Irish Film Institute -International Film Directory – Film Listing

Attracta

    • Director

      Kieran Hickey

    • Credits

      Producer: Douglas Kennedy. Writer: William Trevor

    • Principal Cast

      Wendy Hiller, Kate Thompson, John Kavanagh, Jane Brennan

  • Category

    Feature
    First Wave

Adapted from a work by William Trevor, Attracta is a searing account of lone voices resisting the bloodshed of twentieth century Ireland, told through the figure of the elderly, institutionalised Attracta (Wendy Hiller). An orphan of Ireland’s War of Independence, Attracta learns early in life that Mr. Devereux (John Kavanagh), a friend and benefactor, led the IRA ambush that killed her parents. Her capacity to forgive contrasts with the bloodlust which returns to Northern Ireland in the 1960s, with Attracta particularly horrified by the brutal rape of a British soldier’s wife. Her questioning of herself, as to whether she should have dedicated her life to spreading her story of reconciliation, forms the most powerful aspect of the film, as director Kieran Hickey displays consummate skill in weaving together the different years of Attracta’s life into a painful, beautiful story about forgiveness.

55 minutes, Ireland, 1983, Colour

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