The Eclipse (2010)
Starring Ciarán Hinds, Iben Hjejle, and Aidan Quinn
Directed by Conor McPherson
(An early review -- this flick hits Philly theaters April 9)
The Eclipse is a well-made film that doesn't quite know what kind of movie it wants to be.
Does it want to be a depressing drama detailing Irishman Michael Farr's (Hinds) life after his wife has just passed away? A peek at a man as he tries to be the best father he can to his teenage daughter and tween son?
Or is it trying to be a romance concerning a somewhat haughty horror novelist named Nicholas (Quinn) and his attempts to rekindle a relationship with fellow writer Lena as they meet up at an Irish town's famous book festival?
Or is trying to be a straight-up horror movie? In the midst of the two melancholy tales above, there are genuine jump-out-of-your-seat moments...I did it twice and I'm not so easy to be startled in films.
The reason for that jumpiness, though, is because the film doesn't know what it wants to be. There's nothing in the film that sets it up as a horror flick. Yes, Lena is an author that specializes in "the beyond" and she meets up with Michael and they begin to discuss his dead wife whom he believes he has seen walking around his home. That's the extent of the "supernatural" nature of the film. Then, out of the blue, come these genuine scares.
Part of me wants to give writer-director Conor McPherson credit for that. He takes this simple, rather elegant, film and throws in the gothic plot elements. I mean, it succeeded, right, since it made me jump? The other part of me says that he could have just made this really beautiful film about some aspect of "the afterlife" and left it at that. I'm not sure which I would have preferred if I'm being honest, but something about the juxtapositions of tone just didn't sit right with me.
All that being said, The Eclipse is not a bad film by any means. It's beautifully shot and Ciarán Hinds is pretty darn good as the grieving husband. It's just a tad unfortunate that I couldn't get completely onboard with the director's odd vision in terms of the film's varying moods.
The RyMickey Rating: B-
Only thing I have to contribute to something about this:
ReplyDeleteI adore Iben Hjejle. She was in High Fidelity.
I was recognizing her from somewhere while I was watching it, imdb'd her at the end, and that's pretty much the only widely known English movie she's been in.
ReplyDelete