irish film about wakes

The Wake follows a young Englishman as he is brought to an Irish wake in an isolated house in the middle of the Irish countryside. Little does he know that this wake contains a lot of customs that aren’t so traditional…

The Wake is the title of a large-scale multimedia project, the main element of which is an eight-hour long silent movie. The film is based on Finnegans Wake by James Joyce (London 1939), a limit-transgressing, perhaps even limit-dissolving book that not only transgresses the limits of what literature is and is capable of, but inscribes transgressions on almost all conceivable levels. It is at the same time dream book, history book and necrology. It is almost impossible to determine whether we are dealing with a long poem, a prose narrative or a piece of drama.

Three men grieve the loss of their best friend over the course of a tumultuous weekend; their mishaps, witnessed by a young, female, film student whose thesis project both captures and manipulates their uncertain journey.

Film by Marilyn Wulff

The sensations, moods and passages of grief are explored in "The Wake", which uses emotionally evocative landscapes and poetic text to extract a poignant beauty from the depths of human trauma.

The Wake is an anxiety-driven dark comedy that cleverly intertwines elements of farce with an underbelly filled with guilt and familial trauma.

Following the death of his father, an emotionally deflective son returns home to reconnect with his mother, all whilst reconciling with his dark past and unexplainable visions of a giant sea monster.

After the mysterious death of their infamous director, members of a formerly renowned theatre company reunite for his wake. The grieving widow welcomes the thespians to her country house, but the drama intensifies when old rivalries and jealousies erupt, exposing a myriad of secrets and lies.

After his father's death, Patrick must return home to face his dysfunctional family. Through a confrontation with his own mortality and broken emotions, he must make a decision that will change every relationship in his life forever.

A film about life and death, following the final moments of James Joyce's Finnegans Wake, as the river dissolves into the ocean towards the Atlantic horizon.