One Hundred Mornings
If Harold Pinter did a rewrite of The Road, it could easily resemble One Hundred Mornings; eschewing multi-million dollar CGI special-effects and giant fireballs for an emphasis on actual story and character, Irish filmmaker Conor Horgan and cast craft an intimate look at the emotional and spiritual toll the apocalypse could bring to one’s life. Unfolding in a quaint Irish mountainside, two couples eek out a rustic existence in what at first seems like a vacation gone a few days too long. Signs begin appearing though that all is not as it appears with armed gunmen roaming the roads and basic supplies coming into sharp demand. It becomes all too apparent that society has fundamentally broken down but the cause is never explained; this open-ended approach allows the viewer to impart his or her own backstory, any other explanation would be little more than a MacGuffin to move the action along. Again though, the emphasis is placed on character. The four main characters Jonathan, Hannah, Katie, and Mark are two couples that are forced to wait things out in this remote cabin; there’s no exposition on how they came to arrive there, how they knew each other previously, etc. All we know is they’ve been there for two months and live next door to a survivalist hippie named Tim. Tensions already brew when we meet them over claustrophobia and dwindling supplies as well as a bout of infidelity which doesn’t help either. One Hundred Mornings essentially boils down to an endurance test for viewers to see how much degradation and heartbreak can be endured in a two-hour sitting. As the story moves on, characters die, relationships break down further, and the barest layers of human civility are dissolved. And yet, hope does exist if not in a grand gesture then rather a resignation to accepting this particular end of the world. It’s a tough journey to take but shows the resiliency of the human spirit in the face of complete social breakdown.
Thursday, January 28, 2010
Thursday, January 14, 2010
One Hundred Mornings: The Reviews
Hi Folks!
Check out the amazing response One Hundred Mornings has had since its screening at the Galway Film Fleadh in July 2009:
"By way of contrast, you couldn’t honestly call Conor Horgan’s One Hundred Mornings particularly cheery, but, to my mind, it just surpassed His & Hers as the finest domestic feature I saw at the Fleadh. Beautifully shot in washed-out watercolours by Suzie Lavelle, the film sends four young people to a remote cabin following a vaguely defined collapse in western society. The group is lucky enough to have a shed full of vodka and canned food, but, without a gun, they are unable to defend themselves against hungry neighbours and disreputable police officers.
More a personal drama than a post-apocalyptic thriller, the lean One Hundred Mornings is to be commended for what it dares to leave out. Featuring contained, committed performances by Ciaran McMenamin, Kelly Campbell, Alex Reid and Rory Keenan, the film tells its unhappy story through a neat arc, but it never feels forced or overworked. There could be no higher compliment than to say that, after a first viewing, I wanted to see it again and discover what it all meant”
Donald Clarke, Irish Times
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/features/2009/0715/1224250688703.html
"Tightly scripted, beautifully shot and with standout performances from all the cast", "a grim, chilling but entirely engrossing vision of things to come" Quiet Earth review
http://www.quietearth.us/articles/2009/07/31/Review-of-Irish-apocalyptic-drama-ONE-HUNDRED-MORNINGS
"Beautifully shot in muted, earthy colours, One Hundred Mornings is both harrowing and humorous" Fiona McCann, Irish Times Blog Review
http://www.irishtimes.com/blogs/pursuedbyabear/2009/10/29/one-hundred-mornings/
“One Hundred Mornings changed my mind about Irish film. It is beautifully shot, wonderfully acted, perfectly written and seamlessly directed. The location is at times utterly breathtaking, and is the perfect setting for the movie. The story tackles some tough questions (sometimes with wicked black humour), but it never punishes you for wanting to know the answers.” Dan Walsh, Culch.ie
http://www.culch.ie/2009/11/03/one-hundred-mornings-a-review/
"Horgan's auteur film excels in its ability to depict what he has decided to leave out; with suggestion painting a more powerful picture in the minds of the audience. One Hundred Mornings exhibits ableak apocalyptic worldview, but Horgan constructs it with an eye to the beauty of things, thus making the places and the people we love ever harder to leave. How it didn't win best picture is hard to fathom" Breandan O'Brion -Galway Film Fleadh review, Marketing Magazine
Check out the amazing response One Hundred Mornings has had since its screening at the Galway Film Fleadh in July 2009:
"By way of contrast, you couldn’t honestly call Conor Horgan’s One Hundred Mornings particularly cheery, but, to my mind, it just surpassed His & Hers as the finest domestic feature I saw at the Fleadh. Beautifully shot in washed-out watercolours by Suzie Lavelle, the film sends four young people to a remote cabin following a vaguely defined collapse in western society. The group is lucky enough to have a shed full of vodka and canned food, but, without a gun, they are unable to defend themselves against hungry neighbours and disreputable police officers.
More a personal drama than a post-apocalyptic thriller, the lean One Hundred Mornings is to be commended for what it dares to leave out. Featuring contained, committed performances by Ciaran McMenamin, Kelly Campbell, Alex Reid and Rory Keenan, the film tells its unhappy story through a neat arc, but it never feels forced or overworked. There could be no higher compliment than to say that, after a first viewing, I wanted to see it again and discover what it all meant”
Donald Clarke, Irish Times
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/features/2009/0715/1224250688703.html
"Tightly scripted, beautifully shot and with standout performances from all the cast", "a grim, chilling but entirely engrossing vision of things to come" Quiet Earth review
http://www.quietearth.us/articles/2009/07/31/Review-of-Irish-apocalyptic-drama-ONE-HUNDRED-MORNINGS
"Beautifully shot in muted, earthy colours, One Hundred Mornings is both harrowing and humorous" Fiona McCann, Irish Times Blog Review
http://www.irishtimes.com/blogs/pursuedbyabear/2009/10/29/one-hundred-mornings/
“One Hundred Mornings changed my mind about Irish film. It is beautifully shot, wonderfully acted, perfectly written and seamlessly directed. The location is at times utterly breathtaking, and is the perfect setting for the movie. The story tackles some tough questions (sometimes with wicked black humour), but it never punishes you for wanting to know the answers.” Dan Walsh, Culch.ie
http://www.culch.ie/2009/11/03/one-hundred-mornings-a-review/
"Horgan's auteur film excels in its ability to depict what he has decided to leave out; with suggestion painting a more powerful picture in the minds of the audience. One Hundred Mornings exhibits ableak apocalyptic worldview, but Horgan constructs it with an eye to the beauty of things, thus making the places and the people we love ever harder to leave. How it didn't win best picture is hard to fathom" Breandan O'Brion -Galway Film Fleadh review, Marketing Magazine
Keep connected to One Hundred Mornings!
Keep up to date with One Hundred Mornings news on the following links:
Blinder Films: www.blinderfilms.com
One Hundred Mornings: www.onehundredmornings.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/#/group.php?gid=244539682875&ref=ts
Twitter: www.twitter.com/100Mornings
Slamdance: http://slamdance.bside.com/2010/films/onehundredmornings_conorhorgan_slamdance2010
Blinder Films: www.blinderfilms.com
One Hundred Mornings: www.onehundredmornings.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/#/group.php?gid=244539682875&ref=ts
Twitter: www.twitter.com/100Mornings
Slamdance: http://slamdance.bside.com/2010/films/onehundredmornings_conorhorgan_slamdance2010
Blinder Films is going to Slamdance Film Festival
Bl!nder Films are delighted to announce that their first feature film One Hundred Mornings, funded by the Irish Film Board Catalyst Project and directed by Conor Horgan is to have its world premiere screening at the Slamdance Film Festival in Park City, Utah in January 2010. It will be one of 18 features films screened at the festival out of over 5000 applicants.
The Slamdance Film Festival is in its sixteenth year and runs in conjunction with the Sundance International Film Festival in Park City. Its main focus is on films by first time directors with limited budgets and its lineup of narrative and documentary films are programmed in the spirit of its motto ‘by filmmakers, for filmmakers’. It takes place between January 21-28 2010.
Starring Ciaran McMenamin, Alex Reid, Rory Keenan and Kelly Campbell, One Hundred Mornings is set in a world upended by a complete breakdown of society where two couples hide out in a lakeside cabin hoping to survive the crisis. As resources run low and external threats increase, they forge an uneasy alliance with their self-sufficient hippie neighbour. With no news from the outside world they can't know how long they must endure living in such close quarters, and with such limited supplies. Unspoken animosity fills the air, and a suspected affair is driving a wedge between them all. Poorly equipped to cope in a world without technology and saddled with completely conflicting worldviews, everything begins to disintegrate. Finally, each of them faces a critical decision they never thought they'd have to make.
One Hundred Mornings was screened at this year’s Galway Film Fleadh where it was widely praised. Donald Clarke named it ‘The finest domestic feature I saw at the Galway Film Fleadh’. It has received rave reviews from the press with an Irish Times review describing it and ‘both harrowing and humorous’ and ‘beautifully shot in muted, earthy colours’.
Director Conor Horgan trained as a photographer, moving into directing TV commercials in the 90’s and has won many awards. His first short film, The Last Time, was screened at Cannes, Clermont-Ferrand, and Tampere and was the recipient of seven awards, including the UIP Director Award and Best Irish Short at The Cork Film Festival. Other films include the Arts Council funded experimental film Happiness, and the recently completed About Beauty an Irish Film Board/ Documenting The Arts film following artist Dorothy Cross as she works on the island of New Ireland in Papua New Guinea. He has recently completed post-production on Fear, a follow-up to Happiness and has been awarded further Arts Council funding for The Beholder, an arts documentary about portraiture.
One Hundred Mornings was produced by Bl!nder Films, a film production company established in 2006 with director Kieron J. Walsh and producer Katie Holly at the helm. Their ethos is on unique contemporary stories that will provoke, move and entertain. It is a recipient of the Irish Film Board’s Multiple Project Development scheme. They have worked with writer/director Owen O’Neill on short film The Basket Case (winner of Best Irish Short at the Boston Irish Film Festival), and with writer/director Virginia Gilbert on the critically acclaimed three-part Irish language documentary Striapacha: Three Hundred Years of Vice. They are currently finishing post production Sensation (d. Tom Hall) the first feature on their MPD slate and have a sketch comedy show, The Savage Eye which recently finished a successful run on RTE Two.
The Slamdance Film Festival is in its sixteenth year and runs in conjunction with the Sundance International Film Festival in Park City. Its main focus is on films by first time directors with limited budgets and its lineup of narrative and documentary films are programmed in the spirit of its motto ‘by filmmakers, for filmmakers’. It takes place between January 21-28 2010.
Starring Ciaran McMenamin, Alex Reid, Rory Keenan and Kelly Campbell, One Hundred Mornings is set in a world upended by a complete breakdown of society where two couples hide out in a lakeside cabin hoping to survive the crisis. As resources run low and external threats increase, they forge an uneasy alliance with their self-sufficient hippie neighbour. With no news from the outside world they can't know how long they must endure living in such close quarters, and with such limited supplies. Unspoken animosity fills the air, and a suspected affair is driving a wedge between them all. Poorly equipped to cope in a world without technology and saddled with completely conflicting worldviews, everything begins to disintegrate. Finally, each of them faces a critical decision they never thought they'd have to make.
One Hundred Mornings was screened at this year’s Galway Film Fleadh where it was widely praised. Donald Clarke named it ‘The finest domestic feature I saw at the Galway Film Fleadh’. It has received rave reviews from the press with an Irish Times review describing it and ‘both harrowing and humorous’ and ‘beautifully shot in muted, earthy colours’.
Director Conor Horgan trained as a photographer, moving into directing TV commercials in the 90’s and has won many awards. His first short film, The Last Time, was screened at Cannes, Clermont-Ferrand, and Tampere and was the recipient of seven awards, including the UIP Director Award and Best Irish Short at The Cork Film Festival. Other films include the Arts Council funded experimental film Happiness, and the recently completed About Beauty an Irish Film Board/ Documenting The Arts film following artist Dorothy Cross as she works on the island of New Ireland in Papua New Guinea. He has recently completed post-production on Fear, a follow-up to Happiness and has been awarded further Arts Council funding for The Beholder, an arts documentary about portraiture.
One Hundred Mornings was produced by Bl!nder Films, a film production company established in 2006 with director Kieron J. Walsh and producer Katie Holly at the helm. Their ethos is on unique contemporary stories that will provoke, move and entertain. It is a recipient of the Irish Film Board’s Multiple Project Development scheme. They have worked with writer/director Owen O’Neill on short film The Basket Case (winner of Best Irish Short at the Boston Irish Film Festival), and with writer/director Virginia Gilbert on the critically acclaimed three-part Irish language documentary Striapacha: Three Hundred Years of Vice. They are currently finishing post production Sensation (d. Tom Hall) the first feature on their MPD slate and have a sketch comedy show, The Savage Eye which recently finished a successful run on RTE Two.
Actress Kelly Campbell - about playing Katie
‘‘Katie is married to Mark and Mark and Katie are friends of Jonathon and Hannah, It is very much Mark and Jonathon’s relationship that brings them to the house. The way that Conor describes it is that the house belongs to Hannah’s family and Hannah and Jonathon had a choice of who to bring and they decided to bring Mark and Katie. I get the sense that they have known each other for maybe ten years and the complication in this situation is that Katie and Jonathon have been having an affair which precedes this event, so they are bringing this to the house. From Katie’s perspective, Conor sees her as very pragmatic and adaptable, she is a survivor but not neccesarily as pragmatic as Hannah.’’
‘’I think playing off the others and what there giving me I found it easy to throw myself into the imaginary world because it is made very real by interplay. We have a very solid world and everyone has done their part to make it seem real and ultimately Conor brings that and the location brings that. It makes you think about what your priorities are in the way that things are simplified in this world it makes you understand what you need most.’’
The Story –
‘‘It is kind of like a greek drama in the sense that the crisis is being described off screen or off stage outside the main action of the story and you do to a certain extent have to imagine how bad it is, but for the most part you have to have faith that the story will tell itself and ultimately it is about human emotion and the effect that the situation has on their nerves and on their relationships and mood. I think the other little dramas and the interplay between the four of them says a lot about how they cope with the situation and how your priorities change.”
The Filming –
‘‘I have found that getting into this world and understanding what happens to four people in this situation has been made very easy by the location, the fact that we are in the one place and also the four of us are spending an awful lot of time together, we got to know each other quite well quite quickly and also had the luxury of a week’s rehersals beforehand. I feel that this film is a directors piece; it is very visually driven and it is Conor’s story so in a way we’re just fitting into that and it is made very easy by his clarity and vision. Even his collaboration with Suzie you can see that they have thought very hard about the way they want each set up to be.’’
The Catalyst Scheme –
‘‘The Catalyst scheme is a great programme and it’s really great to see the Film Board supporting writers and directors. I think this film is almost ideally set up because it is all set in one location and it is a small cast and it is manageable on a low-budget. It is delightful to be with a crew who are always learning because everyone has been bumped up a grade and everyone is on a steep learning curve and it has been a really lovely crew and everyone has bonded well.’’
‘’I think playing off the others and what there giving me I found it easy to throw myself into the imaginary world because it is made very real by interplay. We have a very solid world and everyone has done their part to make it seem real and ultimately Conor brings that and the location brings that. It makes you think about what your priorities are in the way that things are simplified in this world it makes you understand what you need most.’’
The Story –
‘‘It is kind of like a greek drama in the sense that the crisis is being described off screen or off stage outside the main action of the story and you do to a certain extent have to imagine how bad it is, but for the most part you have to have faith that the story will tell itself and ultimately it is about human emotion and the effect that the situation has on their nerves and on their relationships and mood. I think the other little dramas and the interplay between the four of them says a lot about how they cope with the situation and how your priorities change.”
The Filming –
‘‘I have found that getting into this world and understanding what happens to four people in this situation has been made very easy by the location, the fact that we are in the one place and also the four of us are spending an awful lot of time together, we got to know each other quite well quite quickly and also had the luxury of a week’s rehersals beforehand. I feel that this film is a directors piece; it is very visually driven and it is Conor’s story so in a way we’re just fitting into that and it is made very easy by his clarity and vision. Even his collaboration with Suzie you can see that they have thought very hard about the way they want each set up to be.’’
The Catalyst Scheme –
‘‘The Catalyst scheme is a great programme and it’s really great to see the Film Board supporting writers and directors. I think this film is almost ideally set up because it is all set in one location and it is a small cast and it is manageable on a low-budget. It is delightful to be with a crew who are always learning because everyone has been bumped up a grade and everyone is on a steep learning curve and it has been a really lovely crew and everyone has bonded well.’’
Actor Rory Keenan – about playing Mark
‘‘Mark is married to Katie, a friend of Jonathon, and I suppose he is a fixer he knows how to fix things and get things and use whatever resources they have available to make things easier for them. He is a very practical, optimistic kind of guy and it is almost as important to himself as it is for the group for them to remain optimistic. His mantra is that things will be ok and get better, whether or not he actually believes that I don’t know, it is just something he needs to hear and I think other people need to hear. Towards the end his line of argument becomes thinner and there is also the thing between Jonathon and Katie, I think he doesn’t confront it probably because it is something he cannot fix and if he cannot fix it he probably doesn’t want to acknowledge it. It is a heartbreaking situation for him with his friend and his wife, aside from the fact that life is hard enough at this particular time, he probably needs that optimism to get him through each day which probably turns into denial.’’
The Script –
‘‘The script was great, what I liked about it was that it was very unIrish. The setting here is almost Scandinavian, it was just a story and it could have been set anywhere which is lovely. I liked Mark because he goes through a genuine struggle aside from the major one at hand and it’s a bit of a sad ending aswell.
It is essentially a story about four people in a very enclosed and suffocating environment and in that way it is very much a performers film so we have a lot of responsibility to make this real or interesting to look at and make people care about the people and the film so in that sense it is definitely a challenge.
As far as I see it and if I was sitting watching this film I would imagine that it’s not giving any statements, any socio-political message, I think it’s a small story that just happens to take place at this time. You can take any messages you want out of it but I think to do that would take away from the story and what Conor is trying to do.‘’
Filming –
‘‘Conor Horgan is a very actor-friendly director in that he is very open to input and we got time to rehearse which is very rare in films and I think it helped. The strength of this film is how performance driven it is and the star of the show is really the setting and surroundings because it is just beautiful here.
What I was most surprised at was how similar the set was to how I had imagined it to be, it was almost as if this film was written for here and it went a long way in helping the mood and getting us tuned to where we were supposed to have been for so long. You really get the sense through shooting the film how bad things could get. It does make you think that to keep sane is almost as important to keep warm and dry.‘’
The Catalyst Scheme – ‘
‘It is a brilliant opportunity for me and for all of us, it is a great opportunity for first time directors to get something on screen and it is great for actors as well.’’
The Script –
‘‘The script was great, what I liked about it was that it was very unIrish. The setting here is almost Scandinavian, it was just a story and it could have been set anywhere which is lovely. I liked Mark because he goes through a genuine struggle aside from the major one at hand and it’s a bit of a sad ending aswell.
It is essentially a story about four people in a very enclosed and suffocating environment and in that way it is very much a performers film so we have a lot of responsibility to make this real or interesting to look at and make people care about the people and the film so in that sense it is definitely a challenge.
As far as I see it and if I was sitting watching this film I would imagine that it’s not giving any statements, any socio-political message, I think it’s a small story that just happens to take place at this time. You can take any messages you want out of it but I think to do that would take away from the story and what Conor is trying to do.‘’
Filming –
‘‘Conor Horgan is a very actor-friendly director in that he is very open to input and we got time to rehearse which is very rare in films and I think it helped. The strength of this film is how performance driven it is and the star of the show is really the setting and surroundings because it is just beautiful here.
What I was most surprised at was how similar the set was to how I had imagined it to be, it was almost as if this film was written for here and it went a long way in helping the mood and getting us tuned to where we were supposed to have been for so long. You really get the sense through shooting the film how bad things could get. It does make you think that to keep sane is almost as important to keep warm and dry.‘’
The Catalyst Scheme – ‘
‘It is a brilliant opportunity for me and for all of us, it is a great opportunity for first time directors to get something on screen and it is great for actors as well.’’
Actor Alex Reid talks about working with writer/director Conor Horgan
‘‘From an actors point of view he is great, I do think it makes a difference when you work with a writer/director as opposed to a filmmaker; his vision is a lot different to someone who is just directing someone else’s story. It’s a good point of reference to go to, just one person as opposed to many different people. He has always been open to our ideas and I think it’s nice as an actor to have that trust put on you, that it’s your job as an actor to bring your idea about the character and thoughts to bring the story along and he is completely open to that.’’
The Story -
(The beginning) ‘‘I think the ambiguity is good, I think people will always make up stuff in their own minds. I hate watching stuff where the audience is patronised and spoon fed what has happened and in this it doesn’t really make a difference, it has maybe made a difference to us and we discussed it but it has been more important for us to discuss our relationships beforehand because then the different personalities and relationships can react in the situation. When the film starts we have already been there for a little while anyway so I think it is a case of playing catch up from an audience’s point of view but you don’t need to know, there is more enjoyment when you don’t. I think with the ending you don’t know, I liked that about the film, there is no apology and no sugar coating anything. ’’
Themes/Issues –
‘‘I think there are different issues for the different characters; I would say one of the themes is forgiveness, loss of hope and also not losing hope. Sometimes in tragic circumstances people’s strengths really come out and people tend to come together sometimes rather than unravel. I suppose human nature and the lengths that you will go to to survive or get what you want but I think there are some really interesting dynamics within the house; watch people crack in different ways than you hopefully will expect.
About Hannah –
‘‘Hannah and Jonathon have been married a few years, along with the fact that the situation these four people have been put in is a very stressful and non-pleasant one, it kind of highlights the fractures in peoples’ relationships and Jonathon and his marriage is very flawed. They have lost closeness, it is like watching two seperate people functioning. The same as in life, a crisis can bring people together as well, it highlights the good points and bad points in their relationship.’’
On Set –
‘‘ It all feeds into the part, if you filming on location you get cold and tired and hungry and by the end of the day it’s not so much of a stretch to be acting it. On set is a really lovely atmosphere and you get that when you work with a relatively small crew who are all on the same page and really want it to work, and at the centre of it is Conor’s story and script and everyone’s loving it so you want to see it all come together.
Working on something like this and people with different skill levels and people who are very talented the enthusiasm is the most important thing, you do get a sense of everyone being on the same page and working towards the same thing, everyone wants the film to work and you do whatever you have to do to get that. Personally I love working at this speed because I think that it keeps things fresh, certainly for the storyline it is a great way to work; a great team effort and no one takes their eye off the ball.’’
The Story -
(The beginning) ‘‘I think the ambiguity is good, I think people will always make up stuff in their own minds. I hate watching stuff where the audience is patronised and spoon fed what has happened and in this it doesn’t really make a difference, it has maybe made a difference to us and we discussed it but it has been more important for us to discuss our relationships beforehand because then the different personalities and relationships can react in the situation. When the film starts we have already been there for a little while anyway so I think it is a case of playing catch up from an audience’s point of view but you don’t need to know, there is more enjoyment when you don’t. I think with the ending you don’t know, I liked that about the film, there is no apology and no sugar coating anything. ’’
Themes/Issues –
‘‘I think there are different issues for the different characters; I would say one of the themes is forgiveness, loss of hope and also not losing hope. Sometimes in tragic circumstances people’s strengths really come out and people tend to come together sometimes rather than unravel. I suppose human nature and the lengths that you will go to to survive or get what you want but I think there are some really interesting dynamics within the house; watch people crack in different ways than you hopefully will expect.
About Hannah –
‘‘Hannah and Jonathon have been married a few years, along with the fact that the situation these four people have been put in is a very stressful and non-pleasant one, it kind of highlights the fractures in peoples’ relationships and Jonathon and his marriage is very flawed. They have lost closeness, it is like watching two seperate people functioning. The same as in life, a crisis can bring people together as well, it highlights the good points and bad points in their relationship.’’
On Set –
‘‘ It all feeds into the part, if you filming on location you get cold and tired and hungry and by the end of the day it’s not so much of a stretch to be acting it. On set is a really lovely atmosphere and you get that when you work with a relatively small crew who are all on the same page and really want it to work, and at the centre of it is Conor’s story and script and everyone’s loving it so you want to see it all come together.
Working on something like this and people with different skill levels and people who are very talented the enthusiasm is the most important thing, you do get a sense of everyone being on the same page and working towards the same thing, everyone wants the film to work and you do whatever you have to do to get that. Personally I love working at this speed because I think that it keeps things fresh, certainly for the storyline it is a great way to work; a great team effort and no one takes their eye off the ball.’’
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