As it finally hits DVD, Impact‘s Mike Leeder recalls his first look at ONUS, the latest film from respected Irish independent film-maker, George Clarke… when he first viewed it late in 2014.
Impact has followed and championed the career of Ireland’s true independent film-maker George Clarke since he made his debut, with the ambitious down and dirty Zombie movie Battle of the Bone. Since then he’s unleashed the grindhouse fun of The Knackery, the POV horror of The Last Light, the Mondo macabre fun of Splash Area , hosted 5 years of Yellow Fever Film Festivals promoting independent and genre filmmaking from around the globe, become an Internet sensation with Chaplin’s Time Traveler and now we take a look at his latest film which once again breaks conventions and shows how much of a film-maker he’s really become.
ONUS has finally been given an official UK release on DVD and George Clarke and the team provide some very nice special features and bonus content to spice up the release. These include a 45 minute Behind The Scenes feature that talks to the cast and the multi-hat wearing George Clarke, along with 13 minutes of Out-Takes, two trailers and a very entertaining audio commentary featuring Clarke, Robert Render & Vivian Jamison which informs and entertains and leaves you feeling as if you’re eavesdropping on a conversation between old friends and furthers the ‘film making family’ vibe that Clarke and his teams work always delivers.
Onus is a hard film to review, especially without revealing many of its twists and turns, but it’s a film that I feel deserves plenty of attention especially for marking the transition from movie-maker to film-maker (You know movies are fun, films are intelligent!) by maverick Irish dream-maker George Clarke.
Clarke’s The Last Light had shown a huge progress from the entertaining but flawed at times Battle of the Bone, he’d come a long way with The Knackery which delivered exactly what it said on the box, grindhouse style fun as the zombie genre meets a reality show in a far more entertaining fast paced version of Dead Set, in fact we called it ‘Entertaining as F#ck!” The Last Light, shot as all of Clarke’s movies have been, with a budget that wouldn’t pay for a day’s lunch on most movies, avoided the blood and guts of earlier projects for more mind games and imagination provoking horror than I was prepared for. His subsequent venture Splash Area, provided killer klowns on the loose battling a group of teenagers, and yes it was great fun but it almost felt like a step back..
And then I heard about ONUS, which had begun life as a short film based on a simple premise of two strangers waking up chained together, each with a handgun strapped to one hand and a single bullet. With a two man cast, the short was almost like a filmed play, with the strong performances from longtime George Clarke player Robert Render and young Anthony Boyle who’d played one of the leads in Splash Area. Working with a basic outline and skeleton script, and shot on picturesque slightly unfamiliar Norwegian locations, the short really impressed me in terms of performance, cinematography (it looks like a real movie!)And I really liked the central idea, of two men thrown into a situation that offers a simple final solution kill or be killed.
George told me about his idea to expand upon the idea, and I wondered if he could make it work, he was bringing in a very strong actress Caroline Burns Cooke who’d done an incredible job playing Moors Murderer Myra Hindley into the expanded version, with another of his regular players Vivian Jamison playing the other major role. I’d liked Vivian’s work in George’s other movies, and she’s a great lady to hang out with, have shared many a laugh with her when I’ve been lucky enough to be able to attend George’s Belfast held Yellow Fever Film Festival but I wasn’t sure if she could deliver a dramatic turn to play opposite Cooke. I’m happy to say I was wrong, very pleasantly surprised and impressed by Vivian’s turn in the movie, but I’m getting ahead of myself.
The new footage picks up a month after the events of the short, as the events of that situation are discussed by the families of those who were affected, and revelations reveal very dark truths and promise to ruin more people’s lives. Now in some ways the project that kind of stuck in my head as a point of reference were the BBC’s two recent dramas based around The Great Train Robbery, which told the same events but in two separate stories, one seen through the eyes of the criminals and the other seen through the eyes of the Police. In many ways the ideal way to enjoy ONUS fully, would be to have a break between the two halves of the story, an intermission much like a play and Clarke manages to deliver two very different halves that make up on whole superb film, the first chapter is a psychological thriller between two people, while the second is a more emotional and disturbing tale as the repercussions of the first half play out to a dark conclusion.
The two also seem different in terms of geography, the Norway set first half feels big and yet isolates the two characters, they’re in a big world but it’s not the world they are used to, while the second chapter in Northern Ireland has a very claustrophobic feel to it, which continues to build upon the sense of dread from the first half.
Robert Render most recently seen in one of the final episodes of Ripper Street gives an assured performance; he’s a big man who brings a very tempered assured performance to his character. He’s believable as someone caught up in a mad situation and his turn in this and The Last Light, have me wondering why someone won’t give him a meatier role in something outside of Clarke’s work. While young Anthony Boyle delivers a very strong turn far removed from his enthusiastic reckless hero in Splash Area, and it would be easy to be overshadowed by Render both literally and in performance but Boyle holds his own and is definitely someone to watch for in future.
The Belfast section sees Caroline Burns Cooke giving a measured turn that reflects her solid background as an actress, while as mentioned Vivian Jamison really holds her own and delivers as Bruce Lee might put it, a performance filled with emotional content that belies her relative inexperience as an actress. She delivers so much without veering into soap-opera styled performance and the two compliment each other so well, matching each other beat for beat that reaches a disturbing but very satisfying climax.
I wish I could say more, but I would give away too much, and here’s hoping this film gets the release and attention it deserves and finally opens the doors for Clarke to get proper backing , funding and full support for his subsequent ventures. It’s also another film that should inspire armchair film-makers to get off their ass and start making movies if it’s something they really want to do..
ONUS is a thought provoking disturbing slice of cinematic thrills, and we at Impact salute George Clarke and all involved with the project.
