Big Picture Big Sound

A Very Full Eclipse

Irish playwright Conor McPherson has written and directed a very unusual film that is part horror, part psychological study, and partly a view of relationships both romantic and familial. Venturing across genres is a minefield and the results are often uneven and rudderless. It's a tribute to McPherson that he can steer this ship so well. He has a lot of solid help from his able cast, but nobody more than Ivan McCullogh, in charge of cinematography, who often drapes scenes in beautiful and moody silhouettes.

Michael Farr (Ciaran Hinds) is a father of two - one is 14, the other 10. Two years earlier, he became a widow when his wife succumbed to cancer. He shows the strains one would expect and the determination required to go on. Michael teaches woodworking in the Irish coastal city of Cobh and also serves as a driver to writers that come to town for a yearly festival.

This year, his assigned passenger is Lena Morelle (Iben Hjejle), a noted writer of ghost stories, in town to accept an award and to read from her latest book. Michael has been suffering from seeing what may or may not be ghosts of his wife and elderly father-in-law, who lives nearby in a nursing home. He doesn't reveal this information to Lena because he is an extremely private person.

Lena has her own issues. Nicholas Holden (Aidan Quinn), an obnoxious, alcoholic writer, who is her ex-lover, is also in town and, as much as she doesn't like him, she has trouble resisting his advances. Michael watches from a distance and he wants to help because of his own feelings for her, which are a blend of romantic and protective. As everything unfolds, all of the characters see themselves and their surroundings more clearly

"The Eclipse" makes us care while sometimes scaring us and at other times making us wonder where we are headed. The photography and music are perfectly complementary and, aside from some extremely minor quibbles, I'm at a loss as to what might be done to improve upon this very full eclipse.