Nora (2001)

Synopsis: James Joyce, one of this century’s greatest modern writers, was a young man grasping for funds and desperate to make his mark as a writer. Walking down Dublin’s Nassau Street in his yachting cap... James Joyce, one of this century’s greatest modern writers, was a young man grasping for funds and desperate to make his mark as a writer. Walking down Dublin’s Nassau Street in his yachting cap and canvas shoes, he met Nora Barnacle, a tall, brown-haired girl from Galway. She was a proud, straightforward, outspoken country girl who had recently moved to Dublin, where she’d found work as a chambermaid in Finn’s Hotel. The young Joyce fell in love with her immediately. Nora offered Joyce all the qualities he yearned for in a woman – faithfulness, trust, tenderness, dominance and wit. She combined innocence and earthiness, fulfilling his longing for purity and desecration and in recalling their encounter on 16th June 1904 he later wrote of a sacrament which left in me a final sense of sorrow and degradation’. Their encounter had a lasting effect on the young Joyce and it was that day when he told Nora, you made me a man. Though Nora could never fulfil the role of intellectual companion, she was his life-long love, his inspiration, his muse and without her, the world would be without his literary legacy. In October 1904, in true Nora Barnacle spirit, she left Dublin with a man she hardly knew, to set out on a European adventure. By March 1905 the lovers had set up home in Trieste, where Joyce was offered a position with the Berlitz School. During the next ten years, the couple had many high points, many low points and two children Giorgio and Lucia. Those years are charted in Pat Murphy’s haunting and revealing screen adaptation. -- © 2000 Alliance Atlantis [More]

Starring: Ewan McGregor, Susan Lynch, Peter McDonald

Starring: Ewan McGregor, Susan Lynch, Peter McDonald

Director: Pat Murphy

Director: Pat Murphy
Screenwriter: Pat Murphy, Gerard Stembridge
Studio: Nora Film Ltd.

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