The hottest Hollywood stars take time out from "slayin' dragons" to attend the Irish premiere of Captain Corelli's Mandolin. One of its stars, Christian Bale, and his wife, Sibi, who are currently living in Temple Bar, arrive wearing Dolce & Gabbana.
Bale is now busy filming Reign of Fire in Co Wicklow, in which he plays a man who must lead a band of survivors into an apocalyptic future. Matthew McConaghy, dressed as a biker in brown leather from head to toe, is also working on this action-packed film. He'll be especially busy over the next two months, he says, "slayin' dragons". But he arrives to attend the premiere too.
The red carpet is out and the excitement builds as the stars begin to arrive. John Hurt and his partner, Sarah Owens, travel from Roundwood in Co Wicklow. Many friends, including Annabelle Reynolds and her daughter, Coco Reyn- olds, with their friend, Ciara Cronin, all in Lainey Keogh creations of lilac and turquoise, come too.
The style continues with Clare Corbet from Clonaslee, Co Laois, and Jimmy Winston from Roscommon. Brother Anselm Hurt, John Hurt's brother Michael, who is now a monk in Glenstal Abbey, is here too in mufti and smoking a pipe. "Oh, we're very progressive," he says of the order, laughing.
After the screening, everyone goes to Gravity, the roof-top venue at the Guinness Brewery, where you can see the city twinkling off in the distance. Kevin Loader, producer on Captain Corelli's Mandolin, chats to agent Marianne Gunn O'Connor about Niall Williams's best-selling novel, Four Letters of Love. Loader and John Hurt want to buy the book and turn it into a film. Loader's next project is to make a film about Cromwell, but "we don't really deal with the Irish dimension", says the Londoner.
Michael Radford, director of Il Postino, is present too, taking a break from scouting for locations to shoot a new film based on the Elizabeth Bowen novel, The World of Love. They start filming in September, he says. Would he consider west Waterford at all, at all? His eyes glaze over as we mention Lismore, Cappoquin, the Vee and the Nire Valley. Still, fingers crossed.
The man from Dripping Springs, Texas, is Chris Whitecloud. He's in cowboy boots and an ornate buckskin jacket with long, swinging fringes. His job is to arrange an event to mark the summer solstice, which is World Peace Day, he says. As part of the event, Chief Arvil Looking Horse, who is revered as a holy man by the Indian people, and is keeper of the Indians' sacred White Buffalo Calf Pipe, will attend. The event will take place on "one of the most sacred sites in all of Ireland" - the Hill of Uisne in Co Westmeath.
More stars: Peter McDonald, who plays the lead in the film, When Brendan Met Trudy, is on a break from filming in Madrid. Looking like butter wouldn't melt in his mouth, the young actor says his part is that of "an angel who comes up from hell". Paddy Breathnach, the director of Blow Dry, which opened recently, is here, too. Nicolas Cage and Penelope Cruz do not attend, but such is the glamour and excitement that no one really notices.
