My Career: Archivist at Guinness Eibhlin Colgan
My Career: Archivist at Guinness Eibhlin Colgan

Sarah Finnan

Irish visual artist Ciara O’Connor on using embroidery to explore women’s lives
Irish visual artist Ciara O’Connor on using embroidery to explore women’s lives

Nathalie Marquez Courtney

How an interior stylist turned this period Cork apartment into a quietly luxurious home
How an interior stylist turned this period Cork apartment into a quietly luxurious home

IMAGE Interiors & Living

This picturesque, split-level home in Delgany is on the market for €995,000
This picturesque, split-level home in Delgany is on the market for €995,000

Sarah Finnan

March 28: Today’s top stories in 60 seconds
March 28: Today’s top stories in 60 seconds

Sarah Gill

Real Weddings: Keelin and Darren tie the knot overlooking Dingle Bay
Real Weddings: Keelin and Darren tie the knot overlooking Dingle Bay

Shayna Sappington

Let me tell you why a mother is the perfect employee
Let me tell you why a mother is the perfect employee

Dominique McMullan

I broke up with my boyfriend and now I have bangs
I broke up with my boyfriend and now I have bangs

Edaein OConnell

WIN a family pass to Emerald Park this Easter
WIN a family pass to Emerald Park this Easter

Shayna Sappington

This peaceful Victorian-era Galway home is on the market for €1.65 million
This peaceful Victorian-era Galway home is on the market for €1.65 million

Sarah Finnan

Image / Editorial

The Fault in Our Stars


By Bill O'Sullivan
19th Jun 2014
The Fault in Our Stars

The Fault in Our Stars hits cinemas today, and if the steady stream of sniffles heard in the screening we attended is anything to go by, it’s destined to join the likes of The Notebook and Titanic as a soppy romance classic. Based on John Green’s crossover Young Adult bestseller, the love story is one that shows a level of maturity and wisdom not usually associated with its predominately teen audience. Shailene Woodley is brilliant as Hazel Lancaster, terminally ill and living on borrowed time, playing the role with the perfect amount of boldness and vulnerability, while Ansel Elgort is positively charming as Augustus Waters, the most articulate and gallant teenage boy to exist, ever. (Seriously, where were the Augustuses of the world when we were 16?) The on-screen chemistry between the two is palpable, and the sassy banter they exchange lends lightheartedness, saving the film from falling into dangerously weepy territory.

tfios5

Having already had numerous near-death experiences between them, the pair are wise beyond their years, earnestly exploring themes of human existence, futility and the importance of living in the present. Because they’re young and because they’re dying, their relationship carries a sense of urgency, heartbreakingly encapsulating the intensity of young love. As with nearly all adaptations, nuances from the novel are glossed over, but fans of the novel will not be disappointed. Penned by the same writers responsible for the comparatively endearing (500) Days of Summer and The Spectacular Now (which also stars Woodley), the screenplay never strays far from the source material, and has the potential to be the Love Story for Gen Y. The film celebrates the spirit of the novel, capturing the emotional weight of simultaneously experiencing first love and being forced to face mortality at an unjustly young age, never once venturing too far into the maudlin or exploiting its cancer theme for pathos. Hazel and Augustus are determined to prove that you don’t have to live a long life to have a powerful and meaningful one. Have your tissues at the ready.