One Man

Robin Spry's ONE MAN predates several other films made about the effects of factories poisoning the communities that surround them, and it still stands up well as a strong thriller. Len Cariou gives a good performance as a headstrong TV news journalist whose investigating of mob warfare in Montreal brings him to a local hospital one day. It is there he meets a young social worker (Carole Lazare) who points him in the direction of a potent story nobody seems to care about: the alarming child mortality rate in a community surrounding a large factory. The company that owns the factory denies any level of responsibility, but as the investigation deepens lives become seriously jeopardized. The film's resolution was not one that I had predicted, and is more in line with a 70's sense of pessimism.

ONE MAN was produced by the National Film Board of Canada (and it is available on VHS through them), and benefits both from an intelligent script and sharp direction by Spry. Cariou's character evolves in different ways during the course of the film; he's a flawed hero who is guilty of bad judgement and moral mistakes, but ultimately seeks redemption in the truth. There is also a pleasing performance by Jayne Eastwood as his increasingly bitter wife, and some interesting work by veteran actor Barry Morse as the head of the factory.

The video release of this title plays on the fact that it stars Barry Morse, who has lived in Canada for quite some time. The production of this film is very dated and on video looked more like a documentary in parts. Although the principle of the story is very good I can't help but feel I wish I hadn't spent the 1 hour and 15 minutes watching this, Barry Morse is hardly in it and the ending is dreadful. Over the end titles we get a spoken list of people who have died from poisonous gases and although this is indeed an extremely important issue the scene that follows is that "this story and its characters are entirely fictitious" making the whole thing seem a waste of time.

A TV reporter from Montreal, known for covering gang violence, happens upon a story about numerous children being poisoned by a chemical called benzo(a)pyrene or b.a.p.

The woman who puts him on to the story tracks the source of the chemical to a company called Konrad's, an industrial operation that suffered a leak of the toxic substance which also killed at least one of it's workers.

His investigations have him stepping on a lot of toes, leaving him to deal with corrupt cops, the mob, a jealous wife, and, now, a cabal of union goons who work for the chemical company.

He does his best to get the story on the air, but is stifled at every turn.

As a result of threats to his family and friends, the promise that Konrad's parent company will pull advertising from the TV station he works for in an attempt to make them lose revenue and force them into bankruptcy, and by ruining the credibility of those around him.

He almost gives in to this duress, but knows he wouldn't be able to live with himself if he sold out in order to protect the interests of those responsible.

So, even when he loses his family, and his best friend is murdered, he refuses to give in and let them silence him.

Interestingly, this all culminates in a finale that is incredibly similar to Cronenberg's Shivers...only, instead of parasite infested sex zombies, he finds himself surrounded by a group of angry union workers who aren't willing to give up their jobs for the benefit of the community at large.

In both cases, the lone remaining individual is forced to decide whether he is going to take a stand, and be ostracized- or worse- for it, or give in and conform to the demands of the angry masses, simply in order to survive and be accepted.

Unlike, shivers, however...we get to see how this all plays out.

It does seem like director Robin Spry was directly influenced by Cronenberg's film, which had come out only two years prior (being the highest grossing Canadian feature film at the time), and was also shot in Montreal.

Either way, however, the parallels are there.

In the end, though lacking a well developed plot structure, this film really is quite interesting.

A politically oriented, environmental thriller, set amidst an urban environment.

And kind of middle ground between Steven Soderbergh's Erin Brockovich and Michael Moore's Canadian Bacon (less the comedy angle).

5.5 out of 10.