RONDO RAGES ON

If it weren’t for festivals such as the Fantasia International Film Festival, hidden gems like Hitchcock like feature Rondo by director Drew Barnhardt would not be discovered.  This horror thriller which was meant for the late night audience really brings you into a dark and bizarre criminal world.  Rondo follows Paul a young troubled veteran, played by Luke Sorge, who seeks to get his life in order after falling into a major depression.  He then goes into seeking therapy from a counsellor who opens the door into that dark underworld that many of that late night audience are hoping to see on the silver screen.  Nevertheless, Rondo does pour it on when it comes to dark humour and violence which is why this film is doing so well in the festival circuit.  FERNTV spoke to director Drew Barnhardt about the film in more depth.

FERNTV:  Your producer Guy Clark mentions in your EPK that the inspiration for the film was meant to entertain the late night audience.  Can you explain how important that was for this film to know the audience, and for any film for that matter to know their audience?

Drew:  From the start we knew that this flick wouldn’t be for everyone. We just hoped that it would be for someone. We knew that we liked it, so we focused on making it for folks like ourselves: handsome, witty and charming.

Guy and I have a big midnight streak running through us and what we really wanted was to get this in front of an audience who would enjoy its transgressions as much as we do. You have to stay up late to find such people, and we don’t sleep much, so…

FERNTV:  How did the storyline come about for this film come about?

Drew:  As often happens in the low budget indie world, at least for me, is that the storyline is born from your limitations and the (precious few) resources you find available to you. In this case, the locations were what we had, so it was up to me to tailor a storyline and a script to fit those locations.

Since it was going to be a low budget affair with no movie stars, car chases or explosions, I knew that the storyline had to better keep people interested. Sex. Violence. Twists. Humor. So that was how I approached it; try to keep the audience engaged and hopefully riveted. So, I had a lot of riveting to do. Tough job.

FERNTV:  Reggie De Morton plays one hell of an antagonist/villain in the film.  What was the casting process like?

Drew:  Speaking to that last question; I had the location, but I also had a few actors who I loved and wanted tow write for; to wrap the story around. Reggie (Lurdell) and Gena (Cassie) were both in a short film I did (around 2004/5) and part of the writing of this was coming up with a villainous/comic duo that I could write for these two. They both got my sense of humor way back when, so when it came time to make this new movie I knew I wanted them on my front lines. It meant bringing them from Los Angeles to Denver, but I wrote it for them and I never had any back up plan in mind. 

FERNTV:    Tell us a little bit about casting Brenna Otts for this kick-ass role in the film

Drew:  Brenna, on the other hand, I had never met. Guy and I held auditions in Denver and one of the people to come in and read was Brenna Otts. We read a lot of actresses, but once Brenna read, we were convinced and locked in. It was her first movie and she was so committed that it was inspiring. A total pro that was terrific in the picture. I feel she brings so very much to the little movie, and I can’t imagine this picture without her. Her energy and commitment meant a lot to this little indie movie.

FERNTV:  You shot this film in Denver, Colorado.  Do you see this becoming the place to be when shooting a film or is it already there?

Drew:  Short answer: No. Denver is not the place you go to shoot a movie. In this case, it was personal. I grew up in Denver. The main house you see in the movie is the house where I grew up. Part of the appeal of this project to me was shooting in my hometown. 

That being said, once I contracted John Bourbonais as the director of photography, I was blown away by the amazingly tight knit crew that he brought with him. The flick would not have been pulled off in the way that  it is without such a crew. A crew (not counting me and Guy) that didn’t number over five on most days. You don’t get that everywhere. And for that, I am grateful. I love Denver. And Go Nuggets. 

FERNTV:  Did scenes like when Murphy gets shot by Clarence Boddicker and his gang in Robocop, and the Union Station shooting scene in The Untouchables influence this film?

Drew:  Absolutely. Those sequences you mention are wonderfully cinematic and a thrill to watch (as are both of those movies). I’d go on to cite most all of De Palma’s suspense set-pieces as influences in one way or another. Plus, the ED209 botched-demonstration scene in Verhoeven’s Robocop might be one of my favorite scenes of all time. It always hits me in my sweet spot.

FERNTV:  Why does this film matter?

Drew:  Well, in the big scheme of things it doesn’t really matter does it? It is just a movie after all. And a crazy one at that. It matters to me because I put a lot of thought, heart and blood into it.

For the audience, I wanted RONDO to be provocative. Love it or hate it. I feel that if a movie provokes you to think about it or deal with it in some way afterwards then that can be a powerful thing. In that way a film can matter. I didn’t want the audience to feel ambivalent about it. I wanted RONDO to, hopefully, stick in your head for a while, whether that is cursing it or having a  sick chuckle. Having a good chuckle definitely matters. To me, having a good chuckle matters the most.

FERNTV:   How does it feel to have your film selected at the Fantasia International Film Festival?

Drew:  Being selected for Fantasia was a total game-changer. Not just for the life of the movie, but for me personally. When you spend such an amount of time working on a movie like this you naturally go through a roller coaster of emotions along the way. One week you’re editing and feeling pretty good. The next week you’re watching and feeling like you never want to make another movie ever again. 

Mitch Davis at Fantasia, and his belief in the movie, completely turned my mind around and got my head back up. The Fantasia selection brought me into a much happier place. That place being Montreal. If you’re showing a genre film, strange film or a challenging film, there is no better, more enthusiastic and cinema literate audience in the world than you find at Fantasia. 

It was a thrill for me and if RONDO could talk I’m sure she would say the same.

www.rondothemovie.com