Customer Reviews

Nora

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

James Joyce (Ewan McGregor) finds his spiritual and sexual equal and partner in life in Nora Barnacle (Susan Lynch) when a young man in Dublin. Although he is a university student and she a maid at the local hotel, the two become lovers against the advise of Joyce's friends who lust after Nora themselves. Joyce convinces Nora to join him in Italy where he has a teaching position. The two begin their lives together living beyond their means, dressing fashionably, and fighting while raising children. Nora is anything but a quiet professor's wife, she is the life force that motivates him. Joyce, one of the major literary geniuses of the 20th century is revealed through the film that explores the volatile relationship between the couple. Susan Lynch won the Best Actress award at the Dublin Film Festival for her performance as the earthy muse whose presence was as much a torture to Joyce as inspiration. Ewan McGregor, in his first adult leading man role, proves he has matured as an actor of solid talent and sensitivity in his role as the jealous, insecure, yet brilliant writer. Shot on location in Ireland and Italy, Nora is a small independent film produced by McGregor's company, Natural Nylon, and likely to be overlooked by most audiences. However, if solid acting, adult story lines. and turn-of-the-century costume biopics are your cup of tea, this video is worth the price of purchase.

The story intriqued me. However, not knowing much about James Joyce, I was confused at what all the hub-bub was.

To me this was a story of a very troubled couple. The man James Joyce a soon to be famous writer in his earlier years, horribly insecure. The woman Nora Barnacle, a willful sexually risky young woman of her time, with a troubled past. They meet on the street and not being of the same "class" initially the relationship is very uneven. Soon however, they run off to Italy to escape not only both their pasts, but the puritanical restricts of Irish society of the day.

As their relationship is fierce, so is its ups and downs. They have children and James Joyce being a struggling writer takes much of his failures to heart and drowns them in the bottle. Needless to say this does not improve things. They are often forced to rely on family for support.

A bigger twist is placed in the relationship when James is forced to go back to Dublin for financial reasons to support the family. The already insecure man, is rattled by his friends attempt to meddle with his relationship with the former maid, now the mother of his two children. Once they make up they find a peculiar way of mitigating their distance, by writing torrid letters to one another. These letters apparently now part of James Joyce's writing.

Soon however, when James returns to Italy, he riles things up locally and Nora leaves him to return to Ireland.

The story continues.

I found this hard to understand at times, you never really have a clue who James Joyce is from the movie. I guess it is assumed you know. I don't. What triggers the initial attraction is also unexplained. Also surprising is the forwardness of Nora, so early in a budding relationship. Much is left very open. You don't see why Nora puts up with James, he is very cold to her and often very obnoxious. It seems more a sexual obsession for both. Needless to say, both come across as very self-centered and immature throughout the whole of the movie.

I gave it 3 stars because I felt things were not tied up well. The acting was well done, but the screenplay was lacking.

It was the 21 of December and I was busy into baking and wrapping but wanted something wonderful to watch on TV while I was buzzing around my house. On the Sundance Channel I found NORA and ended up sitting down and watching the entire movie...it was spellbinding. I did not know much about Joyce before this movie but it certainly makes you want to search for info on his life...Pat Murphy directing was flawless and the actors so suited to the roles. The photography was incredible. Wonderful movie - make sure you watch it.

Believe the title of the film, this movie is about Nora, her motivations and her love for Joyce, despite his sometimes baffling and erratic behavior. Ewan McGregor is excellent as always, delivering an understated performance and giving his co-star the chance to shine. Not that she exactly needs it, Susan Lynch, as Nora, is electrifying. From the moment the two meet on a city street, we can see the two characters drawn to each other, at times, quite against their will.
Joyce's jealousy and obsessiveness is the underlying theme to this film. It brings them together as much as it pushes them apart as he imagines Nora either cheating on him, or her previous sexual life with her first love. But, throughout it all, despite his wild imaginings, the love the two feel for each other is palpable.This is a couple who, married or not, was one of the greatest love triumphs of literary history.
Nora can be watched just as a love story, but may, hopefully, fuel the desire to read Joyce's works. To see for oneself the fruits of his devotion toward Nora, his muse and wife.

I too at first wished to hear more of Joyce's famous comments and phrases ("Ireland, the old sow that eats her farrow"). When he writes "The Dead" I'd hoped to hear the glorious final paragraph about flakes falling into the mutinous Shannon. And so on. But this was a filming of Brenda Maddox's book, not a gathering of Joyce writings. The point of "The Dead" in the film is to light up Joyce's compulsive jealousy of "Gabriel", Nora's first lover, not show how that lover later splintered into Blazes Boylan. The Joyce here begins as the callow Stephen Dedalus figure, then matures into a much weightier character with a genius for honesty who must never avoid the worst in human nature and, indeed, must hold it dear as a source of inspiration--even if he finds it in his wife. Dublin has bleached him white and he must write the gray prose of "Dubliners" to match his feelings, and then the photographically gray prose of "Ulysses". Earlier films had already dramatized Joyce's prose, Joseph Strick's "Ulysses" and John Huston's "The Dead"--so why repeat what had already been done? Furthermore, when Joyce complains that Nora never reads his stories, she cries back, Why should I when I see how you twist my life in them? So Joyce's prose is not part of Nora's mind, not even the lovely end of "The Dead"--so it would be out of place in Nora's universe in this film, as would her reactions to any sublime prose moment. We don't want to see Nora saying what a wonderful writer Jimmy is--although in later life she did enjoy the world's opinion of her husband. I found Ewan McGregor fighting against body type in trying to capture the slender figure of Joyce but that at times he did catch the Joyce silhouette balanced on his cane. McGregor's lighting was splendid, with artful shadows at times molding Joyce's features and even reaching into his head to see Joyce's cold gray torment. Since the film ends before "Dubliners" is even published--or rather with the type being smashed by the printers--there can be no reason for working some of Joyce's later writing or glories into the the script. The focus is on Nora, and Susan Lynch, also working against body type in trying to figure forth a robust Nora, does wonderfully. She may never again have as great a role to play. The film successfully plays Nora's burly richness of feeling against Joyce's complexity and writerly distraction snd I for one loved it. Let me add that as I watched it, alas on tape, I kept thinking "Here is a film that will never earn back its costs--except emotionally for what Stendahl calls 'the happy few.'" As movies go, this is a treasure and I plan to see it again on DVD. Rosettes to Ewan McGregor, who produced as well as starred, and to Susan Lynch for her unwavering flow of feeling that lapped at my heart like a cow's tongue.

Beautifully filmed, this movie brought to mind "Henry and June," another story about writers and their "muses." This film also did not shy away from sexual content, which simply added fuel to the fire. However, it seemed a bit disjointed in places (very much an arthouse film), and I wondered what might have ended up on the cutting room floor. The main gist of the story did shine through: the story of James Joyce and the woman who inspired and loved him, Nora Barnacle. Great acting by all the actors and lush cinematography. But it made me wonder about James Joyce and Nora, and what was their true story?

I agree that one's appreciation of this film does depend on what is known of James Joyce's life and literary accomplishments. But providing that foundation was never the intent of the filmmakers to begin with. The film assumes one has a familiarity with James Joyce's work. To someone just watching it b/c of a teenage-type idol worship of Ewan McGregor, it would be like watching 'Shakespeare in Love' without having heard of 'Romeo and Juliet.

But even without a background knowledge of Joyce's work, there are several facets of the film which undeniably stand on their own.

Firstly, the sexual chemistry between the two main characters is undeniable. I found Susan Lynch's performance as Nora to be a bit `stand-offish and unapproachable' at times, which may leave the viewer wondering what attracted Jim to her in the first place. McGregor, however, very successfully portrays Joyce's intense love, lust, fear, and jealousy, (which almost had me sympathizing with his sense of betrayal when he needlessly suspected his wife to be unfaithful) and still convey total devotion, inspiration, and submission. (This makes me almost wonder if McGregor's `sex-symbol' status is leading him to even make choices of superficial fluff like `The Island'.)

And while women will (and do) inevitably find themselves attracted to the actor, I cannot deny that it is partly because he just puts it all out there and plays well-written roles like this so well. One cannot deny the beauty of this performance.

Secondly, the film itself is very simply yet beautifully shot from the dark streets of Dublin, to the bright and beautiful Italian villas, the simplicity of the breathtaking landscapes and their reflection of the characters' moods and dispositions, tells its own story.

And I do admit that one's appreciation is tempered by lack of background knowledge of Joyce and his work. ' So I do encourage viewers to read up on James Joyce and maybe, God forbid, pick up `Ulysses' or a collection of his poetry. While one can appreciate the acting, writing, and cinematography, of the film independent of any background knowledge, a true understanding of James Joyce and the pedestal upon which he has places his `awe-inspiring' Nora can only truly be realized if one has a foundation to start from.

This movie shows a glipse into the life of author James Joyce, his muse and love Nora, and their stormy relationship and "so-called" love. I had heard little of Joyce before purchasing this film, and was interesting in learning a little about his life. I knew it would be somewhat intense from what I read about it. Instead, the movie proved to be dull... as real life can be at times (which explains the title for my review). I look to movies to be entertained, inspired, or be taught something new. It only made me realize how good my life is. This movie is a raw portrayal of sex, drinking, and mad jealousy. No romancing, no sugar coating, no BS. If you want to watch real life at its rawest, the movie is for you. But, don't purchase if you think this movie will be similar to Shakespeare in Love (Also a movie about an author and his muse). You will be very disappointed. Honestly, I got the film to see Ewan McGregor. It's not one of his best films, but if you are a Ewan fan you might want to check it out.

As I watched Nora, a lot of things went through my head. The stellar performance given by Susan Lynch, the quiet power of Ewan McGregor, the strength of the script, as well as the maturity this movie as a whole showed. I noticed that there was virtually no lead-in to the relationship between Nora and James Joyce, a total of 3 minutes to introduce Nora, and perhaps 20 seconds to introduce Mr. Joyce. At first, I was slightly put off at this, feeling as though I had been cheated out of a good, 15 minutes...but as the story progressed, I realized that a longer introduction would have been meaningless, and in the end, a waste of the moviegoers time. The great thing about this movie, is that it is about the relationship between James and Nora, not about their families, not about their jobs, not about their children (although all of these things play an important role within their lives, therefore impact how they act towards one another), but solely about *them*.

Ewan McGregor is shocking in his portrayl, not only because of his stunning work as a whole, but his honesty in the role. He appears to be baring his soul in this movie, while still keeping a subtle demeanor. Susan Lynch was equally wonderful, but in a totally different way. Her performance was quick and full of life, as opposed to McGregor's dead-but-powerful approach. It was almost as though the role was a shell around the actress, and she became a totally new person, wholly leaving her personal self behind, forgetting any method of acting she may have had, any sense of mechanical acting in her is gone, and she allowed herself to just be this character.

A lovely portrayl of one of the most passionate and stormy literary relationships in history, I highly recommend it.

The on-screen version of Nora & James Joyce's stormy life is a fascinating character study. The cinematography is excellent as both the pastoral scenery of Ireland & Italy plus the amazingly deft lighting of the film lend mood and accent. The DVD version doesn't add tremendously to either the VCR or theatrical release, but is adequate. Ewan McGregor as Joyce is a bookish guy with a nice voice. His tantrums against Nora came as a surprise to me, rather than seeing a build in jealousy, McGregor just kind of lets Joyce explode and retract. Susan Lynch's performance is stellar, a tour de force. The earthy half-smile of satisfaction is so intriguing as she paws and scratches her way to romance. Nora comes alive in this portrayal as well-matched for the moody explosive Joyce. If the film were better known, we'd be comparing theirs to the Burton-Taylor screen spats of George and Martha. The sexual content of the film seems justified as we see James & Nora sqeezing out sparks, the tie that binds them. "Nora" is passionate and stormy, well worth an evening's viewing. Enjoy!