They called it progress.
He called it murder.
While visiting a Montreal hospital, investigative reporter Jason Brady (Lady in White’s Len Cariou) meets concerned citizen Marion Galbraith (The Fly’s Carol Lazare), who reveals that local children are being poisoned by a nearby factory. When the victims begin dying, Brady recognizes the urgency of this story, but he encounters resistance and danger at every turn. As his obsession grows, so does his relationship with Marion, causing a rift in his marriage to Alicia (Goin' Down the Road’s Jayne Eastwood), right as a series of powerful, unscrupulous forces promise violent retaliation – on Brady, his wife, and their children.
A year before directing the harrowing drug drama Drying Up the Streets, Robin Spry concluded his impressive run at the National Film Board of Canada with One Man, an unlikely fusion of prestige issue movie, conspiracy thriller, and Canuxploitation crime saga – that won an impressive seven Canadian Film Awards. Playing like a lost TV movie classic from the ’70s, this riff on the films of Sidney Lumet and Alan J. Pakula boasts an all-star Canadian supporting cast, including Miguel Fernandes (East End Hustle), Terry Haig (The Pyx), Jean Lapointe (Orders), Marc Legault (The Mob), Barry Morse (The Changeling), August Schellenberg (Cross Country), Sean Sullivan (The Hard Part Begins), and cult filmmaker Larry Kent (The Bitter Ash). Simultaneously witty and unsettling, this is a Canadian film like no other.
directed by: Robin Spry
starring: Len Cariou, Jayne Eastwood, Carol Lazare, Barry Morse, August Schellenberg, Jean Lapointe, Sean Sullivan, Terry Haig, Marc Legault, Gilles Renaud, Danny Freedman, Bob Girolami, Jacques Godin, Miguel Fernandes, Larry Kent
1977 / 88 min / 1.33:1 / English DTS-HD MA 2.0
Additional info:
- Region A Blu-ray
- Scanned and restored in 2K from the 16mm interpositive by the National Film Board of Canada
- Audio commentary featuring filmmaker and historian Stephen Broomer
- One Sister (2023, 10 min.) – New interview with Robin Spry’s sister Lib Spry
- One Friend (2023, 13 min.) – New interview with Spry’s longtime collaborator Bob Presner
- Five short films directed by Spry: Miner (1966, 19 min.), Change in the Maritimes (1966, 13 min.), Illegal Abortion (1967, 25 min.), Ride for Your Life (1967, 10 min.), and Downhill (1973, 36 min.)
- The Dowry (1969, 20 min.) – Short film written and directed by One Man co-writer Peter Pearson
- Cell 16 (1972, 14 min.) – Short film written by One Man co-writer Peter Madden
- Red Shoes (1986, 24 min.) – Short film featuring One Man co-star Carol Lazare
- Bonus short: Trafficopter (1972, 10 min.)
- Theatrical trailer
- Booklet featuring a new interview with star Len Cariou
- Reversible cover artwork
- English SDH subtitles
