiful - with the most peculiar music playing, a mixture of bad Benjamin Britten and Philip Glass, and it goes on and on, setting a vague, angsty, weird mood. The story is a wisp, and the writing, while good, doesn't fill the film. The interior sets as well as the gorgeous Irish country side are beautiful, but some scenes are so badly shot that you can hardly see what's going on.

I kept watching because - besides expecting a payoff - the acting and characters are appealing. Hinds is great - he holds a lot in, myriad emotions flicker across his face, he clearly has a large interior life. The female lead grew on me, although her character is odd and prickly. Quinn, fabulously good, plays a character who's just a plot device to get the others in the right places, but he's so vivid, full-realized, pathetic and despicable at the same time, that the plot should have served him better. When the three leads get together, the film changes, and it's charged, strong, unpredictable, real, surprising.

We care about the emotional subject - unresolved grief, the spiritually or psychologically open states we can find out selves in, and how to move on and in to our lives. But it's as if half the film got left on the editing floor - the half with more acting and less music. It's like there are holes in the movie, filled with music. I know there was more there, but we can't see it. Worth checking out anyway for the acting.