As one tweeter succinctly noted: “holy fuckballs”. For the many out there who hadn’t been aware of the film before, the immediate response was mostly one of dumbfounded shock.
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Aided by Blackbird’s first trailer - which immediately attracted attention thanks to a large dollop of melodrama, plus a healthy assortment of exotic locations, attractive women, blood-splattered white tuxedos and Flatley wearing a jaunty fedora (in several scenes) - the news was met with wild celebration (and a touch of comical derision) on social media. Wildcard Distribution, the Dublin-based banner best known for releasing several noted indie titles across Ireland, was behind it. Then, silence again.īut in early July it was announced, very much out of the blue, that the film - which many of its watchers had assumed would never see the light of day, at least publicly - was set to be released in cinemas in the U.K. Nothing was then heard about Blackbird for almost three years, until it made a peculiar appearance as the opening night film of 2021’s inaugural Monaco Streaming Festival (a screening, despite the festival’s name, not actually streamed), where Flatley won the best actor award.
With film fans’ curiosities piqued, a following slowly began to emerge. Had Blackbird been buried in one of Flatley’s gardens? Had he made the film purely to satisfy his own craving to get in front of a camera and play James Bond? The film then disappeared, even on Flatley’s social media pages, previously filled with excitable updates about the film and sun-soaked behind-the-scenes snaps. But attempts to verify this were met with silence. The decision may have been linked to a spot of online backlash over two early posters featuring Blackbird’s older, sharp-suited and very much credited male stars (including Eric Roberts and Patrick Bergin) alongside an assortment of younger, bikini-clad and uncredited women (notably, Nicole Evans). However, for reasons that can only be speculated upon, the screening shut out press (invites were rescinded on the day of) and produced zero reviews or reactions. The film - in which Flatley plays Victor Blackley, “a troubled secret agent” whose life of retirement running a “luxurious nightclub in the Caribbean” is turned upside down when “an old flame arrives and reignites love in his life, but she brings danger with her” - had a glitzy world premiere at London’s Raindance Film Festival in August 2018. Of course, it’s not strictly true to say that nobody has seen Blackbird. “But when there’s a film that has been seen by very few and discussed by many, a film that people are aware of but has been taken away, then it becomes cult.”
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“You can find pretty much anything you want from the history of cinema these days,” says Paul Vickery, head of programming at London’s Prince Charles Cinema, a two-screen site famed for its regular movie marathons (including a recurring Nicolas Cage triple feature) and monthly showings of Tommy Wiseau’s so-bad-it-is-good masterpiece The Room. It’s also a movie he wrote, produced, directed, self-financed and stars in (as the lead, no less) and a film that had something of a contentious start when it first came to public attention in 2018, after which it promptly - and mysteriously - vanished from sight.Īnd for one cinema programmer, that’s exactly what gives Blackbird its cult credentials. And it’s a film whose cult status has been attained, rather uniquely, without anybody having seen it.īlackbird, the feature directorial debut of famed, fast-footed Lord of the Dance and Riverdance legend Michael Flatley, is “a spy thriller of the classic genre,” according to the 64-year-old Bostonian. It’s far from it - a 4-year-old cult film from a first-time filmmaker better known for throwing his oiled-up torso across stages around the world. Tokyo Film Festival to Open With Takahisa Zeze's 'Fragments of the Last Will,' Close With Oliver Bill Hermanus' 'Living'
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