[yasr_overall_rating]
A land surveyor, alienated from urban existence and those who love him, travels to a remote and unnamed Irish woodland to assess its suitability for a dubious development project but the place seems to be imbued by an intelligence of sorts. The place fascinates him as much as it disturbs him but when he attempts to communicate with his surroundings, he risks becoming a prisoner of a place Without Name.
“Without Name” is a slow-burning, supernatural, psychological thriller that takes its time telling the story where you are rewarded for your patience. This is the first film of its ilk to come out of Ireland, that I can remember, and I’m not talking about straight-up horror movies, such as “Rawhead Rex,” or “Grabbers,” or even zombie-themed flicks like “Boy Eats Girl,” I’m talking about old-school filmmaking, a paranormal motion picture including sweeping vistas of Ireland’s beautiful timberland and slow tracking shots, allowing the atmosphere to permeate throughout the story as it indolently moves towards its shocking finale. Coming from Dublin myself, it was great to get a few fleeting glances of the city, mostly in the background but “Without Name” takes place out in the Irish wilderness, away from the hustle and bustle of the country’s capital. As an indie filmmaker myself for over thirty years, this is the kind of movie that I would make, with no gimmicky hand-held camera shots as characters run through the woods, screaming and arms flailing as they go, attracting all sorts of unwanted attention. This is an intelligent, thinking-person’s film, it is slow and deliberate, but in no way boring. It grabs your attention from the very beginning and never lets go. And it’s been a while since I have said that about an Irish movie. In fact, it is the first time I have ever said that about an Irish movie.
Eric (Alan McKenna), a land surveyor, is hired by a mysterious client to assess an isolated area of Irish woodland for a countryside improvement venture. While having issues with his wife and son back in the city, his employer rents an old house for him in a remote area of the mountainous terrain. Every day he spends his time in amongst the trees, determining the terrestrial layout of the land but as his stay there lengthens, he begins to hear strange noises in the forest. Not something far off, but rather, close up and personal. Extremely close up. Almost like the trees are talking to him. One night, he discovers an old note book that was left behind by a former tenant, Devoy (Brendan Conroy), a man the locals say went mad living in the house, claiming that he had developed a language that gave him the ability to communicate with the trees, and the beings that live within them.
With him not being able to concentrate on his job, and his equipment malfunctioning for no apparent reason, Eric begins to read the book, and gradually becomes engrossed by its pages. When one of his students, the beautiful Olivia (Niamh Algar), working with him to get her degree, drops by and stays for a while, even she cannot break the spell of the book. Eric begins to see strange humanlike figures within the forest and according to the locals, they warn him not to stray too far into the woodlands, because, as folklore has it, he could wind up in a Faerie Field where he will become trapped forever, unable to find his way out.
With the trees increasingly becoming louder and louder, and the figures growing more and more ascertainable, Eric slowly begins to lose his mind, constantly frustrated at his apparent deficiency in communicating with the supernatural forces around him but when he comes across a page in the book with a diagram that shows him how to concoct a drink, apparently with the power to converse with them, he must make a decision, one that will change his life forever.
“Without Name” deals with Irish folklore, specifically the Celtic sacred trees because they are seen as the abode of particular nature spirits. If they are disturbed or harmed, it is said they will be avenged by releasing an assortment of mythological creatures, including Faeries, Pookas, and demons, and while many who live outside the country, might laugh it off as farcical hocus pocus, it is taken very seriously by the Irish. Director Lorcan Finnegan is to be applauded for successfully creating one of the most disturbing and chilling ghost stories put to film. You never once see mask-wearing monsters, decapitating all around him, or sleep demons with razor-sharp claws, slaughtering everyone in his path, instead, the movie gets inside your head, deep inside, and forces you to witness everything that unfolds, from the protagonist’s point of view, a man whose life is already in turmoil, and with the discovery of the note book, he sinks further and further into unreachable dementia.
“Without Name” is Lorcan Finnegan’s feature film directorial debut and he proves, without a doubt, he is a force to be reckoned with. Like Tarantino before him, he is going to have a hard time with his next film, as it will undoubtedly be compared to his debut outing, one that will not be forgotten any time soon.
“Without Name” recently had its World Premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 12th
