Set in Cobh County Cork, an Irish seaside town full of gothic imagery, Michael Farr (Ciarán Hinds) is a widower raising two children while trying to deal with terrifying apparitions. At the local literary festival, where he volunteers annually, Michael meets an author of a book on ghosts, Lena Morelle (Iben Hjejle). He is drawn to both her gentle honesty and expertise on the paranormal. Between Lena, her jealous past lover (Aidan Quinn), and personal grief, Michael is offered an opportunity to confront and reckon with his “ghosts.”
Directed and co-written by Conor McPherson, “The Eclipse” (an Irish Film Board/Radio Telefis Eireann/Broadcasting Commission of Ireland presentation of a Treasure Entertainment production) was based on a short story from “Tales From Rainwater Pond” written by his friend, playwright Billy Roche. It became a writing collaboration, which took three years to develop. As the characters become fully realized “with an unusually rich range of character detail that good actors could really get stuck into” McPherson felt “it could cross genres—it’s a ghost story and a love story.”
Far from his home in Ireland, I had the pleasure of talking by phone with Conor McPherson, while he was in NYC. Even during yet another winter storm, the very warm and affable director explains his rather numinous inspiration for his new film.
“I am hugely interested in the supernatural; I am drawn to it and passionate about it,” says McPherson.
“I see life as a supernatural experience. We are all in a universe that is infinite— What does that mean,” muses McPherson.
The soft-spoken filmmaker continues by expounding on time and the theory of relativity, to illustrate the complex, dynamic, and unfathomable nature of this vast cosmos and our precarious existence within it.
“As a being aware of that, what does it mean,” he repeats, acknowledging that in this multi dimensional world, “We know so little.”
Directed and co-written by Conor McPherson, “The Eclipse” (an Irish Film Board/Radio Telefis Eireann/Broadcasting Commission of Ireland presentation of a Treasure Entertainment production) was based on a short story from “Tales From Rainwater Pond” written by his friend, playwright Billy Roche. It became a writing collaboration, which took three years to develop. As the characters become fully realized “with an unusually rich range of character detail that good actors could really get stuck into” McPherson felt “it could cross genres—it’s a ghost story and a love story.”
Far from his home in Ireland, I had the pleasure of talking by phone with Conor McPherson, while he was in NYC. Even during yet another winter storm, the very warm and affable director explains his rather numinous inspiration for his new film.
“I am hugely interested in the supernatural; I am drawn to it and passionate about it,” says McPherson.
“I see life as a supernatural experience. We are all in a universe that is infinite— What does that mean,” muses McPherson.
The soft-spoken filmmaker continues by expounding on time and the theory of relativity, to illustrate the complex, dynamic, and unfathomable nature of this vast cosmos and our precarious existence within it.
“As a being aware of that, what does it mean,” he repeats, acknowledging that in this multi dimensional world, “We know so little.”
The Award-winning screenwriter and three-time Tony nominated playwright sums up the subject of his work and the impetus that drives it, “It expresses my sense of wonderment, bewilderment, and fascination.”
I asked McPherson if he had personally experienced supernatural phenomenon.
“Because I am a writer,” he answered, “I do think about this anyway—the mystery we live in. It’s a huge mystery. I am totally on my knees before that.
“I try to spend my life contemplating that,” concluded the sentient filmmaker, with perhaps the heart of a mystic. “You hope in some way it will make you a better person.”
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