Based on the novel by Niall Williams and starring Helena Bonham Carter, Pierce Brosnan and Gabriel Byrne.
Nicholas and Isabel are made for
each other, but fate does not always choose the easiest path to true love. As
destiny pulls them together, so do family, passion, and faith drive them apart.
Nicholas’ father, William, comes
home one day to shatter his family’s quiet, modest life. He tells them that
after a moment of divine revelation, he has decided to dedicate his life to
painting. He quits his job and sets off for the Western coast, leaving his
shell shocked wife and son to fend for themselves.
Meanwhile Isabel and her family
live a charmed existence on a remote Western island, their house full of music
and poetry. When tragedy strikes and her brother suffers a terrible accident,
the music stops, and Isabel’s parents decide in their grief to send Isabel to a
convent school on the mainland.
The young lovers embark on their
own individual journeys of heartache and misplaced love, before fate contrives
to pull the threads of their lives together. When they meet, it will be like a
miracle.
Listen to Helena Bonham Carter talking about the film on Radio 4's Woman's Hour on 14th July (available on BBC Sounds).
