WORDS Deirdre Molumby
A young woman contemplates suicide; a group of violent but occasionally clumsy gangsters are given a job; two girlfriends want to go out and have fun, but keep winding up in heaps of trouble. One New Year’s Eve, their lives will collide with strange, magical and even fatal consequences. Jump, an upcoming film directed by Kieron J. Walsh, “captures the youthful vitality that exists in Northern Ireland.”
No stranger to television, through his work on The Savage Eye and Raw, Walsh’s movie pedigree is also notable with romantic comedy When Brendan Met Trudy and numerous short and made-for-TV films already under his belt. Walsh believes there is little to no difference between directing for TV and directing for film, if the budget is similar. “The only difference with Jump is that it involves a lot of characters, a lot of storylines and a time jump. I think time jumps are difficult to get away with on television because you don’t have the undivided attention of your viewer . . . When you’re dealing with a complex story like Jump, it’s more suitable to cinema than television.”
What unique element of the project drew him to it? “Once you find a project that has been written by an Irish writer and is set in Northern Ireland, you automatically assume that it’s going to involve the Troubles. This film didn’t at all . . . Having come to Northern Ireland lots of times for various different things – work and pleasure and whatnot – the one thing that struck me was that life goes on as normal there without any reference to the political divide that exists. Obviously, you could argue that it is like the elephant in the room but people have normal lives like any other place in the world.”
Once you find a project that has been written by an Irish writer and is set in Northern Ireland, you automatically assume that it’s going to involve the Troubles. This film didn’t at all . . .
Set in Derry, the city is portrayed as violent and corrupt in the film (perhaps playing on the idea of the Troubles) but also as surreal and sometimes magical. Walsh remarks that, “The legacy of the Troubles is always there. The magical aspect of the story comes from the fact that, for me, my experiences of New Year’s Eve is that it is a magical time. For some reason, [on] New Year’s Eve night, the chances of something odd or surreal or otherworldly happening are stronger than any other night. There is a kind of joie de vivre, and a kind of energy and carelessness on New Year’s Eve that doesn’t exist for any regular Saturday night.” Walsh says that to achieve this magical style, he also used the leading character, Greta, played by Nichola Burley (Donkey Punch, StreetDance 3D), as “a kind of compass for the story.”
The opening scene sees Greta go about her daily routine as she contemplates suicide. Walsh explains that, “Her view of the world at that point is not necessarily grounded in reality, so she looks at fireworks, she’s looking out the window, she watches herself for a long time in the mirror. Then she goes out in the street, dressed up in the costume, and she’s in the middle of this mayhem of New Year’s Eve. I just wanted to give the perspective that her state of mind is slightly unhinged.” All the characters in the film have some kind of desire but each also finds him/herself under some kind of threat. “[Greta] has the biggest thing at stake, which is her own life.”
As Walsh said, Jump involves numerous storylines and characters, so was the production process arduous? “[It] was a big challenge, to be honest. “Between scripting and editing, we had a headache.” He continues: “Multi-strand stories are always notoriously difficult to pull off, mainly because most people, when they’re watching a film, want to have somebody to side with, root for, or follow, basically. Here we have three different storylines [but] it’s really one story with lots of little bits in it. That was the main thing, to make sure it felt like one story and that’s why I used Greta’s story as a kind of guide for the whole thing.”
So, according to the film, is it ultimately destiny or chance that determines our lives? “I think chance and coincidence play a huge part in this film. You could argue that a lot of the coincidences are convenient. However, it is said that in small cities the chances of bumping into people that you know are very strong . . . In unusual places, people that you know turn up. Situations evolve. Maybe it’s a peculiarly Irish thing.”
Jump is released nationwide on 26 April. A Gala screening of the film will be held in the IFI that evening followed by a Q&A with Kieron Walsh and cast member Charlene McKenna, and a wine reception afterwards.
