FORTUNE'S WHEEL. 2015. DIRECTED BY JOE LEE. PRODUCED BY BILL WHELAN AND LORRAINE KENNEDY. WINNER OF THE DUBLIN FILM CRITICS' CIRCLE AWARD FOR BEST IRISH DOCUMENTARY AT THE JAMESON DUBLIN FILM FESTIVAL 2015. REVIEW BY SANDRA HARRIS. ©
As some of you might know, I never turn down a chance these days to hobnob with movie directors and producers, actors and actresses. So it was with great pleasure that I recently attended a special screening of FORTUNE'S WHEEL, the award-winning documentary film, at my local library.
The film's two producers, Bill Whelan and Lorraine Kennedy, were both present to introduce their film and host an informal Question And Answer session afterwards. The director Joe Lee was meant to be popping along as well but unfortunately he didn't make it.
Still, I was as happy as Larry in my comfy chair (with my cup of tea in one hand and a couple of Jaffa cakes in the other!) as I settled back to be regaled with a story I hadn't expected to hear in modern-day Dublin. It's the story of a lion-tamer, of all things, who made world headlines in 1951 when his lioness escaped from her cage and went walkabout in downtown Fairview in Dublin...!
Bill Stephens was the name of the brave young lion-tamer from Fairview, and the incident in question ended with the shooting dead of the poor lion, but only after she'd mauled both her trainer and a young petrol-pump attendant, though not fatally. Still, her fate was unfortunately sealed the minute she tried to take a chunk out of her trainer's arm. That's kind of bad for business...!
There are some terrific eye-witness accounts in the film from men and women old enough to remember seeing the lioness walking down the street or hearing it roaring from the other side of their garden wall. Naturally, they thought they were seeing (or hearing things!) but no, 'twas all true. Dozens of local schoolchildren were photographed posing with the dead animal afterwards, and no doubt it's a story they remembered and enjoyed retelling for the rest of their lives.
Bill is talked about with affection by all the Dubliners featured in the film, some of whom I believe were sadly dying when they were interviewed. By all accounts, Bill was a lovely quiet young fella who played drums in a band and who'd been obsessed with animals his whole life, especially exotic ones like snakes and suchlike.
When Bill was only nineteen, he married a beautiful young woman from Dublin's East Wall called Mai. His family weren't happy about the union, whether because they thought he was too young or because they blamed Mai, his assistant in his highly-dangerous lion-taming act, for his involvement with circus life.
Though it was Bill's dream to be a world-famous circus star, his family seemingly would have preferred it had he chosen a less dangerous profession. On the one hand, I can't say I blame them for that, but on the other, it doesn't seem like the gorgeous and exotic-looking Mai was treated too well by her husband's family.
The film tells of the circumstances that led up to Bill's tragic death at the age of twenty-nine. Herta Fossett, of the Fossett's Circus family, speaks eloquently and movingly about what she thinks caused the tragedy to happen. It's a terrible but also thrilling story, the kind you definitely don't hear every day. Bill's whole story is fascinating, come to that. It's straight out of a boy's adventure comic.
We're then shown a glimpse into Mai's life after Bill passed away and, though she found happiness again, it was so sad and beautiful to hear that the long-deceased Bill was the great love affair of her life and that she'd kept memorabilia from their life together and their circus days in the attic of her home. Mai is shown in the film re-uniting with Bill's niece and one of the film's producers, Louise Kennedy, in the nursing home where she lived after her stroke. It's a touchingly poignant scene.
Probably my favourite bit of this excellent documentary was hearing that Bill Stephens put his head into a lion's mouth on the stage of Dublin's famous Olympia Theatre on Dame Street more than sixty years ago. I've been to gigs and concerts there myself over the years, and probably the
wildest thing I've ever witnessed there before was Mark Owen of Take That fame doing covers of Take That songs mixed with tracks from his solo album, THE ART OF DOING NOTHING, and even then it wasn't that wild, haha.
To think that the stage of the Olympia once had Bill Stephens and his legendary lion-taming act treading its boards just boggles the mind. A man featured in the documentary said his dad had to keep pulling him back over the balcony because he was so excited he nearly fell head-first over it several times trying to see better. I kind of get what he means. I honestly think I would have done the same myself.
I was interested too in the memories and opinions of an Irish circus historian and archivist who shares some of his reminiscences on camera, but the thing that really fascinated me was the notion that the history of the circus in Ireland is documented and studied. It's a subject I've given almost no thought to personally, but I was genuinely surprised to find how compelling it is.
There's a beautiful photograph featured in the film of Mai at her beloved husband Bill's grave. The words on his headstone tell the reader how he died. I won't reveal them to you but, when you watch this wonderful film, if you haven't already, you'll see them for yourself.
Three little words you don't see every day, and probably almost never on a tombstone. Still, tragic as it undoubtedly is, it gives you an idea of the extraordinary life lived by an ordinary Dublin chap who once had a dream to be a famous circus star. Though it cost him dearly, he held onto his dream tightly every day until the day he died. There's a lesson in there for us all.
AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY OF SANDRA HARRIS.
Sandra Harris is a Dublin-based performance poet, novelist, film blogger, sex blogger and short story writer. She has given more than 200 performances of her comedy sex-and-relationship poems in different venues around Dublin, including The Irish Writers' Centre, The International Bar, Toners' Pub (Ireland's Most Literary Pub), the Ha'penny Inn, Le Dernier Paradis at the Trinity Inn and The Strokestown Poetry Festival.
Her articles, short stories and poems have appeared in The Metro-Herald newspaper, Ireland's Big Issues magazine, The Irish Daily Star, The Irish Daily Sun and The Boyne Berries literary journal. In August 2014, she won the ONE LOVELY BLOG award for her (lovely!) horror film review blog. She is addicted to buying books and has been known to bring home rain-washed tomes she finds on the street and give them a home. In 2003, she was invited to be a guest on Niall Boylan's 98FM late-night radio talk show purely on the basis of having a 'sexy voice.'
She is the proud possessor of a pair of unfeasibly large bosoms. They have given her- and the people around her- infinite pleasure over the years. She adores the horror genre in all its forms and will swap you anything you like for Hammer Horror or JAWS memorabilia. She would also be a great person to chat to about the differences between the Director's Cut and the Theatrical Cut of The Wicker Man. You can contact her at:
http://sandrafirstruleoffilmclubharris.wordpress.com
No comments:
Post a Comment