Film: Horrible Creature by Áine Stapleton

Presented by First Fortnight in association with the Irish Film Institute.

In 1915, James Joyce and Nora Barnacle travelled with their young children Giorgio and Lucia to Switzerland to escape the turmoil of World War I. Lucia later trained as a dancer and performed throughout Europe, but her career ended suddenly in the early 1930s after an unexplained accident of ill-health. She was forced into psychiatric care and underwent experimental treatments at various hospitals across Europe.

Horrible Creature is the second in a proposed trilogy of films directed by Áine Stapleton (dance and film artist) and is filmed at locations in Switzerland where Lucia spent time. The first, Medicated Milk, challenged the accepted biography of Lucia’s life and considered the complexity of mental instability. Here, Lucia’s own writing, interpreted by a cast of international dance artists, conjures her world between 1915 and 1950. The film fearlessly explores her difficult family life, her unproven illness, and her undoubted talent.

Duration: 70 MINS

Director: Áine Stapleton
Director of Photography: Will Humphris
Cast: Michelle Boulé, Céline Larrère, and Sarah Ryan.
Soundtrack: David Best and Ed Chivers.