The Weight of Water

Date of release: January 17, 2002

Story / Synopsis:

Inspired by the real-life events of the brutal double-murder of two Scandinavian immigrants on a small island off the New Hampshire coast in 1873, "The Weight of Water" chronicles the parallel lives of two women separated by a hundred years.

Photojournalist Jean (Catherine McCormack) and her husband, Pulitzer prize-winning poet Thomas (Sean Penn), set sail for the island in order for Jean to photograph the site of the murders for a photo essay about the legendary crime. Along for the weekend trip are Thomas' brother Rich (Josh Lucas) and the brother's girlfriend Adaline(Elizabeth Hurley). Although a man was hanged for the murders, they have been debated for over a century. Jean becomes consumed with this debate as she reads the journals of the crime's only survivor Maren (Sarah Polley).

The malign force of hard weather plunges us into the best kind of mystery and almost biblical vividness of the darkness of motives. While the events of the past are replayed, the present finds Jean and Thomas gripped by a crisis of their own - one that mirrors the emotional, uncontrolled passions from a century ago.

Other Information:

"The Weight of Water" is an official entry at the Venice Film Festival.

Cinema:

UA Pacific Place / UA Shatin / Golden Gateway