Irish films generally fall into a few limited categories. There’s the dark and dour movies that explore their troubled history with the IRA (Bloody Sunday), films that focus on abuses at the hands of misguided and violent authority figures (The Magdalene Sisters), movies where people sing bad songs poorly (Once), and then there’s the whimsical fantasies about seal people attempting to enslave humanity (The Secret of Roan Inish). That’s it really.
But now a fifth category can be added to the official Irish film canon… zany comedy!
Zonad is about the people of a small town in Ireland that witness a comet streak across the sky and the arrival of a strange visitor. Zonad is his name, and dressing like a sausage is his game. Not really, but his outfit is pretty damn tight. He claims to be from outer space, and his interactions and relationships with the townsfolk form the basis of this new fish out of water/culture clash comedy. Check out the trailer below.
Look pretty funny… nothing laugh out loud really, at least until the very end, but it looks to be entertaining and pleasantly silly. The visor sound effect is a nice touch. Simon Delaney (East Enders) plays the rotund “alien” and appears to be the only semi-recognizable face, but it’s from the director of Once, John Carney. Zonad hits European theaters next month, but there’s no word yet on a more local release date.
Thanks to Twitch for the heads up on the trailer.
What do you think of the trailer? Funny? Is it missing some singing and child-abusing terrorists?
