"The Witching Hour"

Author(s): James Somerton
Location: NS, Canada

"The Witching Hour"

Directed By: Anthony Minghella
Written By: Anthony Minghella & Christopher Rice
Based on the Novel by: Anne Rice
Produced By: David Geffen
Score By: James Newton Howard

Main Cast

Julianne Moore as Rowan Mayfair
Ian McKellen as Aaron Lightner
Patrick Dempsey as Michael Curry
Evan Rachel Wood as Mona Mayfair
Uma Thurman as Deborah Mayfair
Tom Wilkonson as Oncle Julian
Maggie Smith as Deirdre Mayfair

Tagline: "It Nears"

Synopsis: On a veranda in the Garden District of New Orleans, there sits an old woman. She rocks back and forth, seemingly careless. Her catatonic state prevents her from speaking, but her memories abound. This is Deirdre Mayfair, a woman who has nearly passed her one hundredth birthday. No one speaks to her, the nurses only do their job and nothing more. She would be completely lonely if it weren't for her Oncle Julien. But Oncle Julien has been dead for eighty-one years.

Dr. Rowan Mayfair, a brilliant surgeon, is seeing things in her sleep. Memories from her childhood in New Orleans. She remembers a grand old house, volumes and volumes of family history, and that rape. Oh how she remembers that rape. Her memories haunt her like the ghosts in Lafayette Cemetery, and the only way to make them stop is to go home again. She and her husband, Michael, head back to New Orleans.

The entire Mayfair clan have arrived at Deirdre's doorstep. Everyone wants answers but she is able to give none. Not even Rowan, a neurosurgeon, can get her grandmother to speak. But those old volumes on the shelf... the family history. They can tell Rowan everything she needs to know.

In these volumes is the complete, and unedited history of the Mayfair Clan, dating back to their arrival in the new world in 1667. It is a history of witchcraft, ghosts, incest and murder.

"VOLUME ONE: Of Deborah Mayfair...
The beginning of it all... Came to America with early settlers... Raised three families but no one lived long enough to notice how long she, herself, had been alive... Was soon chased down by villagers during the Witch Trials... Charged with being a heretic, murderer of children, and a witch... Burned at the stake but never died... Spirit believed to be resident of New Orleans."

VOLUME THIRTY-FIVE: Of Julien Mayfair...
Julien Mayfair kept a large plantation for cotton farming as well as tobacco... He was vocal with the slaves and regularly sat in on their rituals... In return, he let them live nearly free lives as he learned more and more of the spirits and demons... He bore seven children with slave women, setting the mothers completely free and giving them money... The haunting is believed to have begun when in his fifties... Drove him mad... Killed himself on his sixty-sixth birthday."

"VOLUME ONE HUNDRED & TWO: Of Lasher...
File Empty."

Rowan closes the final volume of the history; the empty volume. Memories flood back to her. Lasher comes back to her. The haunting force forever hidden in the back of her mind returns with mighty strength. But how can she kill what is neither dead nor alive? How can she kill the spirit that tore Deborah Mayfair from the flames and let her live forever? How can she kill the spirit that haunted Oncle Julien until he could take no more. How can she kill the spirit that was her lover?

What the Press would say:

"The Witching Hour" is a grand tapestry of southern legend. The people of New Orleans have always believed in ghosts and witches, and here their beliefs are brought to terrifying reality. Meet the Mayfairs; a very old, southern family that has a deeper and darker history than any other. They also have secrets. Many secrets. From a missing niece of whom no one will speak of, to the ghostly force in the parlor, to an old oak in the back yard with the word "Lasher" carved into it's trunk. Their secrets are hidden away in volumes and volumes of text, detailing the history of the family. We are told so little and yet so much. We are barely given a glimpse into the history of the Mayfair Witches.

The witches are all portrayed with such virulence and dignity by their actor counterparts. Julianne Moore is Rowan Mayfair, a California Neurosurgeon who was taken away from her home in New Orleans at a young age and knows almost nothing of the clan. Moore's Rowan is attractive and warm, and yet there is an air about her that speaks to things we, as the audience, do not know. Evan Rachel Wood is Mona Mayfair, a teenaged "woman-child" who is slowly dying from a debilitating disease that no doctor has been able to diagnose. Wood's time on screen is limited to a few chats with Rowan as she lies dying in bed, but it is a memorable roll. She is a child aged beyond her years, disturbingly mature. Patrick Dempsey is Michael Curry, Rowan's husband. He is the only one present who has never been affected by the Mayfairs in any bad way. But as he remembers nearly drowning as a child, he learns that he is far closer to the Mayfairs than he could have ever wanted. Dempsey plays this roll with enough charm to win the audience over but nothing beyond that. Michael has his secrets too after all.

The character of Aaron Lightner is played by Sir Ian McKellen. In a portrayal that is anything but subtle, McKellen is the the detective that knows more about the Mayfairs than they do. And what no one but him knows is that he has the explanation to that carving on the old oak hidden away where only he can find it. Finally, in the most evil role of the film, Uma Thurman is Deborah Mayfair, the first of the Mayfair clan to be accused of witchcraft. Arriving in North America in the 1600's, Deborah managed to live, in one way or another, well after the Salem Witch Trials had ended. Thurman is having fun with this roll and you can tell. Her time on screen is utterly entertaining in a dark and disturbing way. She is a real witch, where as the newer generations of Mayfairs are more hidden and subtle. She is the child steeling, cursing witch we hear of from childhood and she is magnificent at it.

New Orleans is the perfect city for "The Witching Hour". It's old and gothic architecture add greatly to the mood of the film. Anthony Minghella creates a tapestry of gothic delight around his witches with shadowy corners and fire-lit rooms. Static shots that draw us in to a character's thoughts suddenly explode to life and turn into rapid turns and jumps from character to character. His style changes slightly as time changes, completely static in the 1600's, very little movement in the 1800's, and a much freer approach in the modern day. He and Christopher Rice write the screenplay brilliantly. weaving together the stories of Rowan, Deborah, Deirdre, Michael, and Aaron Lightner together perfectly. Clocking in at just over three hours in length, "The Witching Hour" flirts with maybe being too long but stops just short of it. The ending, the final realization of what "Lasher" truly is, is satisfying but leaves us wanting to stay with the Mayfairs a little longer. We are left with possibilities for sequels, prequels, and alternate versions. The Mayfair tale is so rich, complex, and creative that the story could go on forever. Other movies of the kind pale in comparison to the genius at work in this bewitching supernatural masterpiece.

Possible Nominations...

Best Picture
Best Director - Anthony Minghella
Best Actress - Julianne Moore
Best Supporting Actress - Uma Thurman
Best Supporting Actor - Ian McKellen
Best Adapted Screenplay - Christopher Rice