Of all the films shown at the Galway Film Festival on Ireland’s west coast, one stood out for its wild premise, which should immediately pique the interest of anyone who enjoys a slapstick comedy.
Apocalypse Clowns – world premiere on Friday, then at Canada’s Fantastia Music Festival later this month Screenings, and releases in the UK and Ireland in September 1 — Possibly the most vaunted “WTF?” movie plot of the year, set in the wake of a mysterious blackout, anarchy in Ireland, and a group of weary clowns Gathered after a massive brawl at a funeral, they travel across the country in chaotic and sometimes bloody fashion as a last-ditch effort to realize their (unattainable) dream. A quiet art drama, this isn’t.
From director George Kane, who has directed British TV comedy series for the past years, including “Crash” (by former Fleabag Phoebe Waller-Bridge), after , Brassic, Wedding Season and most recently on Apple TV+ coming soon by Noel · The Dick Turpin series starring Noel Fielding—the Apocalypse Clown troupe of mismatched big shoes spanned the spectrum of on-screen clown portrayals. Funzo, a slightly psychotic horror clown (considered taboo in the world of cinematic clowns); Bobo, a decadent, alcoholic kid entertainer clown; the circus clown (also a former TV personality); and Pepe, the pretentious, classically trained pantomime clown in a striped top. Clowns might be their life, but they’re pretty bad for the most part (there’s a particularly hilarious scene where they reveal their real, rather common name).
Written by Kane, Demian Fox, Sean O’Brien and James Walmsley, filmed in Dublin and Kildare, and eventually became The original story of the apocalypse clown We will see this ragtag group of characters traveling to Africa as part of “Clowns Without Borders”, a very real charity for refugees around the world Children’s lives bring some joy. Sadly, the pandemic put the idea on hold and the story had to be scaled back a bit. And, as Kane admitted in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter ahead of the premiere, the idea is “like a drunk Cannes” (although he’s not opposed to a sequel Use fragments in ) ).
Is there anything you would compare Apocalypse Clown to?
I don’t know what a Venn diagram is. I tried it before and thought it was a bit Tropical Thunder in some ways, and a bit Three Friends and Zombieland in some ways. When the actor’s monologue is bleak, there’s a little Withnail and me in it. Essentially, I wanted to make a $2 million Roland Emmerich Joker movie in Ireland. People have been waiting!
You won the best international top award Filmed music documentary Discoverdale in Galway . It must feel perfect to come back ten years later with your first scripting feature ?
Yes, it’s perfect. The project actually started in Galway because James Walmsley said there, “We should do something for Clowns Without Borders.” It was like a drunken Cannes stadium. So 10 years later, it’s back to where it was conceived, which is perfect.
Are you going to find the Joker at the premiere?
I do recommend hiring some clowns just to hang out around Galway, in weird places.
I feel like clowns are only in movies now that are usually low-budget horror scenes. It’s nice to see them in a comedy.
This is obviously dealt with in the movie; the whole scary clown thing, like a taboo. But to me, in some ways, it’s accidental that these people are clowns. They might be actors, performers — people who can’t let go of a career that’s baked into their identity, even if they weren’t necessarily made for it. It’s kind of like at the end of “Waiting for Guffman,” where those brilliant people suddenly rekindle their dreams with total failure, and you’re like, “Don’t give up on your dreams.” As a dentist, you should not do this. ’ There’s an anti-optimistic ending where they decide to stick with it. I mean, the movie opens with, ‘They say you should never give up on your dreams, but what if you should? ’ So I think it set the tone very early on.
There are some very British jokes that an international audience might not understand, including one about Rolf Rolf Harris joke.
We just had the freedom to make it – if you have to deal with the studio, those jokes don’t Will be understood. So I like that it’s very niche at times. But I also think it’s accessible. It’s dark and has a lot of psychological jokes in it, but it’s colorful and fast paced and I think it’s cute. I miss you Will grow to like these guys. But they are all horrible people.
I do like the idea of a ridiculous comedy based on Clowns Without Borders…
So funny. But so naive in so many ways. So we start to doubt ourselves and think if we should. But I think some of it is great Something that could be part of a sequel.
For the past 10 years you’ve been directed some great british tv comedies, but the apocalypse clown is out now, do you want more movies?
I don’t think you can make it that unique, but I think the next logical step is to make a studio comedy with a bigger budget. But I don’t think any of it will be as funny as this.
Interview edited for length and clarity.
